Surrey County Council news – Epsom and Ewell.
Pavement Repairs
SCC has announced a £20million scheme of pavement repairs over the next five years. This is a welcome increase in funding as previously – and excluding patching and maintenance repairs – only about £1 million was allocated to the improvement of our footways across the whole of the county. That said, in recent years, I have managed to get twelve pavements and four footpaths reconstructed or resurfaced across Ewell Court, Auriol and Cuddington. However I do know that the more pavements that are repaired in the area the more requests I get from residents in other roads for “some of the same”. Over the past year I have asked for quite a few local pavements to be inspected with view to their appearing on the list for future action. Hopefully the new £20 million scheme will ensure quite a few of them are repaired. Meanwhile both Lakehurst Road and Salisbury Road (part) will be reconstructed in 2016/2017.
Waiting Restrictions
Consultation on the latest round of waiting restrictions ended on 5th May. The list included junction protection for Elm Way/River Way and Riverview Road at its junction with Ruxley Lane. The aim is stop the sometimes dangerous parking at these corners and improve driver visibility.
Epsom Recycling Centre
Changes to Epsom Recycling Centre came into force on 1st April, including times of opening and new charges for some waste items. I have received comments in regard to the potential for an increase in fly tipping and whether this would be made worse by the introduction of charges at Community Recycling Centres, and also that checking residency may cause delays at peak times. In response to those concerns I asked SCC to comment and their response is reproduced below:
We do not expect any significant increase in fly-tipping as a result of the changes at our community recycling centres given the experience of other authorities that have already introduced similar measures. However, we will of course monitor the situation and take appropriate action if problems with fly-tipping arise. It is important to remember that Surrey County Council has a vested interest to ensure that fly tipping does not increase as it has to pay the disposal costs of any fly-tipped material collected by the district and borough councils.
Separately Surrey County Council is working with the eleven district and borough councils to develop a stronger approach to deal with fly tipping across the county, this will include improving information for residents and businesses about how they can dispose of their waste legally and responsibly and strengthening enforcement capabilities to prosecute and deter those who choose to fly tip their waste.
Because the changes at our community recycling centres came into force on 1 April 2016 it is simply too early to have any data on whether there has been any impact on fly-tipping.
Residency checks have been in place since 2010 although with varying degrees of enforcement. We will be investigating ways to reduce the burden on residents, for example, by issuing an annual sticker once the check has been made.
Councillor Eber Kington
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