Public Consultations continue about the Neighbourhood Plan for CR3. Next is Caterham Hill on Saturday 26th April. These events preview the work so far and check for your feedback and ideas. Open consultations already held include Whyteleafe and Chaldon. The first in the series began last October at Soper Hall. Do come along to any of these and take part.

CR3Forum. Are a group dedicated to creating a forward-looking plan and policies to be voted on at a referendum, to shape our area over the next 20 years.

More in articles below

Saturday April 26th at Caterham on the Hill. Public Consultation No 4

These sessions are to provide an opportunity for you to see and hear what has been gathered so far and the emerging ideas, as well as hearing directly from you.

March 5th and April 12th. No 2 & 3  Public Consultations were held at Whyteleafe & Chaldon.

The final session will be at Soper Hall after the May local elections have taken place.

Content and talking points:

• Housing demand, supply and needs within CR3
• Results from the CR3Forum Survey. What did you say?
• Materials on Housing, Green Belt, Brownfield sites, Character and Heritage, Jobs, Schools, Youth, Elderly, Health, Transport, Parking, Shopping, Town Centres, Leisure, Community, Utilities & overall Infrastructure.
• Opportunity to comment on any issues and the emerging evidence

Workshops for forum members are also being held on a variety of topics as groups look at many issues and develop final ideas and an overal framework to take forward. So far workshops have included:

•     Site Assessment - guidance on criteria and process to consider potential sites within the area for housing, commercial, leisure or other uses.
•     Overall vision and aims. Ensuring the Neighbourhood Plan is the right balance of the emerging rules and guidance, while meeting our local needs.
•     Overall guidance on completing a Neighbourhood Plan and the support available to local teams

Further workshops are planned on a variety of topics as we fit our needs to the emerging guidance for those engaged on "Neighbourhood Plans"

If you want to participate either at a public session or within any of the groups, please come along or contact us.

Target date of Late 2014 for a Local Referendum on the resulting plan.

(Click logo for web site)

Two important items this month. First the owner of the derelict old garage site, known as Rose & Young, has submitted a planning application for the site. Further details are awaited by Tandridge District Council about the scheme, when details will be open for public view and comment.

Secondly over the last several months this site has also been a topic within the CR3Forum and elsewhere, We provided evidence and suggestions to a group of local district councillors led by Jane Ingham at a public meeting in December and afterwards.

We are pleased to release this press release:

Boost for CR3 and the Neighbourhood Plan

The development of the Neighbourhood Plan for Caterham, Chaldon and Whyteleafe received a boost on 8th April when Tandridge District Council pledged up to £50,000 for feasibility studies and associated work in preparation for the development of the eyesore Rose and Young site. The move could, if necessary, lead to a compulsory purchase order and see an appropriate development on the building in Croydon Road which has been derelict for many years.

The CR3 Steering Group, which is co-ordinating the development of a local plan to be presented for a referendum some time this year said, "TDC have recognised the potential power of the Local Plan and CR3 and seen that by working in partnership with us, the long hoped for project to see the site redeveloped is less risky financially and legally for the Council now than it was without us. This is a boost for CR3, the Local Plan and for Caterham and the area as a whole".

Picture by Austen Beischer, runner up in the CR3Forum photo competition. Hidden treasures and local eyesores.

A core part of the Neighbourhood Plan will be to do with housing and making sure that looking ahead we ensure the area has a balance of that with businesses, shopping, parking, transport, schools, health, social facilities, leisure, utilities and so on, to match growth in housing. We value the character of our area too and its green belt and so that is highly important too.

Tandridge is reviewing its own housing targets and we need to manage our way to a figure that is sustainable locally.

Regards

Geoff Duck

Chair CR3 Forum Steering Group

** Pictures Chris Windridge. Chaldon consultation. April 12th 2014

** picture. Chaldon as above

Two sessions have been held over the last few weeks to let local people have their say and hear of the work already done by many volunteers, from the different parishes and volunteers from residents, businesses and service providers.

Make sure you are involved too. The next session is at Caterham Hill on April 26th.

Information from the CR3Forum survey was helpful in highlighting local shopping preferences and a very significant desire to retain or expand local businesses, including to find ways to encourage start-ups to prosper here.

Various studies are under way and information is being collected on key matters. More information on the way.

Last winter's exceptionally high rainfall triggered the worst Bourne flows for many years. The problem was compounded by a combination of ground water levels, storm water flows and some contamination via sewers.

The issues have been extensively covered both nationally and locally and recently Surrey & Croydon published plans for engineering works through this year to upgrade capacity. (See link below) Croydon had earlier declared the floods an emergency situation. We are pleased this action is being taken and will take into consideration in any ideas we put forward ourselves, especially taking a 20 year view of what the area needs, in order to be prepared for anything similar.

The picture is from the railway bridge at Purley, looking towards Kenley. Various temporary solutions were adopted to pump water away from low lying areas, including some here being pumped up towards Purley Cross ( Nr Tesco), to car park and pedestrian areas. Other temporary lakes were created towards Woldingham. This affected many residents and businesses, hence it is a strategic issue for all of us.

Tandridge has a business support grant available for those affected, via their web site, with an early June cut off date.

Joint Surrey & Croydon  news release on £1M Bourne engineering project.

http://news.surreycc.gov.uk/2014/03/17/surrey-and-croydon-councils-in-joint-1-million-flooding-action-plan/

** Pictures as above

Creating our local plan is a wonderful opportunity for us to have a say in how the area should look and provide for people, jobs and services over the next 20 years. Let’s not lose the opportunity and it is open to everyone to take part!

Its clear that Eric Pickles, Nick Boles and others are intent on supporting those who make plans in the 2014 model and have less friendly threats up their sleeve for those who do not.

Thank you for registering for information and do please tell others to join in. For those on Facebook or Twitter social media, there are links in the page banner above for you to pass this one to your networks.

Volunteers always welcome to join in, whether to help on particular topics, lend a hand when we have an event, or need to distribute leaflets, do some research, contribute articles, tell us about local issues and so on.

For general information contact us as above or email: info@cr3forum.uk.org

Some other topics that are being researched and discussed in groups and at public consultations

• Utilities. An Anaerobic Digester (Energy from waste), Solar farm and a new recycling site. Would the public buy shares in an AD plant if it gave a discount on power bills?
• For Chaldon, perhaps a subscription based scheme for a mobile mast and to extend high speed broadband.
• Leisure. Allotments and other leisure uses, call for land.
• Health. Extra capacity/or a site for more than one health centre and ideas to expand local hospital provision.
• Affordable Homes, as well as managed growth.
• Parking provision in key locations, incl stations & shops.
• Ways to encourage start up businesses locally
• Shopping and the overall centres. Choice/Convenience and a pleasant place to visit.
• Are there ways to make the Bourne's water a feature and an attraction, rather than a threat?