For everyone who knew Dennis Brock, his funeral will take place on Tuesday 25th August at 12 noon at St Mary's Church, Sunbury.

It will be a private family funeral but it will be live-streamed on St Mary's fb page (details including order of service are here).

The ingenuity of staff at the Millennium Embroidery Walled Garden is to be applauded for the mirrored patina applied to the previously boxed Lendy Memorial. Creating, as it does, a novel illusion to a far greater profusion of blooms, it is a great improvement.

Nonetheless, as local residents have made very clear, it is surely now time to have our memorial back.

For those who missed the original notice and still harbour doubts as to the wisdom of its reinstatement, please see the authorative historical account of the Lendy brothers here.

Please be aware of the Sunflower Hidden Disability Lanyards - anyone wearing one of these lanyards has a hidden disability and may not be wearing a mask or able to socially distance how others do. Please give them a bit of space and understanding. Many people are having a hard time while out and about and about at the moment, a bit of understanding goes a long way.

Right at Home GF are giving away 150 official Sunflower Hidden Disability Lanyards to individuals in the local community who have dementia or another hidden disability. Just give them a call on 01252 783426 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your details. Do share this information, the more people who are aware the better.

Further to the article published on this site on 3rd August, the Council has released the following press notice:

"Spelthorne Borough Council has set out its response to plans from Surrey County Council to form a single unitary authority.

"Under the current proposals from the County Council, the 11 Districts and Boroughs would be merged together to form a single unitary authority.

They report that it would give the county council greater decision-making powers for Surrey, for example on housing and planning applications.

"Spelthorne do not believe this would be advantageous to our residents and at last week’s Council meeting, Cllr John Boughtflower, Leader of Spelthorne Borough Council said: “We recognise the principles of localism, many of which are incompatible with a single unitary authority within Surrey. We will be investigating alternative forms of Unitary Authorities, which may be more advantageous to Spelthorne and our residents. In the meantime, I will be joining other Borough and District Leaders across Surrey in signing a letter to the Secretary of State registering that a Surrey-wide Unitary is not the optimum solution and that we are committed to exploring what would be.”

"An extract from the letter, signed by Cllr Boughtflower and other Council leaders across the County, read: “The Government has indicated that as an optimum guideline, unitary authorities should represent populations of between 300,000 and 500,000 people per administration. A single unitary authority for Surrey would represent 1.2m people and this would be equivalent to only the larger of metropolitan areas but without the clear sense of locality recognisable to residents across a vastly different geographical spread. Further to this, it would be the largest unitary in England. This is one of the reasons why it is so necessary to evaluate other options which may represent localities (and the characteristics of Surrey communities) more appropriately.”

"Spelthorne, along with other districts and boroughs, have committed to seeking alternative forms of Unitary Authorities and ensure the timing of any such reorganisation is done with residents at first. The Council have also committed to present such considerations to the next Full Council Meeting, which would consider the Government White Paper, should it be available."

The following notice has been sent to LOSRA by Cheryl Spruce (NWN, Head of Membership and Community Engagement , National):

"We are delighted to launch the first ever Neighbourhood Watch Impact Survey. 
This is a survey open to all members of the public including our supporters and members and we are asking our partners to share across their public networks.  It will enable us to look at how Neighbourhood Watch impacts in our communities and identify the concerns surrounding crime, fear of crime and the increase in neighbourliness and community spirit.

"We ask that you share the survey IMPACT SURVEY with friends, neighbours, colleagues and your partners, to ensure that we get a good mix of responses.  You can do this in various ways through email, using social media and any other methods that you may have.

"Facebook & Twitter: Neighbourhood Watch Network is excited to launch our first National Impact Survey and we want EVERYONE to take part. It doesn't matter if you are part of Neighbourhood Watch or not, we want your views.  It should take you less than 10 minutes to complete.  Click on the link https://bit.ly/2XbuX8J.

"To learn more about the background to the survey please click on the following link Measuring our impact

"We look forward to receiving your responses on our survey which needs to be completed by 21st August 2020."

Spelthorne Councillors voted to implement a change towards a committee model of governance at a full Council Meeting on 30th July.

The Councillors voted on the motion which paves the way to end the Leader and Cabinet model of governance and introducing a committee system which allows for broader involvement of all councillors in decision making.

The motion, which was originally proposed by Cllr Helen Harvey, was debated with an amendment, submitted by Cllr Jan Doerfel, receiving 20 votes for, 17 against, with two abstentions, reads (as amended):

“This Council resolves to implement a change in decision-making governance arrangements, comprising the cessation of the current Leader and Cabinet model of governance and the implementation of a Full Committee model of governance. This is to be developed during 2020 with a view to the arrangements taking effect at the earliest opportunity, but no later than the commencement of the next Council Municipal Year in May 2021, subject to a legally and constitutionally robust process. The changes are to be debated and agreed by the Council.”

Surrey County Council (SCC) is considering a bid to scrap its district and borough councils in favour of becoming a unitary authority.

If successful, the proposal would have a huge impact on the way decisions affecting the county are made.

The plans would see Surrey's 11 borough and district councils abolished in favour of giving the councty council greater decision-making powers for issues like housing and planning applications. It would also see local parish and town councils empowered.

It aims to reduce the “complexity of governance and reduce costs to the taxpayer”.

MP Simon Clarke, Minister for Housing, Communities and Local Government said earlier this month that the government would be proceeding with a white paper, a document setting out proposals for future legislation, to have more unitary councils in order to “boost regional economic performance”.

In a statement, SCC leader Tim Oliver said: “The Government have confirmed that a Recovery and Devolution White Paper will be published later this year. We understand that it will set out their thinking on the future shape of local government in England as well as seeking views.

“This will provide a significant opportunity to shape the future of the sector to better meet the needs of residents. With increased local powers and the right structural reform for Surrey, I’m confident we will deliver better services, more value for money and a simplified and more accountable system of local government for residents.

“The government is likely to encourage unitarisation where possible, and we think this could bring a whole raft of benefits for Surrey and its residents if it’s done right. We must be ready to take the opportunities made available in the forthcoming White Paper, and ensure that any future system of government in Surrey genuinely works for all our residents, and makes good economic and practical sense.”

What does this mean for Surrey?

Surrey currently has 11 district and borough councils. Each of these are responsible for providing local services such as housing, environmental health, deciding on planning applications and waste collection.

Surrey County Council itself, meanwhile, is responsible for education, transport, librabries and waste management across the county.

However, the government will be publishing a white paper in the autumn in which they will encourage areas to be governed by a unitary authority. A white paper is a document that sets out a proposal for future legislation.

The “transformative” plan would see Surrey’s 11 borough and district councils scrapped in favour of giving greater power to Surrey County Council. Many large towns and cities have unitary authorities already.

Surrey County Council would become responsible for issues that had previously been managed by the borough and district councils, such as waste collection and leisure and recreation.

Existing unitary authorities currently exist in Dorset, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire. It would likely mean a much larger number of members voting on decisions that the council will implement.

For example, Guildford Borough Council currently has 48 members, whereas Buckinghamshire Council has 202 members after becoming a unitary body.

It is not clear what powers would be devolved to parish and town councils, who currently look after hyper-local issues such as parks, community centres, allotments and war memorials.

To see letter from Leader of SCC to Secretary of State, click here

Following a number of requests made through our website, we repeat a posting of the Council advice from earlier this year:

"We are seeing a sharp rise in the number of complaints about garden bonfires.

"Many people are having to stay at home due to the coronavirus (covid-19) (and this includes those who are working, those that do not or are unable to work and/ or those convalescing). This, along with the good weather is drawing people into their gardens. We therefore urge everyone to be considerate towards your neighbours, particularly during this difficult time.

"We know that you will have more difficulty disposing of your garden waste at this time (normal refuse collections should not be impacted), but please do not have a bonfire - whether it be an open fire or an incinerator. Not only can it be a nuisance, it can cause distress to your neighbours particularly those suffering from respiratory and/or other medical problems. The smoke caused by a bonfire will make those problems worse.

"Instead, if possible, please store what you can until things get back to normal and/or consider composting your waste.

"Domestic, trade or building waste should not be burnt.

"Any bonfires that the Council considers to be a Statutory Nuisance will be served with an abatement notice. Failure to comply with an abatement notice could result in prosecution and a fine of up to £5,000."