e-CRA

The process of the council refining and preparing the new Local Plan is continuing apace. This article is intended to update residents on what is happening and how your association is working to represent the views of the residents of Chorleywood.

As discussed in our last monthly newsletter, 25 further sites have been identified across Three Rivers since the consultation was undertaken by the council in December.  Four of these additional sites are in Chorleywood. As with the previous sites, we have undertaken an analysis of the sites against the rules laid down in the National Planning Policy Framework, which governs all planning decisions across the country, to identify any issues related to each site. You can view our analysis on the Local Plan page of our website.

As the council is not proposing to undertake a formal consultation on these additional sites at this time, we have been speaking to the council to ensure that local residents have the same opportunity to comment on these as they did on the early list. As a result of this, we can advise you that the email address used for the consultation in December (trldf@threerivers.gov.uk) is being kept open for resident comments and we have been assured that it will be monitored with any comments submitted to it considered by the council in its evaluation of the sites.

The council has now established a separate sub-committee to consider the new Local Plan as it is developed further. The meetings of the sub-committee are, at least partially, being held in public. The next meetings is on the 18th April in the Penn Chamber at Three Rivers House.

Your residents' association is talking to the council on an ongoing basis to ensure that the process adopted is open and transparent, with as many matters being discussed in front of the public as is possible. Unfortunately, the council have decided that, for reasons of commercial sensitivity, they cannot discuss matters relating to individual sites in public at this time. However, there will be an opportunity for residents to comment on the council's final recommendations of which sites should be developed later in the process.

Your association will continue to challenge the council to make elements related to the plan public as soon as possible and to ensure that your views / issues are properly included in their considerations. We will keep residents updated on developments as soon as they become public.

You may have recently read in the local press about the controversy over the government's approach to housing targets which has a significant effect on the number of houses required to be built. Earlier this decade, the government commissioned the Office of National Statistics to develop a new standard methodology to calculate current housing targets for each council in the country. This new methodology was adopted by the government in 2016 using 2014 population and housing data as a base. For Three Rivers, this resulted in the target increasing to be 615 new dwellings required each year.

In 2018, the housing targets were recalculated using the most recent (2016) data which resulted in an overall reduction in the housing target. For Three Rivers, the revised target was calculated to be 496 new dwellings required each year, a 20% reduction. 

The government is now proposing to keep the higher target in place, more detail on this can be found here.

A petition has now been raised to have this change debated in parliament. As a residents' association, we support proper debate and consideration of the proposals, particularly as it significantly changes the housing target for the district. If you wish to support this, please find below a link to the petition. 

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/242244

If the petition reaches 100,000 signatures across the country, the petition will have to be considered for debate in parliament.

Post Office problem

As you are all aware our Post Office has been closed since the end of January following a weekend overnight break in. Your Residents Association have been exchanging emails with the CEO Office of Post Office Ltd who have assured us the Post Office and ATM will reopen. However no definite date has been given and CRA are pressing Post Office Ltd hard to do something soon as so many residents and local businesses depend on this facility. We shall keep you all informed as soon as we have any news.

In the meantime if you need cash the nearest cash ATMs are the Shell Garage on the Chorleywood Road and close to Tescos at Tudor Parade. Depending on where you are in Chorleywood the nearest Post Offices are Rickmansworth, Sarratt or Little Chalfont (see Branch Finder).  The Coop will give cash back up to £50 on a debit card when making a purchase. Please rest assured we are keeping the pressure on Post Office Ltd including suggesting the possibility of alternative sites to house an ATM machine and postal service should that become necessary.
 

It has just come to our attention that TRDC are consulting on the proposed designs for the refurbishment of The Swillett Play Area in Chorleywood and also the Cassiobridge Play Area in Croxley Green

According to the TRDC website, The Play Companies were asked to develop a design, which reflected the demographics of the surrounding area, provides a natural flow of play within the space and uses equipment with particular focus on childhood development for children of all abilities.

The deadline for survey completion is noon on Monday 25 March 2019.

The link to the survey is https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/FPSCX6Y  There are different designs to look at and select your preferred option.
 

Your Hospital - Your Future

There is a public meeting at 7:30pm on Thursday 11th April at The Junction, Christchurch, The Common, Rickmansworth Road, Chorleywood, WD3 5SG organised by West Herts 21C Hospital Solution.  See https://westherts21chospital.com/ for more information.
 

Keep Britain Tidy are aiming to inspire half a million people to join forces to clear single-use plastic litter from our streets, parks and beaches, recycling as much as possible.

The Great British Spring Clean and Great Big School Clean are taking place from 22 March to 23 April 2019.

See their website for details and how to sign up.
 

While on the topic of keeping Britain Tidy, it is worth noting that the Government have announced plans for a deposit return scheme to crack down on plastic pollution.  There is a public consultation to seek views on the proposals, and this closes at 11:45pm on 13th May 2019.

You can see details of the consultation on the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs website.

Join the Park Ranger on Sunday 31st March at 10am for a walk around the Chorleywood House Estate.  All ages welcome, but children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

Bring your binoculars!

This is a free event, but booking is required.  Visit https://threerivers.bookinglive.com/ to book and also find out about other regular events.

Join the Chorleywood Parish Rangers on Chorleywood Common on Thursday 11th April, 10:30am to  2:30pm.

Including

• Treasure Hunt with an Easter Surprise
• Den Building
• Bird, Bug & Bat Home Making - £5 each
• Great British Spring Clean Litter Pick
• Craft Station

All ages welcome.  To book your place please contact Chorleywood Parish Council by email info@chorleywood-pc.gov.uk or phone 01923 285594

The next talk at Chorleywood and District RSPB Group, is called Saving the Albatross. The speaker is Stephanie Winnard, from the RSPB. This talk is open to the public.

Date of talk: 8pm, Thursday 18th April
Venue: The Russell School, Brushwood Drive, Chorleywood, WD3 5RR
Cost: £3.50 to non members


Every five minutes, an Albatross is killed by fishing gear. Nesting sites can be destroyed by rats and mice which have been introduced onto islands by man. Plastic in the oceans kills countless Albatross every year. Stephanie will talk about the life style of these magnificent birds, and tell us what measures are being undertaken to save them. The RSPB's research is helping and in many long-line fisheries, in the southern oceans, deaths are being substantially cut.

These talks are open to anyone. No need to book, just turn up.

9 Lives Furniture - a local charity

9 Lives Furniture is a small local charity founded 15 years ago.  The charity has 3 aims:

• To save furniture from landfill
• To offer support and training to people with mental / educational difficulties through workshops and volunteering in our shops
• To offer subsidised furniture to people in need

Our shop in Wharfe Lane Rickmansworth WD3 1HA sells everything a home might need and is open between 9am and 5pm Tuesday to Friday and 9am and 12.30pm on Saturdays.

9 Lives is seeking to recruit enthusiastic trustees to continue the good work that they do. They would also like to find a volunteer bike repairer - someone who would be prepared to service donated bikes on site.

See the website for more information, or contact Marie Frost on 01923 718 666.
 

Upcoming events at Sunrise of Chorleywood include:

• The Big Curry Lunch - 21st March
• Cheese and Wine - 22nd March
• Coffee Morning, Clothes and Handbag Sale - 27th March
• Ladies Afternoon Tea - 31st March

There are also regular events on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays each week.

See the website for more details, and call the concierge desk on 01923 603660 to book your place.

• Reconstructing Jackson Studios Public Consultation, Saturday 23rd March 10am - 2pm.  
• The Friends of Chorleywood Common Information Evening and AGM ,Thursday 28th March at 8pm
• The Chiltern Choir next concert “Sacred Music Through the Ages” at 7:30pm on Saturday 30th March
• Chipperfield Choral Society Spring Concert 'Brahms Requiem' at 7:30pm on Saturday 30th March
• The next Three Rivers Music Society concert is at 7:30pm on Wednesday 3rd April
• Maple Lodge Nature Reserve will be open to the public for the weekend of 11th and 12th May.  
• Chorleywood Choral Society hold rehearsals Mondays at 8pm.  New members always welcome
• Chorleywood Film Club screenings third Friday of the month
• See Chorleywood Bookshop for their upcoming events
• Join Dementia Friendly Chorleywood on the First Monday of Every Month at 10.30am
• Friends of Carpenters Wood meet every first Thursday in the month and every third Saturday in the month.  
• The friendly Chattercraft Group of Chorleywood WI meet every Thursday in the reference section of Chorleywood Library from 10-12 noon. Everyone is very welcome
• Find out more about Chorleywood Twinning Association and the upcoming visit
• For information about local roadworks visit https://roadworks.org/