Blackheath Village Society Minutes 18th January 2024

Minutes of the Meeting Held at Theobalds on 18th January 2024

Present: David, Paul, Simon, Ranald, Laura and Max
Apologies: Anne, Ralph and Charlie

1. The minutes of the meeting held on 15th November 2023 were agreed with the following matters arising:
a) The “This Way That Way Sign” has now been erected, and thanks were conveyed to Peter Walshaw.
b) It was confirmed that Charlie has stepped down from the Committee but will still administrate the website and carry out other works with designing signs and posters for the BVS.
c) Laura has kindly offered to liaise with the Village Hall and obtain the minutes of their meetings to keep us in touch with their activities.
d) David will provide Paul with all the money collected from the Boxing Day walk and Christmas party to be counted and banked at HSBC.  Paul will advise the Committee of the amounts raised for charity at the next meeting.
e) Thanks were conveyed to Luke Dunkley for organising the Boxing Day walk last year.

2. Village Fair for 2024:
During previous meetings, we were discussing the possibility of only organising on a bi-annual basis.  However, after serious debate, we are pleased to announce that Ranald has volunteered to head up the fair for 2024.  He will endeavour to encourage as many volunteers as possible to run stalls and will put together a team to assist this year. It was agreed that a meeting will be held on Monday 22nd January with Simon, David, Laura and Max to provide Ranald with all the information, including spreadsheets and plans for the successful operation of this year's fair.

Laura suggested that all the existing stall holders from last year are contacted to ensure will also commit to this year. This will be discussed at the next meeting to confirm that there was enough enthusiasm in the village for the fair to proceed.

3. The Villagers Pub:
Paul provided the Committee with a general update and confirmed that the owner of the Villagers Pub will be submitting a further application for a change of use. He has been informed by Tim Inskip (Planning Enforcement Officer) that there is a minor amendment required to validate this application and at this point we will be informed when it is logged on the website at Waverley Borough Council.

4. Village Website:
The Committee would like to thank Charlie for all his work and input in developing and running the village website, which includes advertising all of the events that affect local residents and indicates that we are an active village.

Simon explained that while we had an excellent website, we still needed to produce leaflets and be actively involved with the Blackheath community when advertising events run by the BVS, Cricket Club, St Martin’s Church and the Village Hall.

5. Blackheath Woodland:
Both vans are still in place, and at least one of the large white vans is untaxed and not MOT’d.

6. Flooding and Verge Repairs:
Max has agreed to follow up with Waverley Borough Council about the proposed soakaways, as designed by David Bushill.

It was agreed that the culverts and ditches need to be cleared along Blackheath Lane from the crossroads to the end of the village. Simon will therefore arrange a working party for Saturday 24th February 2024, and advise the owners of the houses adjoining Blackheath Lane that they have a responsibility to clear the ditches and culverts adjacent to their houses. An email will be sent around the village, and it will be posted on our website.

It was also acknowledged that the sturdy oak posts forming the traffic calming pinch points need to be replaced in both Littleford Lane and Sampleoak Lane.  Paul suggested that 100 x 100 x 1.8m oaks posts would cost £40 plus VAT, and it may be sensible to arrange another working party to have these replaced where necessary.

7. Wonersh Parish Council:
Max brought the Committee up to date with the proposals by Surrey County Council for 20mph restrictions in built up areas and windy roads. These proposals have been put to Wonersh Parish Council and they in turn have asked the local villages which would include 20mph repeater signs.

The Committee agreed that we would like more official signs at the three entry points to the village (perhaps under the existing oak road signs) but would not encourage further road furniture within the village itself.

Max will follow this up with the parish and highways department to establish what this would entail if we agreed to a 20mph limit.

8. The Village Hall:
At some stage, there may be a requirement to combine both the Village Hall Committee and the BVS Committee to work together as one cohesive Committee acting on behalf of the residents of Blackheath.  David will contact Graham Hayward (Chairman of the Village Hall Committee) to say that we are open to discussions but will leave this initiative in their hands if it is something they would like to pursue in the future.

9. Cricket Club:
Simon confirmed that a quiz night has been arranged for Saturday 3rd February 2024 and another email will be distributed in the village advertising the event.

10. Any Other Business:
a) Dave confirmed that Jayne Barlow will be leaving the village soon, and we would like to recognise both her involvement in providing the village with archive material and recognise the time and involvement that she has had with village activities throughout many years of residency in Blackheath.
b) Simon confirmed that the small shed to the back of the large shed adjacent to the Village Hall needs to be re-felted.  Simon and Max agreed that they would carry out this work on behalf of the BVS.

11. Next Meeting:
To be held at Aston Cottage on 29th February 2024 at 7.30pm.
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Blackheath Village Society
http://www.blackheathsurrey.co.uk
Tel: 01483 790000 Mob: 07768850003 Email: paul@bil.uk.com
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