Leatherhead AHEAD
Moving our town forward - together

Chairman’s report for AGM on 14 March 2003

It is now just over 12 months ago that a group of like-minded, non political residents met together to discuss the latest Surrey County and Mole Valley District Council proposals for investment in Leatherhead, collectively called the Phase 2 works. All were concerned that this proposed investment by the Councils of some £600,000 (later to rise to £750,000) failed completely to address the fundamental reasons for the Town of Leatherhead’s decline – namely restricted access and parking. Both these deficiencies had been highlighted in previously commissioned studies, the recommendations of which had for the most part been completely ignored by the authorities concerned.

It was therefore decided to form an action group to fight against the implementation of the Phase 2 proposals, and Leatherhead AHEAD was born.

Specifically, we have asked for the Phase 2 proposals to be amended as follows:

• Abandon the construction of the water feature as currently designed
• Re-engineer the provision of ramps for the disabled
• Capitalise on the opportunity these changes provide by opening up the link between Church Street and North Street in a safe and controlled way
• Incorporate a provision for more FREE on-street parking and more off-street parking in Leatherhead.
• At the very least to postpone phase 2 until another up-to-date public consultation takes place, to give Leatherhead residents and traders the chance to agree the best way forward in order to ensure rapid restoration of Leatherhead to the thriving town it used to be.

As we had heard that ‘certain’ councillors were dismissing us as ‘a small group of people making a loud noise’, we took immediate action to show that there was public support for our proposals, and the response throughout our campaign has been quite magnificient.

Much of the specific action we have under-taken will be well known to most of you here this evening, and therefore rather than detailing a blow by blow account, I will merely highlight a few key areas of activity:

• We prepared a petition against the phase 2 works – high-lighting the water feature element - which was signed by over 4000 people.
• We organised a very successful protest meeting at the old Thorndike Theatre on 28 April last year attended by over 500 people, and obtained almost 100% backing for our proposed amendments to the Phase 2 scheme.
• On June 19th we made submissions to the Council appointed consultant Professor Whitelegg both privately and at a Public Meeting organised by the Councils and again held in the Thorndike. In our presentations we made very specific recommendations aimed at improving access to, and parking in the Town. To date these proposals have been largely ignored.
• We have constantly lobbied Councillors to abandon or modify the water feature/ramp proposals, and address the access and parking problems in the town. This action has been undertaken by means of direct contact, e-mail and direct letter submissions, and by means of our weekly press releases. The press releases have been particularly well-received and commented on not only by the local papers (Leatherhead and Surrey Advertiser) but also by the many traders in the Town.
• We have made sure that we have had representatives at key Council meetings when Leatherhead Town Centre issues have been addressed, and when given the opportunity to make our views heard at these meetings, have certainly done so. This was particularly the case just before Christmas last year when the Council announced that because of construction/ engineering problems they had been forced to abandon the construction of the water feature element of Phase 2 works at the crossroads.
• On 6th November, we organised a meeting which was attended by representatives of the key “stakeholder” groups in Leatherhead. The objective of the meeting was to evaluate the current situation pertaining in the Town, and agree a joint policy for future action which would be conveyed to appropriate personnel in both Surrey County and Mole Valley District Councils. A letter was sent to the Councils requesting that they take the opportunity provided by the cessation of the phase 2 works over Christmas, to re-consult with stakeholder groups and agree the best way forward in order to ensure rapid restoration of Leatherhead to being a lively, prosperous and attractive town in which to live, shop and work. Apart from Leatherhead AHEAD, the letter was signed by the Chairmen of the following groups: Leatherhead and District Chamber of Commerce, Leatherhead Community Association, Leatherhead and District Countryside Protection Society and the Disability Action Group. The Leatherhead Society, who had also attended the meeting, felt unable to sign, on the basis that the letter also proposed re-opening the crossroads, and I quote from their newsletter “to allow full vehicle access up the High Street” - this rationale was totally incorrect, as the letter said absolutely nothing about the crossroads or the high street. The letter only asked for the work to stop and for consultation to then take place. As you will know from the chaos still existing at the crossroads in the town, this request was also ignored.

So what have been the key achievements of Leatherhead AHEAD over the last 12 months? I would summarise them as follows:-

• We have been recognised by friend and foe alike as a dedicated, well-organised focus group whose activities and degree of support cannot be ignored. Press, and even Councillors have paid tribute to our communications effectiveness.
• The involvement of Professor John Whitelegg was a direct result of the council having to respond to Leatherhead AHEAD's public meeting. The Whitelegg Report paid tribute to us as being an ‘energetic and dynamic group’, and we have no doubt that many of the criticisms made of the Councils in his report were the result of the private and public submissions we had made to him. You may recall that in his report the Professor was critical of the Councils’ communication procedures, and their lack of action on implementing proposals contained in previous studies for regenerating the Town.
• The water feature has been abandoned. However, the chief credit for this must go to the Councils whose pre-planning into the proposals and overall project management were such that they found the scheme impossible to implement, BUT we can take some credit in that the councils have at last recognised that the majority of residents of the town have wanted nothing to do with it (the ‘lack of ownership’ factor as the Councils described it).
• The Council have now set up various consultative bodies, such as the Town Centre Forum working groups on parking and the Red House Grounds, and the Leatherhead Web site working group. Leatherhead AHEAD have representatives on all these working groups, as well as the Town Centre Forum itself. We have also been invited to attend other consultative meetings.

What for the future? As well as continuing to sit on the various consultative groups already mentioned, we intend to:

• Monitor the ramp and other features installed at the crossroads. We remain totally opposed to the work at this location, which is now almost 6 months over its originally estimated completion date of last October. We will press for a total breakdown of auditable costs once this work is completed, and we will monitor the impact of this investment on the town. We will take whatever action is required in order to have confirmation from the pertinent authorities that the Councils have invested monies, made available to them, in the most effective and responsible manner. We believe they will find the task an impossible one.
• We will continue to press for improved access and parking in the town. We are delighted to see the new shops coming into the town, but it is vital that they stay. This will not happen unless access, parking, and therefore footfall, is greatly improved.

Finally I would just like to pay a tribute to the very hard, completely voluntary work of my Committee, and to all our supporters, particularly our families, without whose continued active backing nothing would have been, or will be achieved, in our efforts to rejuvenate this lovely old Town at the Crossroads.