4 March 2009
EGM Reeves Room, Parish Church Hall, 7.30pm

Item 1: Apologies for absence.

Item 2: Motion: the committee proposes that LeatherheadAhead be wound up, the bank account be closed down, and the money remaining in the bank account (£78.55) be donated to the Leatherhead Residents Association.

The motion was duly proposed and seconded. It was unanimously approved.

Item 3: Final words: these included thanks from the meeting to the committee for their effective work and all present wished the Leatherhead Residents Association well and hoped that they would be just as vigilant and effective on the kind of issues that had concerned LeatherheadAhead.

September 2007
Response from Leatherhead Tomorrow to our concerns re the proposals for redevelopment of Church Street.

August 2007
LeatherheadAhead, and many other people, are very concerned about the redesign proposals put forward for Church Street.

The Leatherhead Healthcheck was undertaken as a means of finding out what the people who use Leatherhead wanted for the town, and therefore future projects should reflect their wishes. After wide ranging consultations, the Leatherhead Tomorrow report actually says, in many places, that people wanted more ‘pop and shop’ parking spaces (eg. “All the questionnaires, surveys and discussions have called for more parking, free or cheaper parking, and the opportunity for half hour ‘pop and shop’ parking”), and in fact objective TA5.4 states “To work with Mole Valley District Council to provide more free ‘pop and shop’ parking especially close to the centre with Leret Way being one possible location”.

We are therefore concerned that a plan is being put forward to the Local committee in September, which takes away 5/6 parking spaces.
letter to Leatherhead Tomorrow

June 2007
25 June: The next public showing of the evolving designs for Church Street will be at the theatre on 13th July 10.00 to 4.30pm and 14th July 09.00 to 1.00pm. During the following week the illustrations will be available in the Help Shop and possibly in the window of one of the premises in Church Street.

20 June: Chris Grayling, MP for Epsom has sent the following, which may be you can support tonight.

"As you probably know, the Epsom and St. Helier Trust Board, despite the best efforts of large numbers of people who turned up to protest last Friday, has decided to press ahead with the closure of Epsom's inpatient maternity and children's services. The plan will now have to go to public consultation, and so we will have one last opportunity to fight the plans.

So we are going to have a public meeting on Wednesday June 20th at St. Joseph's Church Hall, in St. Margaret's Drive, Epsom at 8.00pm. The meeting will update people who were not there last Friday and will kick off our planned campaign against the proposals.

Please do come if you can and please circulate this email to anyone else who might like to come along.

April 2007
We have been asked by the Leatherhead Tomorrow group to forward the message below:  
"The new Waiting Restrictions for parking in Leatherhead High Street have now been in place for 6 months. The Leatherhead Tomorrow Steering Group are now keen to ask how people think they are working.  Please let them know by way of the questionnaire to be found on their web site at www.leatherheadtomorrow.co.uk "

The result of the questionnaire will be forwarded to Surrey County Council to help them consider whether to retain or modify the new waiting restrictions, so please do fill out the questionnaire.  There isn't a 'comments' box, but questions 3 and 4 will give you the opportunity to say what you think should be done.   In order to reach as many people as possible, please forward this to anyone you know, who may want to comment.

Please be advised that the Annual General Meeting of Leatherhead Ahead, will be held on Tuesday, 17 April 2007, at 8.00pm.    It will take place in the Reeves Room, 1st floor of the Parish Church Hall, Church Road, Leatherhead.  
David Smith, Chairman of the new Leatherhead Residents Association, will be saying a few words.

There is to be 'an interactive public exhibition event' ie. a consultation re 'the 'Church Street Urban Design Project, Leatherhead', as initiated by the Leatherhead Tomorrow group. Jacobs UK Ltd, who are apparently 'Urban Design' consultants, will be running this.
It will be held on Saturday 26 May, from 9am to 1pm.on the Mezzanine Floor of Leatherhead Theatre.

February 2007
Letter to Leatherhead Advertiser re new waiting restrictions in the High Street.

June 2006
20 June: While we all want the High Street clear of traffic when it is supposed to be pedestrianised, these new waiting restrictions will effectively re-pedestrianise Leatherhead High Street. Last time this happened a vast majority of shops closed down, and Leatherhead only came back to life when the compromise of part-time closure was put into operation. It was not just the introduction of new restaurants that brought Leatherhead back to life, although this has helped.

If you haven't already sent in your objection, the deadline is 23 June.

Grounds for objecting must be in writing, quoting ref: 17/8/GEN/MV/AK and sent to: S. Lee, Head of Transportation, South-West Area Office, Cross Lanes, Guildford GU1 1FA.

5 June : Last week, Surrey County Council put a Traffic Order relating to Leatherhead High Street in the Leatherhead Advertiser, with new waiting restrictions between the hours of 8am and 6.30pm.

At present, cars are allowed to park in the High Street before 10am and after 4.30pm, which they won't be able to do if the waiting restrictions are put into operation.

There was no mention of this Traffic Order in the main body of the Leatherhead Advertiser or the Surrey Advertiser and therefore most people will not see it. There has therefore not been proper consultation by Surrey County Council over changes to the High Street which will affect a lot of people.

Please read the press release [pdf file], which will explain the traffic order and tell you who to write to if you want to object/comment. You now have less than 3 weeks!

May 2006
Attention of members drawn to the page of the MVDC web site which gives everyone a chance to comment on their Draft Parking Strategy, which is a summary from the report submitted by Colin Buchanan Parking Consultants. Please look at the Strategy and send any comments you may have to MVDC by end of May 2006 via the link provided on the following page:

http://www.mole-valley.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=3015

April 2006
The 4th Annual General Meeting of Leatherhead AHEAD will take place on Friday, 7 April 2006 at 7.30 pm in the Reeves Room of The Parish Church Hall, Church Road, Leatherhead. All Leatherhead AHEAD supporters are cordially invited to attend.

January 2006
Leatherhead Healthcheck launches Final Report
The Leatherhead Tomorrow volunteer team has spent some nine months questioning, surveying and probing opinions in Leatherhead and the surrounding villages about what people want from the town. Their final report will be launched on Wednesday 25 January at the St Mary & St Nicholas parish church hall in Leatherhead.

Everyone is welcome to come to the hall from 12.30 pm onwards to view displays of the key findings, the project ideas for improvements and to chat with the team members in an informal atmosphere.

The official launch of the report will take place at 7.30 pm, with formal presentations and the opportunity to ask questions on the wide ranging issues raised. The report sets out a vision for the Leatherhead of tomorrow and the means by which it can be achieved.

Steering Group Chairman, Colin Langley says" From our consultations we see how Leatherhead can be a vibrant, attractive and self assured town that will satisfy the needs of all sectors of the town and surrounding communities. To make this happen we are proposing eight objectives and some 100 project ideas. Some we can get on with straight away as the need is the will and peoples' commitment. Others will require careful planning, active partnerships and effective fund raising."

"Whether it is a better range of shops, how to make more of the river, a more harmonious High Street, a thriving theatre, more community events, improved access and transport or the many other facilities and services that affect the quality of life in the area, the displays and report will have the information. On show will be what people from the communities of northern Mole valley want for the future.

To implement the recommendations will require community and commercial support and close partnership with Mole Valley District Council and Surrey County Council. Colin Langley added "We shall be looking for lots of individuals to work in our project teams. They will have the satisfaction of knowing they can make a positive difference to so many facets of life in the Leatherhead area."

October 2005
Message from the Chairman of Ashtead Residents Association passed on to Leatherhead AHEAD members, about Epsom Hospital. Paula Sabine added: "I thought I'd send it out as it is so important that we don't lose the A&E facility at Epsom."; see via www.ashteadresidents.org.uk

September 2005
Quiz Night LeatherheadAHEAD are again holding a Quiz Night, on behalf of the Leatherhead Festival Committee, to raise money for the Christmas Festivities. This year, the Quiz will take place on Saturday, 15 October at 7.30pm, in the Parish Church Hall, Leatherhead. Tickets are £10 per person, which includes a Fish and Chip supper. Please bring your own drinks and glasses etc. There will be a raffle.

Quiz teams are to be a maximum of eight people, but can be less - if anyone without a team would like to attend, we will join you up with other people. Last year, 14 teams battled it out; over 100 people enjoyed the evening, raising a massive £1000. Please come and support us. If you are unable to attend the quiz night, raffle tickets can still be bought. Tickets for the quiz, and/or raffle, can be obtained from P Sabine on 378604, V Wilson on 378125 or the Help Shop, Leatherhead High Street.

April 2005
The candidates standing for the Leatherhead and Fetcham East seat on Surrey County Council in the May 2005 election are: Timothy Raymond (commonly known as Tim) Hall (Conservative), Paula Susan Sabine (Independent), David Harry Smith (Liberal Democrat), Heather Lynn Ward (Labour). Paula Sabine is Chairman of LeatherheadAhead and is standing as an Independent in her private capacity and not as LeatherheadAhead candidate. At her request a link is provided to her election leaflet (as an Acrobat™ pdf file).

March 2005

PHASE II - Final huge costs - press release 9 March 2005 and text of letter from Mr Roger Archer-Reeves (as Acrobat™ file)

Chairman Paula Sabine is on the Leatherhead Tomorrow Steering Group
Leatherhead Tomorrow is a 9-12 month project to undertake a Market Town Healthcheck for Leatherhead and its surrounding catchment area communities - Ashtead, Fetcham, Bookham, Mickleham, Boxhill and Headley.  

It aims to find out what works to the satisfaction of those communities and what doesn't meet their aspirations and needs.  The outcome will be do-able action plans that build on the strengths found and address the weaknesses, as far as practicably possible.  There is a 14 strong Steering Group of volunteers (which includes LeatherheadAhead) representative of the communities with support from MVDC and SCC, and a project co-ordinator has been appointed.  

The further purpose is to develop the plans in a way that can be presented to funding bodiesin order to acquire what may be substantial funds to carry out the action plans. meetings and presentations have been given in the area.

Feb 2005 - Press correspondence on Parking in Leatherhead
23 Feb letter in the Leatherhead Advertiser on the Bull Hotel site - last chance for parking near the centre of Leatherhead
10 Feb letter to the press opposing the proposed increase from 40p to 50p in the parking charge in Leatherhead.

December 2004 - message from Paula Sabine, Chairman: I would like to wish everyone a very happy Christmas. I hope that 2005 will see everybody - Residents, Businesses, our MP and of course Mole Valley and Surrey Councils - working together for the good of Leatherhead.

October 2004 - also see Helpful points including a note about the map links

QUIZ NIGHT In line with our declared objective of helping Leatherhead to survive and prosper, Leatherhead AHEAD, on behalf of the Leatherhead Festival Committee, held a Quiz Night on 23rd October to raise money for the Christmas Festivities in Leatherhead. 14 teams battled it out, with the ‘The Four Tops’ team winning by 3 points.

Over 100 people enjoyed the evening, which included a delicious fish and chip supper. There was an impressive raffle and we are very grateful to all the retailers and others who donated prizes, and to all those who bought raffle tickets. It was a very enjoyable and successful evening and the final total raised was a massive £1000.

Many thanks to everybody who supported the Quiz Night. Leatherhead AHEAD hope to make this an annual event.

July 2004

Paula Sabine provides notes of the points put to two top officers from Surrey County Council Transportation Department who accompanied her and Mike Lewis and John Howarth (President of Leatherhead Chamber of Commerce) on a two hour walkabout in Leatherhead town centre on 9th July. Now added - the reply, 19 July, from the Head of Transportation, Surrey County Council

A report in the 8 July edition of the Leatherhead Advertiser includes quotes from Leatherhead AHEAD on the parking problems being caused by some Travelodge customers. A meeting of interested parties is being held - report

Reply from KPMG to our letter of 15 March in which we provided a copy of our Review of the Phase II works and asked for a thorough post-completion audit of the works to be carried out (reminder sent 4 May). It concludes [their punctuation]:
"We have, concluded on the basis of the evidence made available to us, that no further action is required of either the County Council, or ourselves, in respect of the matters you have raised with us.
Whilst I recognise that our findings may come as a disappointment to you, I would like to thank you for taking the time to bring these issues to our attention"

June 2004

22 June: Leatherhead Forum - Environmental Audit - print off the questionnaire and have your say by completing this survey received from MVDC and sending it back either via the Leatherhead Help Shop, 25-27 High Street, Leatherhead marked for the attention of Heather Ward, or by post to Rod Shaw, Mole Valley District Council, Pippbrook, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 1SJ. The deadline is 19 July 2004.

May 2004

31 May: Press release of 24 May 2004 on: the launch of this website; congratulations to Richard Houghton and his committee on the first Leatherhead Drama Festival (which we promoted on this website); welcome to new businesses in the town.
21 May: many new images added to our developing reference point Leatherhead Road & Pedestrian Signs Directory - see Signs Directory or via Useful Links
17 May: Leatherhead's Travelodge opens
8 May: Link provided to the Epsom Hospital Campaign - with many others, we wish to lend our support to this campaign, which requires your action as soon as possible - decision day is June 17th
6-8 May: We supported the Leatherhead Drama Festival by featuring it on our home page

6 May: Launch of this website L-R: Mike Lewis, Valerie Wilson, Frank Haslam (website provider), Paula Sabine, Wendy Reid, Hugh Mackenzie, Andy Cole, John Howarth, President of the Leatherhead Chamber of Commerce. There will be more news on the launch in the local media w/c 17 May. image source: Bruce Reid

3 May: Our response to Mr Paul Coen, Chief Executive of Surrey County Council on his reply to the report we wrote reviewing the most recent (Phase 2) work at the crossroads. We say:

"I appreciate that you do not agree with our opinion regarding the Phase 2 works, but would like you to read the attached document which invalidates the reply by Roger Archer-Reeves."

... "The situation is, to put it bluntly, that Surrey County Council have ‘screwed up’ over the Phase 2 works and owe it to the people of Leatherhead to make amends. For example, there are some remedies to some of the problems in Leatherhead that could be instigated if Surrey County Council had a will to do it. I would like you to take a personal interest and meet with me (not the Councils) in Leatherhead so you can see for yourself what the policies of Surrey County Council have done to our beloved town."