What do we want for Ashtead in 2015?

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don’t much care where--" said Alice.
"Then it doesn’t matter which way you go," said the Cat.
(Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 6)

The recent addition of the playground on the recreation ground has been applauded by many in Ashtead and beyond, but has caused concern to some residents who were not consulted and now find many more people parking in their road. It would be hard to deny the benefits for the residents of Ashtead of the improved playground but the consultation seems to have missed out many of the affected residents. This is actually widely the case across Mole Valley where consultations take place at times when anybody who is working would find it hard to attend even if there was an awareness of the event itself. I am hoping that over the course of the next few years we will see a more connected Ashtead, with many more of us subscribed to local groups so that we can exert our opinion more easily on local council matters.

The localism Bill will place more power in our hands to decide on the future for Ashtead with a ‘Village plan’ advised for how we would like to see Ashtead develop. Recent additions to the Village such as the Parsons Mead development and others are controversial for local residents, especially those living close to the site. There are areas of Ashtead which we can as a community identify as ripe for development and others which we can seek to protect. All of which is easier if we do so as a collective. It is easy to sit back and to think that much of this is not really of any concern, which is true for the most part. However, when the new development, road, rubbish site is located near to you it is harder to object and for your voice to be heard. Traditional Council planning activity is led by directives from central government whose whims can lead to developments which are quite out of character with an area. A local master plan for Ashtead will be essential in the coming years to ward off unwanted developments and also to encourage improvement where it is deemed appropriate. It’s going to be better if we have a plan for how we would like to see Ashtead evolve and which services we would like to be improved.

So how do we all decide together what is best for Ashtead? This is the challenge. Fortunately, the internet offers us a means to join together with those with similar interests to amplify the strength of our voices. More than ever it is important for us to seek out those who are in the same boat and to keep up to date with developments that may affect us. There is a list below of local websites which are a good source of information. Some are new groups, some have been going for a while. I urge you to join at least one, perhaps sign up to the e-mail list here and if you have half an hour, why not set up your own blog, Twitter or Facebook page for your friends in Ashtead so that we all become more connected.

www.facebook.com Ashtead Parents
http://www.meetup.com/The-Ashtead-Meetup/
www.ashteadresidents.org.uk

John Busby
Ashtead Residents' Association
Commitee Member