N E W S L E T T E R Issue 9 October 2013

Page 1 www.churchcrookham.org.uk I s s u e 9

Welcome to Church Crookham Parish Council's 9th newsletter. The Parish Council

has recently appointed two new residents from Crookham Park, however a

vacancy still remains, so if anyone with a will and passion to help support the local

community and area is interested in joining too please contact the Parish Clerk on

01252 626793 or email clerk@churchcrookham.org.uk.

The Parish Council has had a positive spring and summer. As well as the usual

Parish Council business we have made progress with plans for the new

community centre, allotments and play spaces on Crookham Park. A new Street

Snooker facility, launched at the Peter Driver Sports Ground in July is proving

popular with families and local children and we have been assisting the Friends of

Azalea Park group to provide a new footpath, benches and litter bins, as well as helping at the Activity Day in May, organised

by Fleet and Church Crookham Society. Many local volunteers have done a great job to tidy up litter, paint the wooden

boundary fences and prepare new planting beds. It is wonderful to hear how popular the revitalised park has become.

The Parish Council has arranged for the War Memorial on Gally Hill Road to be cleaned and for a new plaque to be added in

order to commemorate the local people who have given their lives for the country during the Second World War and in more

recent conflicts.

Also details of the Parish Council’s public meeting to explain TAGs pre-application consultation can be found inside this

newsletter. Cllr Jenny Radley

Does “The Good Life” appeal to you?

Fancied growing your own vegetables

but never had the space?

Allotments are being built at Crookham

Park, and will be available early in the new

year.

Church Crookham residents are welcome

to apply for an allotment. Applicants must

be on the electoral roll and be willing to

keep their allotment in a good condition.

There is an existing waiting list and plots will be allocated according to the date the application was made. But the good news

is that currently there are more allotments than people on the waiting list, so there is still room for new people to join up.

If you would like an allotment, please fill out the short application form available at www.churchcrookham.org.uk listed under” Facilities” and send to the deputy clerk Sally du Gay or call 01252 626793. Cllr Helen Butler

Allotments available in Church Crookham

The apple orchard at Crookham Park

Photograph courtesy of The National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners

Page 2 w w w . c h u r c h c r o o kh a m . o r g . u k Church Crookham Parish Council

Dates for your Diary 2013 7.30pm, Willis Hall

21st Oct Community Plan meeting 8pm

28th Oct Planning Committee; Full Council

11th Nov Planning Committee; Sports & Recreation

Committee

25th Nov Planning Committee; Full Council

28th Nov Community Plan meeting 8pm

9th Dec Planning Committee; Highways Committee,

Community Centre Committee

13th Jan 2014 Planning Committee; Finance & Policy

Committee

20th Jan Community Plan meeting 8pm

27th Jan Planning Committee, Full Council

10th Feb Planning Committee; Sports & Recreation

Committee

24th Feb Planning Committee; Full Council

26th Feb Community Plan meeting 8pm

You may have noticed that there has been a lot of progress in

recent months on developing the SANG land bordering the new

housing estate at Crookham Park. Bridges and boardwalks have

been installed over streams and muddy areas and the new bridle

path was officially opened on 29th August.

The bund is now complete and this will help to control the water

levels in the wetland area.

The 325 acre site is zoned into 15 areas, the majority of which can

be accessed and enjoyed by the public with a few exceptions. Use

of marked public footpaths is encouraged. There are a number of

ecologically important sites in the area, which will be surrounded

by fencing, and in order to protect the wildlife and plant species the

public are asked not to go into these areas . A number of timber

hibernaculas have been built around the site; these are for insects

and moths to breed in. Please do not remove these timbers as they

form an important part of the new habitat that is being established.

Work to restore the many pill boxes on the site has started and the

restoration work is expected to take 2 to 3 months.

New information boards and footpath markers should start to appear over the coming months and further information can be found on the SANG website: www.thesangsproject.co.uk.

SANG land at Crookham Park

The Friends of Azalea Park would like to thank everyone

who joined in the Planting and Picnic Fun Day on Sunday

22nd September.

Thanks to the help of so many willing volunteers we

finished and planted four beautiful beds in Azalea Park,

with decorative Azalea bushes included in each one. It

wasn't all hard work though, there were fun activities

including a quiz trail around the park, bouncy castles,

hook-a-duck and refreshments, which meant there was

fun for everyone! We would like to thank all the people

who made the event possible, especially the Parish

Council, Grow with Hart, Hawkeye Pizza, the local

Guides and Brownies who ran the refreshments,

Jewsons and all the kind donators of cakes for the cake

stall. Here's looking forward to a blooming good

summer in the park next year! Azalea Park Committee

New flower beds in Azalea Park

I s s u e 9 Page 3 www.churchcrookham.org.uk

If you are interested in understanding TAG’s Airspace

Change Proposal (ACP) the Parish Council is

sponsoring a briefing by the experts at 7.30pm on 28th

November at the Memorial Hall, Sandy Lane.

The briefing is open to everyone, please do attend, it

will be an opportunity to understand what the proposal means to you, and to raise any concerns you may have. Your Parish

Councillors will be present so the evening will also be an opportunity to raise any local issues with them.

TAG Farnborough Airport intends to submit the proposal to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in 2014 in accordance with

published CAA procedures. The objective of the proposed change is to create a new operating environment which offers all

airspace users predictability and consistency of operation. Creating a known air traffic control (ATC) environment will assist

the airport in catering for an increasing number of air transport movements (ATMs) and do so in a way which enhances

efficiency and safety for many airspace users.

TAG Farnborough Airport currently operates within a Class G airspace (uncontrolled airspace). TAG Farnborough radar

controllers have to observe and take account of non-airport traffic, which may result in longer, less direct routings, less

predictable descent and approach profiles and an increase in cockpit and ATC workload during take-offs and landings. The

ACP would improve the approach and departure environment to the benefit of airport traffic and other airspace users.

Aircraft would be able to fly more predictable and efficient inbound and outbound flight paths as well as spend less time in

the airspace around Farnborough. This would have environmental benefits and allow other airspace users to structure and

carry out their operations in the knowledge that TAG Farnborough Airport traffic will not affect them.

Options are currently being finalised and the formal consultation phase required by the CAA will begin at the end of this year

lasting for a minimum of 12 weeks.

Follow the proposal’s progress on www.tagfarnborough.com/airspace-

change-proposal.

Cllr Nick Harris

Farnborough Airspace Change Proposal

Briefing Meeting 7.30pm, 28th November,

Crookham Memorial Hall, Sandy Lane

The Parish Council is very aware of how important issues relating to

highways and traffic are to local people and so recently set up a Highways

Committee. It is clear that there are some big challenges ahead, mainly

due to major new development within the parish, but there are also

opportunities.

The committee is able to make recommendations as to how the

developer contributed money for highways improvements should be best utilized. We stand a much better chance of getting

improvements agreed with the highway authority when we can provide evidence of need.

Taylor Wimpey has made a developer contribution of £3 million, to help mitigate the impact of the Crookham Park

development on local highways and transport. Two Parish Councillors sit on Hart District Council's Crookham Park (QEB)

Highways Steering group to ensure there is a strong local voice recommending how best to use this money. The developer has

installed some local improvements as part of a package of measures agreed through their planning application including two

new signalised pedestrian crossings on Aldershot Road, one outside Crookham Infant School on Gally Hill Road, the new

roundabouts and footways on Sandy Lane and traffic calming tables on Tweseldown Road. There are still improvements to be

made at some local road junctions.

The Parish Council has also asked for other unused local developer contribution money, from developments in the past, to be

used to install two parish boundary gateway features. We hope these will help to remind drivers that they need to keep to the

30mph speed limit within the residential area. We have also asked to have central pedestrian refuges installed where we know

that people need to cross roads more safely. If these measures work well we hope to ask for similar measures to be installed at

other sites where other traffic problems occur. We certainly welcome any suggestions about local highway issues and

feedback on recent highway schemes that have been installed. Cllr Jenny Radley

Highways Committee

Bridle path opening ceremony at Crookham Park

Contact Details

Page 4 I s s u e 9 www.churchcrookham.org.uk

LOCAL POLICE BEAT SURGERIES

7TH OCT

19:00 - 20:00

ZEBON COPSE COMMUNITY

CENTRE

4TH NOV

14:30 - 15:15

SANDY LANE / TWESELDOWN

ROAD

4TH DEC

18:30 - 19:30

QUETTA PARK

Reminder The Parish Council would like to remind residents that householders are

responsible for cutting back bushes and trees on their boundaries that may

overhang public paths. Persistent problems with overhanging trees and bushes

may be reported to Hampshire County Council via the website

www3.hants.gov.uk/index/transport/service557 or by calling the Roads and

Transport team on 0845 603 5633.

The Parish Council would also like to remind visitors to Azalea Gardens to park

considerately and to take care not to block residents driveways.

Nominated Neighbour Scheme To help tackle bogus callers Hampshire Constabulary has set up the 'Nominated Neighbour' scheme.

The Nominated Neighbour is chosen by the participant who may then seek this neighbour’s help to check the identity of any

unknown or uninvited callers to their home.

Under the scheme, if a vulnerable or elderly person receives an unknown caller to their home, they will not answer the door

but present a card at their window redirecting the visitor to phone or visit their Nominated Neighbour's house.

The Nominated Neighbour will then speak to the visitor to verify the reason for their call, check their identity and confirm

whether the visitor is genuine. If the visit is needed, the Neighbour will return to the resident's home with the caller and

supervise the visit. The Neighbour will not leave until the caller has left. The scheme is supported by Neighbourhood Watch

as a means to prevent incidents of distraction burglary and provide reassurance to the community. Please call 101 and

speak to your local beat team or contact your local Neighbourhood Watch coordinator for more information.

Community Centre update

Since the last newsletter, we have spent a lot of time fine tuning a set of plans for

the new community centre. A design has been drawn up taking into account the

requirements of as many users as possible, within the available budget, whilst

making the building an attractive and welcoming place. We hope to submit two

sets of plans for planning permission in the next couple of months and we plan to

hold a public consultation soon for you to comment on the plans.

Thank you to the 844 residents who responded to the Church Crookham Community Plan Questionnaire, the analysis of which is on-going. Early benefits have already been achieved. Residents’ responses to questions on local jobs and places to work have allowed the Church Crookham Parish Council to put forward a robust challenge to Taylor Wimpey’s request to change their plans on Crookham Park (QEB) for an area of Small Business Units to be replaced with a further 100 houses. Currently this request has been rejected.

Supporting local issues can make a difference and the Community Plan group would encourage all residents to become more involved in their local community. If you would like to join the Community Plan group please contact the Clerks on 01252 626793 or email deputyclerk@churchcrookham.org.uk.

David Ford, Community Plan committee

Action Plan for Church Crookham

Church Crookham Parish Council

The Harlington

236 Fleet Road

Fleet

GU51 4BY

Email:

clerk@churchcrookham.org.uk

www.churchcrookham.org.uk

Phone: 01252 626793

The new path through Azalea Park