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Month: February 2023

Leigh Cricket Club – An open invitation to pre-season practice

The season is almost upon us and those of us of a certain disposition cannot wait to get a bat and ball in hand. I’m pleased to say that our indoor pre-season net practices have been confirmed for the following dates:

Thursday 23rd & 30th March and 6th, 13th and 20th April
6pm-7pm
Copthorne Prep School (Effingham Lane, Copthorne, Crawley RH10 3HR).

Anyone from the village and surrounding areas who are keen to get involved with the club, in whatever capacity, is invited to come along. We’d love to see some new faces there.

We’re a club that is open to all. Whatever your age, gender or ability, we’ll give you the encouragement to enjoy your weekend cricket.

Our season gets underway on Saturday 23rd April and goes right through till the end of September, playing both days each weekend. Meaning there are plenty of opportunities for those looking to play regularly or just a couple of times a season.

In other news, the club has a new website www.leighccsurrey.co.uk which we’ll be continuing to develop over the coming months. We’re hoping that we’ll be able to use it to attract players to this beautiful part of the Surrey countryside to build a vibrant community club over the next few years.

The Committee has also been busy over the winter months finalising plans to renovate the patio area outside the pavilion. The existing slabs were laid quite a few years ago so it’s about time we freshened it up to create a nicer area from which spectators and players can enjoy the game. This work should be completed in the early part of the season once the weather has settled down a little, so we’d be delighted to see some local faces down at the club this summer.

New Facilities for St Bartholomew’s

The new loo and kitchenette for St Bartholomew’s Church has been a mammoth undertaking, but the sparkling new facilities were officially opened on Saturday 7th January by Councillor Paul Potter, the Chairman of Mole Valley District Council; our minister Jonathan Willans; myself; Mick Lock, our amazing builder; and his beautiful little granddaughter Isla.

St Bartholomew Church Leigh New Facilities
Isla, Mick Lock, Jonathan (with “Hooray” cake!), me, and Councillor Paul Potter

Vicar Jonathan expressed his delight that Leigh church has these facilities which means the church will be able to reach out more into the community. The Cosy Corner coffee morning held on every 2nd and 4th Monday morning from 10.30-1230 is the first of these supportive initiatives. The Vicar expresses his personal thanks to all who laboured along side him for 20 years to achieve this aim. He especially thanks Mick Lock the craftsman builder, Peter Joyce as project manager and Eileen Winstanley, John Worsfold among others.

Progress has not been easy, and has been made all the more difficult by the loss of our architect, Roderick Maclennan, in his battle against cancer. Not only did Roderick project manage the build until his untimely death, but being the good Christian that he was, he provided constant encouragement.

The resulting facilities are a triumph, and look as though they have always been a part of our beautiful church. The side wall with its window had to be completely taken down and moved outwards between the side buttresses so that we didn’t lose precious space at the west entrance. Every block was numbered and placed in its original position. Horsham tiles had to be found to mimic those on the existing roof. Finally, the tiles in the west entrance had to be completely lifted and relaid in the porch area to lose the 100mm drop, and to allow for a completely flat surface for ease of access. During the course of the works it was found that the porch had sunk in one corner, and this has now been underpinned with concrete to provide many more centuries of use.

This project has been a tribute to so many people. To Mick Lock and his boys, who soldiered through without an architect; to the members of the PCC for their unfailing support; to Sue and Douglas Frost for their fundraising efforts and their successful attempts to put St Bartholomew at the heart of the Leigh community; to Jonathan and Sharon for providing support whenever needed; to Paul Potter and our local councillors for their political underpinning for the project; to our wardens Eileen Winstanley and Keith Bryant, always there to assist and encourage; to Colin and David for managing the money; to my long-suffering wife, Alison, for putting up with my obsession; and of course to Isla for cutting the ribbon.

St Bartholomew Church Leigh New Facilities
External wall – each block was numbered to replace exactly as original

St Bartholomew’s has not been able to function properly without a loo and a kitchenette. We know that people have turned away the chance to hold a wedding or a funeral because of a lack of these facilities. We can now work on drawing people in not just for worship, but also for a number of new activities which will give the church the chance to become where it should rightfully be – at the heart of the community!

Peter Joyce

Deputy Warden

 

Changes to parking enforcement and verge cutting

Please note the following changes regarding parking enforcement and environmental management:

Following Cabinet approval in December, changes are planned to the on street parking management and enforcement service across Surrey from this April. The agency agreements we have with the District and Borough Councils are ending in March, so from April, Surrey Highways will manage on street parking in conjunction with Marstons Holdings Ltd. (Also known as NSL). NSL have experience in Surrey, working for Elmbridge and Waverley Borough Councils for the last 10 years as well as for Hampshire and East Sussex County Councils.

The following activities will be carried out by NSL:

  • Parking Enforcement and day to day operations
  • Processing Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) and dealing with enquiries about them
  • Managing resident parking permits and dealing with enquiries about them
  • Arranging parking suspensions and waivers
  • Taking payments for PCN’s, permits and other services
  • Operation of pay and display machines
  • Operation of traffic enforcement cameras

The mobilisation process for the new contract has already started and by April NSL will set up 3 operating bases for their enforcement team around the county.

A new SCC team (The Parking Enforcement Team) will be set up in The Parking and Traffic Enforcement Team to work with NSL and do the following:

  • Deal with enquiries about parking enforcement
  • Financial control and contract monitoring
  • Formal appeals against PCNs
  • Parking enforcement policy

 

Information about the new service will be made available over the next two months, including:

  • How to report and apply for parking related services
  • Where to send enquiries
  • Team contacts
  • Where to find information

Environmental Maintenance Changes

On April 1st 2023, Surrey County Council (SCC) will also take over responsibility for Environmental Maintenance (grass cutting, weed spraying and treatment of noxious weeds) across the whole of the County. Whist we currently already cut grass in Elmbridge, Mole Valley and Tandridge, the other areas have historically been managed by Districts and Boroughs (D&Bs) to differing specifications. The level of service residents received depended on where they lived in the County with no consistent approach. The County Council funded 4 urban cuts, 2 rural cuts and 1 weed spray treatment per annum but some D&Bs provided funding to top this up.  In some areas, there was further devolution to Parishes.

By bringing the service back in house, a consistent approach across all areas will be achieved. We can also ensure highway verge maintenance contributes to our greener futures objectives and provide a greater ability to support the national “blue campaign” to reduce cuts and increase biodiversity.​ Finally, it will enable the service to promote innovation, actively trial and switch to alternatives to conventional weed spraying as technology develops.

 

Regular meetings have been held with all Ds & Bs to ensure as smooth a transfer as possible. This includes ensuring comprehensive mapping, liaison on future litter picking and street cleansing services, consistent communications and understanding the level of enquiries of complaints we can expect. Contractors from our Countryside framework will carry out grass cutting and weed spraying for the next two years and during this period we will be going out to market to tender for a longer term contract to start in April 2025.