Goldsworth Park Community Association
County Councillor Oct 2008 Report
Oct 2008 County Report by Diana Smith, County Councillor for Knaphill and Goldsworth West
Diana Smith can be contacted on e-mail diana.smith@surreycc.gov.uk
Also on http://www.dianasmith.mycouncillor.org.uk
Way to go!
‘Cycle Woking’ was launched, with the official opening of the improved towpath, at the Lightbox on Monday 22nd September. There were balloons, bikes, and photographers from the local press. But although the stretch of path from the town to Kiln Bridge is complete, there are many rough stretches left. One of them is the muddy and difficult path along the Knaphill side of the Canal from Hermitage Bridge to Brookwood Crossroads, which could make it difficult for Ray Morgan, the Chief Executive of Woking Borough Council pictured on the front page of the News and Mail with his new bike, to ride in from his home in Knaphill. Other improvements to come are a better way through the town centre; better cycle parking in the town centre itself, especially for the station; a good north/south route through the Borough to link with national cycle routes; and better signage for bike trails, which will be named on a ‘planet’ theme. The £1.8m awarded to Woking for all this is ‘match funding’ where we have to contribute equal amounts of money. Some could be ‘planning gain’ money from developers, and some come from the regular transport funding that is delegated down to the Woking Local Committee from Surrey County Council. Woking as a whole will have to value the new cycle network under this two-for-one offer enough to make up for giving it priority over other spending. I’m still strongly in favour, but it will lead to some hard negotiating over the next few years.
WWF for Woking?
By co-incidence, after my comment last month about the County Hall disappointment, an initial approach has been made to Woking by the charity WWF-UK about moving their Headquarters from Godalming to a new building on the Brewery Road car park. They would want something about half the size of the proposed New County Hall, and are attracted by Woking’s green credentials. For the moment this is not much more than a suggestion, which will be discussed again in the New Year. You could object that this car park has only just been re-vamped at some expense. Call me cynical, but by the time anything happens I suspect it will be ready for another make-over.
Ancestry Next?
Knaphill Library is closer to many parts of Goldsworth Park than Woking Library. In this last year, the new building has hosted mother-and-toddler sessions on Friday mornings, and a book group that is so full a second is being established, this time held in the daytime. The library is also big enough to host small events, such as the talk Iain Wakeford gave on local history a few months ago. The next talk will be on ‘Tracing Your Family History’ with tips and advice from one of Surrey History Centre’s experts. This is scheduled for Saturday 11th October, at 4.30 p.m.. There’ll be a small charge to cover the cost of the speaker, with tickets available from Knaphill Library. In the future, if there is even a small group who would like to get together in the library to compare notes and share expertise, perhaps using the library computers, this could easily be arranged. But it needs the people concerned to get involved in a minimal amount of liaising with the staff and each other through the ‘Friends’ group at the library.
Cranstock Day Centre
Surrey wants to ‘modernise’ its day-services for the learning disabled, and has been making efforts to consult with users, carers, and professionals. We’re probably lucky in Woking that the Cranstock Day Centre would become a ‘Centre of Excellence’, but I don’t know the details. There are a series of Roadshows, including one at Woking Leisure Centre on the 23rd of October, to explain the proposals and gather views. This is part of a series of events including some specifically intended for the people using the Centres. If this is something that concerns you, I would be interested to know what you think.
Diana Smith can be contacted on e-mail diana.smith@surreycc.gov.uk