Leatherhead AHEAD
Moving our town forward - together

Chairman’s report for AGM on 12 March 2004

Leatherhead AHEAD has now been operating for 2 years. We originally set up to oppose the Phase 2 works because they did not address the main problems influencing the prosperity of this much loved town, namely access and parking, and we regarded the project as a mis-use of public money. Our view and that of our many supporters has not changed in that regard.

In last year’s Chairman’s report, I talked about our future actions:

Firstly, I said that when the Phase 2 project was finally completed we would press for a total breakdown of the auditable costs. We have now written a letter to Paul Coen, the Chief Executive Officer, for Surrey County Council asking him to disclose the final auditable cost of the Phase 2 works, broken down into detailed cost elements. We have also sent him a report which reviews the whole project from the original proposal in 2000, up to October 2003 when it was finally completed.

Secondly, I said that we would monitor the ramp and other features installed at the crossroads. Since the opening of the ramps, their use has been monitored on eight different days – both before and after addition of the cladding – at different daylight hours, by pairs of observers, for a total of 19½ hours. We have not seen one person, able nor disabled, use the ramps during any of the monitoring periods. We believe that this was a representative sampling from which it must be concluded that the ramps are used, if ever, only on the rare occasion. We are calling upon the Council to verify this by appointing an independent agency to carry out its own monitoring and to publish its results.

Thirdly, I said that we would continue to press for 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. Leatherhead AHEAD have representatives on the Town Centre Forum working groups on parking, the Red House Grounds and Councillor Heather Ward’s Vision Working Group, as well as on the Town Centre Forum itself. We are also members of the Christmas Festival working group and we had a representative working with Mole Valley District Council to set up the Leatherhead Web site.

I believe that there is more than one way to help Leatherhead. One way is to hold promotional events like the Christmas Festival, held each year, and the new Drama Festival which will hopefully become a yearly event as well. Both these and other events bring people into the town. However, another way, is to work on improving the infrastructure of the town, such as improving the access, getting more parking provided both short term and long term, and getting better signage put into place to enable visitors to the town to be able to find their way around and get to the car parks.

Various individuals and the Councils have criticised Leatherhead AHEAD for being negative about the town. However we do not criticise the town, only the Councils for not listening to residents and business, and for not doing enough to provide access and parking which is vital to the success of any town. I believe that while it is good to build bridges and relationships with others, it is vital to stand up and say when something isn’t working and then provide possible solutions, and it is vital to stand up and say when something is being done that is detrimental to Leatherhead’s success. Professor John Whitelegg said at the public meeting in June 2002, that there was a “serious breakdown in trust and confidence” between the people of Leatherhead and the Councils”. So far, there seems to be little sign that the councils are concerned about this.

As long ago as 1982, the Leatherhead Advertiser wrote an article about Taylors, the toy shop, closing down (they used to be where Mores is now). Apparently the shop was losing £2,000 a month since the introduction of the one-way system. The owner of Taylors blamed not only the road system for his drop in trade, but also said that the lack of parking facilities and the attitude of the council were also responsible.

Since then, more parking places have been removed.

However, at last, it has been recognised by the Council that parking in Leatherhead is an issue, but what does Mole Valley District Council do, but increase the parking charges for 2 hour and 3 hour parking in Leatherhead and Dorking, just at a time when they should be doing everything possible to encourage shoppers to come into the town. Ashtead and Bookham 2hr and 3hr charges are not being increased – the reasons being that “we must maintain the economic viability of our villages as traders feel very threatened whenever car parking charges rise, because obviously their livelihood depends on the use of the car parks.” This statement applies to both Leatherhead and Dorking as well. Without the traders and businesses, there will be no town.

Since Leatherhead AHEAD started up, the following things have improved:

The profile of Leatherhead has been raised;
More traders have moved in;
The Town Centre Forum working groups have been set up;
The Town Centre Forum has a new chairman, who is now promoting a ‘vision’ for Leatherhead;
The Christmas Festival has been better publicised;
A web site has been set up to promote Leatherhead;
A town directory has been published;
More on-street parking has been provided; and
A new Town Centre Manager, with marketing experience, has been appointed.

Leatherhead AHEAD will continue to fight for Leatherhead. We will continue to work on the working groups that I have mentioned, and on the Town Centre Forum itself, working with the Chamber of Commerce, Councillors and all the other stakeholder groups in Leatherhead. We aim to make the Town Centre Forum strong enough so that the Councils will listen to it, rather than it being just a ‘talking shop’. We will also be supporting the Theatre which, without any help from the Council, is trying to re-establish itself as an entertainment and conference centre.

Leatherhead AHEAD will continue to press the Mole Valley and Surrey County councils to improve access and parking, and to listen to the views of both residents and traders. We look forward to working with Lucy Hanson, the new Town Centre Manager.

Finally I would again like to pay 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.

Paula Sabine
12 March 2004