Local Authority

Community service drivers will give up Christmas dinner with their families to drive lonely elderly people to the Salvation Army festivities at Addlestone Community Centre.

John Clack, from Addlestone, Alan Simpson, from Knaphill, Woking, Bob Cooke, from Woking, and their wives are collecting people from Egham, Addlestone/Chertsey and from Englefield Green areas respectively on Christmas Day.

Addlestone resident David Prince has won a year's supply of garden waste bags from Runnymede Council.

He received the prize after becoming the 5,000th customer to subscribe to the council's kerbside scheme that takes away green garden rubbish.

A SMALL fire and flooding from sprinklers left an Lloyds TSB closed all afternoon on Monday November 10.

The bank in Station Road was shut at about 11.30am after its sprinkler system activated and left a pool of water on the floor of the building. Bosses decided to close to allow cleaners to clear the water.

CAMPAIGNERS who spent two years lobbying the council for a pedestrian crossing have reacted angrily to a delay in building it.

Residents and traders in Green Lane, Addlestone petitioned Surrey County Council in September for a crossing after a series of accidents in the road.

But work on the puffin crossing, which was due to be finished on December 12, has been delayed because energy company EDF cannot confirm when they will be able to install lights for the crossing.

Surrey Police are holding a neighbourhood policing team meeting, in Addlestone on Wednesday November 5, from 6.30pm.
Being held at the Community Centre on Garfield Road, it is an opportunity for people to come and raise any issues that are affecting the community.
For more information, please contact Steve Milford on 07967 986672 or Hannah Cheverton on 07772 222356 or visit the website www.surrey.police.uk

Tesco are set to hold an exhibition at the store in Station Road, Addlestone, to outline their plans for a car park extension.

The controversial plans to add an extra layer onto the car park were met with strong opposition when they were first submitted in July last year.

The company withdrew the application two months later and is now set to resubmit it, and will show residents the plans from Wednesday October 15.

Albert Road residents stormed out of a Runnymede planning meeting after losing a battle to stop Surrey Islamic Trust from building a mortuary in their street.

Objectors wrote 84 letters of objection against the Trust's plan to add a cold store room, toilet and washroom to its education centre in Albert Road, Addlestone, but councillors voted 14-1 to permit the scheme.

Runnymede Council's £12m new Civic Offices received royal approval when it was officially opened by the Duke of Gloucester Thursday (October 9).

The Queen's cousin and grandson of George V was taken on a tour of the offices in Station Road, which have been open to the public since March, and unveiled a plaque to mark the occasion.

Ongoing issues with car park prices in the Runnymede area, have been settled and a new date proposed for the charges to come in.

There is to be a decline in the hourly rate of the borough's car parks, however there will be an increase in both season and all day tickets.

Currently an all day car parking ticket costs £3.50 and is to increase to £4.00, similarly the current price for a season ticket is to increased by £100, so the new price will be £500 per annum.

Mervyn Robins, parking services manager, said: "For car parks in Pooley Green, Egham, Gogmore Farm, Chertsey, Victoria Steet and St. Judes Road, Englefield Green, there is to be a reduced tariff introduced to reflect the lesser usage of these facilites together with their location."

The new prices will be 1 hour - 20p, 1-2 hours - 50p, 2-3 hours - £1.00, 3-4 hours - £1.50, 4-5 hours - £2.00.

The start date for the new prices is aimed to go into effect from January 11, 2009.

Runnymede Council has made it into the top 20 of the nation's best councils to work for.

The prestigious competition, which is undertaken by The Times, is based on the views of employees and the policies and processes of the employers.

Out of the 100 councils that entered, Runnymede, whose first year this is in the competition, placed 17th and achieved one of the highest scores for job satisfaction.

Council leader John Furey said: "I am very pleased with the outcome which is a credit to our excellent staff and managers and demonstrates that Runnymede Borough Council is a good place to work.

High staff morale and engagement are essential ingredients that contribute to Runnymede's successful record in delivering excellent services and value for money."

The survey was being undertaken while the council was moving into it's new offices earlier this year, Councillor Furey added: "I am optimistic that now that teething problems with the new building are being resolved, we can look forward to an even better results next year."