There will be a showing of the rare black and white silent film of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde at St. Mary's Church on Saturday 19th February at 7.30pm. The film will be accompanied by Geoffrey Bowyer.

The 1920 horror silent film is based upon Robert Louis Stevenson's novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The actor John Barrymore leads the cast.

The event is being put on to raise much needed funds for the repairs to the Church roof. Tickets cost £8 and may be obtained through the Box Office: 01932 232068.

The report from PC Caroline Barnes, our local Neighbourhood Safety Officer, draws particular attention to an increase in motor vehicle crime in Lower Sunbury together with some simple-to-follow crime prevention advice.

Click here to view the report

Having rejected an application by Surrey County Council to allocate permanently the Site at Charlton Lane for the 'Eco Park', a special Planning Committee was again convened on 26th January to consider the application for the actual installation of the new waste disposal facility.

A packed and jubilant public gallery witnessed the unanimous rejection of the plan with the following recommendation to Surrey County Council:

"Surrey County Council be informed that this Council VERY STRONGLY OBJECTS to the proposal for the following reasons:

a. The proposal does not satisfactorily demonstrate there are genuinely 'very special circumstances' to justify development of this Green Belt site contrary to saved Local Plan Policy GB1.

b. The scale of the proposal goes beyond the existing site boundary and results in an adverse impact on the wider area through loss of existing landscaping and development in close proximity to [private address shown] contrary to Policy EN1 of the Core Strategy and Policies DPD (Development Plan Document).

c. The height and design of the structures are conspicuous and inappropriate in this Green Belt location and, in conjunction with the position of the internal roadway and buildings, has an unacceptable impact on [private address shown].

d. The landscaping should utilise all the land in the County Council's ownership to provide maximum screening and be designed to more appropriately reflect the wider landscape character of the area."

It is emphasised that this recommendation by no means brings the matter to an end. Spelthorne Borough Council are merely statutory consultees in the planning process and the final decisions will be taken by the Planning and Regulatory Committee at Surrey County Council. (See also articles published on this site (see 11th & 21st January).

Residents will be aware that Urban Initiatives on behalf London Irish have submitted further applications to the Local Planning Authority in an attempt to counter a number of the grounds for refusal when the Planning Committee met on 27th April, 2010 at Kempton Park. These further applications will be heard at Planning Committee at the Council Chamber on 9th February at 7pm. Briefly, the applications concern the Green Belt at Hazelwood Golf Course, air pollution and noise. LOSRA has sent a representation urging the Local Planning Authority to retain the grounds for objection.

All residents are urged to attend this very important Committee.

Residents will be delighted to hear that the Head of Local Planning Policy, on behalf of the Deputy Chief Executive, is recommending refusal of the Eco Park application. The Special Planning Committee will hear the application on Wednesday, 26th January at 7pm.

Click here to follow the link to the Agenda

If you then click on 'Report of the Deputy Chief Executive' (2nd para of item 4) you will see the recommendation is to refuse for 4 reasons. There is also a long list of issues that are recommended for conditions should Surrey decide to approve the Scheme. A query is also raised regarding the proposed Section 106 (planning gain) contribution.

The report refers to 3 appendices and 10 of the submitted plans which are all with the printed agenda. Copies of this additional material may be found on web site. The appendices are: A – factual report from Surrey CC on the application; B minutes of the Spelthorne Planning Committee which dealt with the retention application; C technical extract from the application describing the processes to take place on the site. The 10 plans are those which best convey the main elements of the scheme.

Some residents may already be aware of the sad news that Richard Worthington died over the Christmas weekend. A resident of Saxonbury Avenue for many years, and a former landscape architect, he was a prominent member of the Friends of Sunbury Park, especially interested in Orchard Meadow and Hawke Park; and was a supporter of LOSRA's stance on local planning applications - he spoke in objection to the London Irish planning applications at the special planning committee at Kempton Park. He had a stroke during the week before Christmas, and died a week later. He leaves his wife June. The funeral is at Hanworth Crenatorium on 25th Jan at 12 noon, and afterwards at Sunbury Cricket Club.

And last weekend we received the sad news that John Stamp died on Friday at Princess Alice after a 25-year battle against cancer. John, of course, designed the Sunbury Embroidery - he was formerly the chief designer at Thames Television, responsible for some famous title sequences including World At War. A trustee of the Embroidery, he continued his innovative work after the Embroidery was completed, and shortly before his death, the tactile displays for the visually impaired, cast from his three dimensional clay models of the Embroidery panels, were installed as part of stunning new modules at the Gallery. He was a remarkable personality, and despite the increasingly insidious effects of his cancer, he was still greeting visitors at the Gallery on Sundays as recently as last autumn until it became too difficult for him. His family, including his wife Jeanette, was with him when he died.