Blackheath Village Society Minutes 10th August 2022

Minutes of the Meeting Held at Theobalds on Wednesday 10th August 2022.

1. Present: David, Paul, Anne, Ralph, Laura, Shelley, Peter, Margaret & Simon. Apologies from Sam and Charlie.

2. Matters Arising from the Minutes held on 16th June 2022: The Minutes were approved.
a) David will draft an email for everyone’s consideration to emphasise the purpose and activities of the Blackheath Village Society and how we should support all of our local amenities, including the Cricket Club, Village Hall, and St Martin’s Church.
b) Members of the committee will provide Paul with their ideas of what should be included or excluded from our mailing list. It is important to categorise which items can be sent so that all the residents of Blackheath understand how the mailing list will be used.
c) As Sam was not at the meeting, we could not establish whether the Gift Aid Scheme has been revitalised by David Allen (Secretary of the Village Hall).

3. Jubilee Party:
It was agreed that this was a very successful event, and once we have heard back from Nick Harrison we will
contribute a donation of £1,000 to the Ukraine Local Resettlement Fund.
There are a number of Jubilee mugs available at £5 each, which can be sold during coffee mornings at the Village Hall and the summer BBQ, which is being arranged for the end of this month.

4. Blackheath Village Website:
Dave confirmed that he and Charlie met up with Graham Webb to discuss the village website. Although Toby Webb was originally going to design our website, he is now unavailable. Charlie has agreed to progress this. It has been suggested that we provide Charlie with a fee of £500 to carry out this on our behalf, which can be reviewed if the work is excessive. It is anticipated he will use WIX software which will provide us with the advantages of online blogs, emails, village events and updates on activities - eg: The Villagers Public House.
Simon confirmed that the old system is better for emails, but we should try and avoid having two systems for the website and emails. We will therefore ask Graham if the email system can be upgraded to include pictures rather than only text.
The use of the website was generally discussed. It was agreed that it should provide a one-stop notice board for residents and could provide a virtual Notice Board for the promotion of other activities for the common use of everyone in the village. It would be useful if the website could also be a platform for social media and it was suggested that perhaps a younger resident in the village could be involved with developing the website.

5. Bus Timetable:
A local complaint was made to the BVS that the 503 bus was not coming into Blackheath. David has checked with Waverley Borough Council and is waiting to hear back whether the 503 is still a regular service passing through the village twice a week.

6. The Villagers Pub:
Paul provided an update and confirmed that Waverley Borough Council would be serving an enforcement notice on Mr & Mrs Moore for non-compliance of Condition 2 of the original planning permission. It is uncertain how the Council will enforce this but we will continue to monitor the situation.
It was confirmed that the mobile coffee shop is operating successfully on Friday and Saturday mornings and has been very popular with both villagers and members of the public. Thanks were expressed to Peter for allowing this new business to operate from the car park.

7. Summer BBQ:
David provided an update on progress and was concerned that we have very little information regarding the number of residents, friends and family who will be attending the event. However, we will be progressing and Jackie Beadle has arranged games, Paul has an entertainer for the children and Ralph will organise a PA system and a playlist for the afternoon.
We will ask everyone to bring salads and pudding as usual and joints of lamb and pork will be provided for the event. It was suggested that we invite the new countryside ranger (Lucy) and David will call Waverley to invite her. It was also agreed that David would contact Kate Bendy (through Nick Harrison), who may be interested in working on the day and assisting us with the summer BBQ.

8. Wonersh Parish Council:
Max provided a comprehensive update of his activities as our new parish councillor.
He confirmed that the Seminary in Wonersh has been sold and will arrange for an email to be sent to the village regarding the consultation being organised by the local Council.
Waverley has confirmed that they will be responsible for the verges and Paul provided Max with information regarding the verges in the village. He will speak to them to see if they will carry out the improvements and if this is not the case, we will try and arrange a working party to attend to the more critical issues. The idea of painting a red line on either side of the road was discussed and rejected. Max confirmed that the local Council has more trees for us to plant, but at this present time we will not be actioning this proposal.
There is also a promotion of the 20 mph national speed limit, which may possibly be implemented in Blackheath and Max will keep us updated. Max explained that there were some inaccuracies in the Waverley Borough Council signs on Blackheath Common and there are proposals to have these amended and updated, which could include additional information about Blackheath Village and QR codes for the public to obtain further information.

9. Land at the Village Hall:
Simon confirmed that one of the plots had been purchased with combined funding from Brian Monk, Colin &
Graham Hayward, Nick Morris, and David Allen.
A further plot towards the end of the village has been purchased by a third party - Rahes Jecan. It is extremely unlikely that he will obtain planning permission and Peter stated that any purchaser would require his permission to cross over private land to obtain access to any of the plots.

10. Cricket Club:
Simon advised us that one of the trees to the car park’s entrance had fallen and two further poplar trees will need to be felled as they are also rotten at their base. There is a wedding on Friday evening this week which is probably the one and only major event being held this summer.

11. Wildfires:
Some residents have expressed their concerns about the possibility of wildfires on Blackheath Common.

Simon suggested that we contact Waverley Borough Council to have the fire beaters re-installed across the heath and this was agreed as a good idea. We will prepare a sign for residents and visitors to inform them about being careful and who to contact if they see or know of a possible fire. We will advise all residents not to have BBQs and fires during the present heatwave and to call 999 if required.
Paul will provide signs which we he will have printed in A3 format and distributed around the village and on the common.

12. Any Other Business:
The possibility of holding a village fair in 2023 will be discussed at the next meeting.

13. Next Meeting:
To be held at Heath House on Tuesday 27th September 2022. David will join us by Zoom, as he is away during the month.