Blackheath Village Society Minutes 28th January 2025

Minutes of the Meeting Held at Theobalds on Tuesday, 28th January 2025
Present: David, Paul, Ralph, Laura, Max and Ranald. Apologies: Anne and Simon

1. Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday, 26th November 2024, were approved
with the following matters arising:

a) Ranald confirmed that he has moved out of the village to Ewhurst, but would still like
to be involved with the BVS Committee. This was unanimously agreed and we are
delighted that he would still like to be involved.

b) The Christmas party went very well and everyone thanked Max for his hard work, as
without Max’s involvement, the Christmas party would not have happened. David gave a
bottle of champagne to the competition winner and approximately £40 was in the charity
box, which was to be credited to the BVS account.

2. Village Fair (2025):
The fair sub-committee is happy to act on behalf of the BVS, but would like to delegate
responsibilities for running this year's fair. We agreed to arrange a recruitment and
information meeting on Wednesday, 12th February 2025.

Part of this drive will be to encourage certain villagers to attend and it has been
suggested that we contact Andy Taylor (David), Tim and Sarah Stevens (Paul) and Steve
Briggs (Ralph). This meeting will be held at either the Village Hall or the Cricket Club,
depending on availability, with the primary purpose of establishing interest in this year's
fair and recruiting volunteers. David will draft an email to be sent to residents, once the
venue has been arranged.

An initial meeting will be held at Theobalds by the fair sub-committee on Tuesday, 4th
February 2025, at 7:30 pm to discuss the format and aims of the village meeting to be
held the following week.
We will endeavour to put out road signs and erect stalls a week earlier than last year.

3. Village Street Party (2025):
While we are keen on holding the street party, Ralph will speak to Billie to ensure she is
happy with the arrangements.
The target date is Monday 26th May 2025, and Jayne Barlow has agreed to create an
archive of Billie's life in the village together with new photographs that will be taken on
the day.
The format will be as arranged in the past, with residents bringing their own dish and we
would utilise as many tables and chairs as we have available to us for outside use. The
road will be closed with permission from the local Council, and the BVS will provide a
BBQ and Pimms tent with a limited number of games for the children. Ralph will provide
music on the day, and we will discuss details for the event closer to the event.

3. Village Signs and Security:
The village signs have now been secured and CCTV signs are in place. Thanks to Max’s
endeavours with Wonersh Parish Council, who contributed a grant of £1,000 and the
VAT was also covered with a net cost to the BVS of £238. The traffic calming posts are
now in place and Paul has written to the Parish Council to thank them for their
assistance and contributions.

4. Wonersh Parish Council:
Max (as our Parish Councillor) provided an update on the continued issues with ditches
and culverts in the village. The culverts have blocked up again due to the amount of rain
we have experienced recently, and it will take a number of weeks for these to be cleared.
The County Council confirmed that they can't upgrade the ditches, and new soakaways
in two locations will be considerably too expensive for the Council to consider. We may
wish to accept open basins at both the crossroads and in Blackheath Lane, but there is
still the issue of how the silt is deposited when these open basins are cleared out.
This situation will continue to be discussed between Surrey County Council and
Wonersh Parish Council. It will be included as an item on the agenda at this year’s AGM
in Blackheath Village.
The Drewitt’s who live in Blackheath Farm have erected a fence adjacent to the old
allotments, which it was agreed was rather unsightly and provides a suburban look to the
entrance of the village. Max will ask Steve Drewitt if he intends to introduce some
planting to mask the fencing.

5. The Villagers Pub:
Paul confirmed that there are no further updates, as we are still waiting for the judge to
quash the planning permission as a result of the recent Judicial Review process.
Furthermore, costs have been awarded against Waverley Borough Council and the BVS
is waiting for the legal department to confirm the position on this matter. Paul is now
issuing a complaint against the Council with the Ombudsman after completing the Levels
1 & 2 complaint procedures. The BVS Committee will be advised of progress with the
Judicial Review and with the help of the Ombudsman, instruct the Council to take
enforcement action for non-compliance of the 2017 planning conditions.

6. Cricket Club:
The recent quiz night held on Saturday was extremely successful and attended by both
villagers and members of the cricket club.
Ralph has been in communication with Nick Harrison (Chairman) and it was agreed that
the suggested jazz night should be promoted by both the BVS and the cricket club to be
held in March 2025. Ralph expects in excess of 50 people at £25 a head will attend, but
it was proposed that both the BVS and the cricket club with underwrite the minimum
amount of £1,250. This will be discussed with the cricket club accordingly.
Ranald enquired whether sponsorship signs could be attached to the nets at the rear of
the cricket club to raise further funding, which was not opposed by any Committee
members.

7. Any Other Business:
a) Max raised the point about the unsightly increase in number of poo bags being hung
on branches throughout Blackheath Common and enquired whether we should address
this issue.
It was agreed that Max would communicate with Wonersh Parish Council to enquire if
the BVS provides the appropriate bins in the two car parks, they will agree to clear them
on a weekly basis. If this is agreed, we will send an email to the residents to ensure that
the majority supports this initiative.

b) There has been a suggestion by the Labour Party to implement the changes with
District Councils with a view to amalgamating them into much larger unitary Councils. It
has been argued that this will not serve the local communities and is not a solution to
creating growth. However, this transfer of power and change in structures within the
local community (including Surrey) will be further set out in the upcoming English
Devolution White Paper. Max will keep the Committee updated.

8 Next Meeting:
It was agreed that the next BVS meeting would be held at Theobalds on Thursday 10
April 2025 at 7:30 pm.

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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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