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New hiring charges for the Village Hall – effective from April 1st 2019

Our current hiring charges have been in place since October 2010 and, given the ever-rising costs of running the hall, we felt that it was time to look at them again.

We always bear in mind the fact that we are smaller than many halls and that people have to pay extra for electricity. However, we have been charging, in some cases, significantly less than our neighbouring halls and we feel that our new charges are fair and still very competitive.

We will now offer two rates, one rate for Hambledon residents and another, standard rate, (roughly 20% more) for non-residents, which is something that most halls do. Full details of the new charges can be found below.

We hope that people will appreciate the need for this increase. We are, as ever, immensely grateful for all the support the hall receives from everyone in Hambledon, without which we would be unable to run with or without any increase in hiring charges. Continue reading →

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Village Hall nearly sold out for Ian McMillan and Luke Carver-Goss

Friday, April 5th  at Hambledon Village Hall
We don’t have many tickets left for this evening of comedy, poetry and the creation of a mini musical all about Hambledon. If you’d like to be there, make sure you don’t miss out and buy your tickets now!
Tickets £12.50 available from the village shop.
The performance begins at 7.30. Doors and bar open at 7pm.
Please contact Ruth Canham on 07977 584 596 for all enquiries.

 

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The local hero and the swan

Recently we heard about another animal rescue by Graham Cornick at Hydestile Resident Animals.   Graham tells the story:

“We had a phone call about a Swan on the A3, when Paul and I arrived the Police had coned off one lane which made the rescue a lot safer, so Paul and I climb down into the ditch and I managed to untangle him the bramble he had fallen into (the Swan that is not Paul), we then got him into the Swan bag, Paul scrambled to the top of the ditch and carried the Swan to the car, meanwhile I’m still in the ditch, the kind policeman held his hand down to me and managed to (drag) help me to the top, I said “thanks I can’t believe I’m doing this at 75” and he said “You’re our hero mate” that’s a first! a police officer calling me a hero.

Sadly the brother to the Swan was killed on the other carriage way, the one we rescued is doing fine. “

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Traffic on Salt Lane

For those of you that signed the Surrey CC petition on traffic issues on Salt Lane you may be interested to hear that as a result this matter is now to be discussed at the Surrey County Council Local Committee at Waverley Borough Council chamber at 10am on Friday 22nd. This will be webcast and the public can attend.

A video overview will be shown to the committee Councillors beforehand.   Councillor Victoria Young and Surrey Hills have been supportive in this matter.   The video, traffic survey data and photographs can be seen here.

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Parish Council Statement

Hambledon Parish Council has been approached by a concerned resident wanting to know if it is responsible for an anonymous document that has been delivered to some households in the village expressing opinions about the new planning application for affordable homes at Orchard Farm.

The parish council is NOT responsible for this document, which is headed “Briefing Note to Local Residents”.

The resident contacted the parish clerk to express anger that the document appears to be biased, is not on headed notepaper, and is unsigned and unsolicited. The resident added that whoever is behind the document should have the courtesy to sign it.

In response the clerk has reassured the resident that the document has nothing to do with the parish council. The council is currently considering the application and has informed Waverley Borough Council that it will comment on it once it has the opportunity to discuss it at its next monthly meeting in early April.

Details of the application have already been posted on this website and can be found here

https://www.hambledonsurrey.co.uk/?p=10886

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Local Council Elections on May 2nd. Do you want to be a councillor?

Local council elections will be held on Thursday May 2nd, and anyone who wishes to stand as a councillor must register to do so with Waverley Borough Council.

The elections are for borough, town and parish councils and potential candidates can register from this Friday March 22nd until 4pm on Wednesday April 3rd.

Nomination papers are available from Waverley Borough Council and, when completed, must be returned to the council by hand at a booked appointment time.

Full details can be found at https://www.waverley.gov.uk/elections2019 By following the links you can download a registration document and read more about what is involved.

A news item can be found here https://www.waverley.gov.uk/news/article/474/nominations_open_for_2_may_council_elections

 

 

 

 

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HAMBLEDON CHURCH – CAN YOU HELP SECURE ITS FUTURE?

If Hambledon is to have a new vicar and secure a future for its village church then money must be raised with the help of the local community and its residents.

The challenges facing St Peter’s Church and its continued ministry to the village were outlined by Simon Taylor, rector of the joint benefice of Busbridge and Hambledon, and Andy Dunn, treasurer of Hambledon church, at a packed meeting at the village hall on Thursday evening (March 7th, 2019).

In a rallying call for financial support, Andy said: “We are appealing not just to members of the congregation but to those who value the presence of a church in our village, but who may not wish to attend there regularly.”

Hambledon has not had a vicar since Catherine McBride moved to a new parish in October 2017. Although it was intended that she would be replaced, several obstacles stalled the process.

Mervil Bottom, the church house in the village, suffered severe water leaks when empty during the following cold winter and required major repairs and renovation. And the parlous state of the church’s finances meant that the Diocese of Guildford questioned whether it was feasible to appoint a new minister.

It costs £120,000 a year to fund St Peter’s with a vicar, but the income is currently just over £80,000.

The biggest single outgoing is £30,000 that St Peter’s has to pay to the Diocese. Second is the £28,000 salary to the vicar, which rises when tax and pensions are added. Then comes maintenance of the church, churchyard, Mervil Bottom and insurances.

Money raised from events such as weddings goes directly to the Church of England and not to the parish church.

The only money that comes to the church is from the Sunday collection plate, Gift Aid, standing orders and donations from generous benefactors and a small grant from Hambledon Parish Council.

In asking for people to consider making financial pledges, Andy said: “If we want to recruit a vicar, we must find £120,000 a year which is significantly more than our current income. The Diocese will only appoint a new minister if we can demonstrate that we can afford it now and for the next five years.”

Continue reading →

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NEW APPLICATION TO BUILD AFFORDABLE HOMES AT ORCHARD FARM

A revised planning application to build affordable and market price homes at Orchard Farm has been submitted to Waverley Borough Council by the English Rural Housing Association.

The new application is seeking approval for a scaled-down development of seven affordable homes together with two bungalows to be sold on the open market.

The previous ERHA application, submitted in 2016, was for 17 homes – 12 affordable and five open market. This was rejected by Waverley councillors in May 2017.

The ERHA went to appeal but this was dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate in June 2018.

The new application was made public on the Waverley Borough Council website on Monday (March 4th, 2019). A deadline of March 29th has been set for comments.

The new development, if approved, would occupy the area of previously developed land at Orchard Farm, Wormley Lane, where various outbuildings currently stand. Five of the new properties would be for affordable rent and two for shared ownership.

Under the revised scheme the original farmhouse, which was to have been demolished, will be retained, renovated and sold on the open market. This does not form a part of the new application.

Paddock land, which was to have been gifted to the village as open space under the previous scheme, is now excluded from the application and is not a part of the latest proposal.

Orchard Farm is within the Green Belt and the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the ERHA application will need to demonstrate that the land may be considered as a rural exception site.

The application can be found here:

http://planning360.waverley.gov.uk/planning/search-applications?civica.query.FullTextSearch=Orchard%20Farm%20Hambledon#VIEW?RefType=GFPlanning&KeyNo=332587&KeyText=Subject

Hambledon Parish Council, which held its monthly meeting the day after the application was published, had no opportunity to consider the application in detail. Its next meeting is April 2nd, after the comment deadline.

Therefore, the parish council resolved to request an extension to the comment period in order to examine the proposal in detail and to hear any comments from villagers before responding to Waverley Borough Council.

People with connections to Hambledon and who fulfill ERHA criteria will have the opportunity to apply to be considered for the affordable homes if approval is given to the development. The parish council can comment on the application, but it is for Waverley Borough Council to approve or reject the proposal.

The ERHA website can be found here:https://englishrural.org.uk/

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Hambledon Midsummer Festival 2020 – Save the Dates

It’s only 15 months until the 2020 Hambledon Midsummer Festival. It was big enough last year to be seen from outer space and someone arranged for the Google Maps satellite to pass overhead on fete day to prove it. Click on the image below for a larger view of The Cricket Green on fete day 2018.

Plans are afoot for 2020 and the dates have been set, the Festival will take place on the weekend of Friday 19th to Sunday 21st of June 2020. Get it in your diary.

While you’re doing that here are some other dates for your diary:

  • Poetry, Music and Comedy with Ian McMillan & Luke Carver Goss at Hambledon Village Hall – Friday April 5th 2019
  • Hambledon Shop End of Summer BBQ – Saturday 31st August 2019
  • Hambledon Christmas Dance – Saturday 7th December 2019

The Calendar on the Village web site attempts to provide the dates of all the events going on in the village, if you know of an event that is missing from the Calendar then please send details to the web team.

 

Fete Day 2018

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St Peter’s Hambledon Electoral Roll

The electoral roll of people who wish to identify with St Peter’s Hambledon is currently being revised. The old one is dead and buried, according to church rules we have to start anew!

The roll is open to anyone interested, not just church goers, so please do apply. Spare copies of forms are available in the back of the church, open during the day. They will also be available in the Hall on Thursday evening, 7th March, at the public meeting. Please leave completed copies at the back of the church, or hand them to Mary Parker.

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2700 vehicles a day using Salt Lane – sign the Petition

New traffic data has shown that 2700 vehicles a day use the East-West route of Salt Lane and Markwick Lane.  At peak time that is 337 vehicles an hour.  Commercial vehicles make up an average of 28% of those vehicles. At peak times 45% of all vehicles are vans, lorries or HGVs. That is 28% higher than a year ago.  This 7 mile rural route is unsuitable for such a volume of traffic and is increasingly dangerous for road users.  The environmental impact is not to be underestimated either.

Sign the petition!

A petition has been created to get Surrey County Council to take this issue seriously and consider measures to combat the environmental and safety factors.  If more than 30 signatories can be noted within the next week (by 8th March) then the Councillors will consider this issue at the next Surrey County Council’s Local Committee meeting on 22nd March.

Please do sign up here:

https://petitions.surreycc.gov.uk/Ratruns/

You can also find out more information, photographs and the traffic data for Salt Lane /Markwick Lane here.