Draft VDS - Chobham Neighbourhood Plan
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Foreward
Foreword
What is a Village Design Statement and who is it for?
Undertaken through consultation with the residents, schools and business enterprises located in Chobham the Village Design Statement describes Chobham as it is today. It highlights the qualities they value in Chobham and pools local knowledge and expertise to contribute to the growth and prosperity of the village and its environment both built and natural.
Compiled through public consultation, public exhibition and questionnaires (Chobquest in 2003, the Rural Housing Trust housing analysis in 2005 and this year’s ‘Carnival Questionnaire’), it also discusses areas where further consultation may be required and identifies areas of planning policy specific to the village which need to be strengthened. This will ensure that future development will contribute positively to the village and that any change will protect and enhance its special nature.
Change is not merely large scale developments like the proposed DERA site and the impact this will have on both traffic and local employment, but also by the smaller day-to-day extensions to homes, infill in gardens, open spaces, paths, bridleways, and the business community as well as residents.
The Village Design Statement is anticipated to be adopted as a supplementary planning document by Surrey Heath Borough Council as supplementary planning guidance which expresses the specific needs of Chobham and all those who live and work there. A planning example is ‘the small dwellings policy’ which ensures entry level housing remain an option in the village, another example would be traffic flow, safe routes to school, parking issues which might improve business enterprise and the preservation of the historic buildings at the core through enforcement of weight restrictions.
As part of planning policy its recommendations will be taken into account when planning applications are assessed both at Borough and local Parish Council level. In this way it will support the Local Plan as it affects Chobham and protect and enhance the local distinctiveness of Chobham in respect of built environment and landscape, guiding planning policy and other changes to the environment.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Foreward
1. Introduction
2. Historical Development of Chobham to present
3. Environment
4. Community
5. Transport
6. Built Environment
7. Flood Risk
Appendix
Appendix 1: Policy framework relevant to the Village Design Statement
Acknowledgements
Summary of Design proposals Back page
Introduction
Chobham village is a compact rural village with a central conservation area (delineated in SHBC, 2001), wholly washed over by Green Belt. This makes it unique in the UK in planning terms which need to be clearly set out to retain the character and appearance of the village and prevent unsympathetic alteration which would harm the area or its setting. There are additionally a number of Tree Preservation Orders in place, and significantly, protection is extended to all trees to benefit the substantial tree groups which make a significant contribution to the aspect and rural setting of the village which offer lovely views and open aspect.
New Development should have regard to the locally distinctive and valued patterns of development described in this design statement. These range from the shape of the streets, the size of building plots, the spaces between buildings, the scale and shape of buildings, the architectural detailing and materials of individual buildings, boundary treatments and landscaping
The proximity of Chobham to Chobham Common, a European Heritage Site and in Part a SSSI predicts planning policy.
The VDS is to be adopted by Surrey Heath Borough Council as Supplementary Planning Guidance to be taken into account whenever it is relevant to the exercise of its powers as the local planning authority. It is also intended to guide local initiatives and to assist in guiding the quality of development even where planning permission is not required (as in cases where permitted development rights exist) in order to ensure that future generations may enjoy the village and its surroundings
The objectives of the VDS SPD are to protect and enhance the local distinctiveness of Chobham, in respect of its built environment and landscape, through guiding new development and other changes to the environment.
The Statement is supplementary to policies G4 “Design Principles”……………….
The Borough Council has adopted other Supplementary Planning Guidance on design…………………………….
How does the Village Design Statement work?
2 or 3 sentences about what the document contains – development, present and guide for future development
Acts as guide to local initiatives……….
Addressed to: statutory bodies, local authorities
Planners, builders, developers, architects……..
Local community groups
Householders and businesses
Historical Development of Chobham
For the purposes of this Village Design Statement, the history of the village is essentially the history of the topic of each of the following sections – the history of the events and actions whose character and consequences have brought about the current state of our natural environment; the variety of people who have lived and worked here; the work carried on; the ever changing facilities, amenities and recreations; the roads, lanes, footpaths and bridleways; and the buildings and other aspects of the man-made environment here.
All these interact, of course. How and where people live (and how many people), how they get about, how they work, play and renew themselves, all affect and are affected by the place and each other. So much so that even the natural environment is to a large extent man-made or at least man-modified. All living things need to find and consume energy, get rid of waste, and renew their population. A culture is the way these biological necessities are accomplished – a way of doing things. The history of the village is the story of Chobham’s changing ways of having done things in the past, up till today.
Why history? And, if history, what history?
The purpose of the VDS is to be a guide to what the village people want to be taken account of by planners as a guide, so as to encourage what we want and discourage or put a stop to what we don’t. However, it is not at all obvious why the history of a location should be taken as relevant to what should take place there now. Nor why what takes place there now should limit what takes place there in the future. It is true there is a sort of inertia which keeps things going along in the same way as they always have; and our links to a place, and to such familiar goings on, are part of our identity. We feel a sort of regret when something we are used to changes radically or ceases altogether, even though we may have had no intimate connection with it – its being there was just part of the taken-for-granted world we could rely on. It is possible for there to be too many such changes and disappearances, too much newness and unfamiliarity, too much strangeness, for our sense of well-being.
Most of us nowadays, however, are not confined to one small territory all our lives, so we get our vital connections and reliable continuities from many different locations, not solely from our village. The young, who repeatedly renew the population, experience a world which is continually different from that of their elders, or even of older children and so they do not regret the loss of what they never were attached to. In short, changes are experienced as unwanted only because of our attachment to the customary, and not because of some intrinsic merit in the customary or of some intrinsic fault in the things that take its place.
It may be that things do actually have intrinsic merits and intrinsic faults; but, even if they do, our personal attachment to and our rejection of them is no proper guide to their worth. It is only a guide to their worth to us. And people vary – other people value other things. We have to face some fundamental questions: (a) how do we recognize intrinsic merit in things, if it exists? (b) is it not, anyway, more important to be guided by our sense of what a thing is worth to us ? (c) how best can a community choose between the many rival estimates of the worth of things?
We all agree that some things are good for us even though we do not choose them or even like them and can’t agree what they are. Some things may be good for our village but not be what we choose because we don’t see it. The only way such good things could be put into effect would be by an authority with sufficient power doing good to people against their will or at least without their consent. Unfortunately, such a powerful authority can do bad things to people too. Of the things we severally know we want; we often either do not know or do not want the things which lead to them.
There is no escape from these tensions. Nothing in the story of Chobham comes with an automatic validation that this or that must be preserved at any cost. All we can do is recognise that we have to make choices what we want to preserve and perpetuate and what new things to permit or encourage; that because others won’t all agree with us, we need to argue and persuade with reasons; that there will be unintended consequences whoever gets their way; and that forces outside our boundaries, in the immediate or in the yet wider country, can have effects on Chobham we can’t control, and be a boon or a bane in spite of us.
The History
Evidence of early occupation in the surrounding area can be seen in the late Neolithic to late Bronze age (2400-1500 BC) type burial mounds (bowl barrows) at two sites at West End, a prehistoric defensive enclosure at Albury Bottom and a pastoral enclosure of perhaps medieval date N.W. of Childown Farm on Chobham Common. The importance of these four sites is recognised by their status as scheduled ancient monuments. The heathland around the village may date from these times when it is thought the woods were cleared, making it some 4000 years old. The village itself is known to be an historic settlement, with records dating back to Saxon times in the seventh century. The centre of the village was probably then, as now, the dry ground of the hillock between the two rivers. It was a relatively fertile area.
With the arrival of the Normans it became the abbot’s administrative centre for the western part of Godley Hundred. The Domesday Book (1086) recorded 29 villeins owing services to the Abbot and probably mostly living in the village, over 1000 acres of enclosed land, plus 10 acres and chapel were also recorded: one almost certainly the present church of St Lawrence, and the other probably at Bisley. [Picture of church showing ans the buildings on both sides] The church benefits from Grade I listing and is architecturally and historically the most important building in the village. Dating from the late eleventh century it has since undergone several substantial alterations but retains many features of interest, particularly the handsome, twelfth century arcade with remnants of two earlier Norman windows, and the adjoining, narrow south aisle with its fifteenth century windows and unusual timber roof construction. The west porch is a later addition, possibly from Chertsey Abbey following its dissolution in 1537. The graveyard dates from 1215; prior to this the dead had to be trundled all the way to Chertsey six miles away.
In the fourteenth century trade was increasing and the Black Death hastened the breakdown of feudalism by making labourers scarce. The Abbots encouraged villeins to pay rents and become copyholders. Chobham seems to have developed into a prosperous yeoman farming community. The evidence of the rising standards of living and redevelopment which swept S.E. England in the sixteenth century can be seen in the Chobham area and village today as it still retains surviving farm houses of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, and can be likened to the Kent and Sussex Weald as a repository of yeoman building.
During the eighteenth century many timber framed houses in the village were altered or renovated. Many were faced in brick. This was done as fashion and practical reasons dictated. Brickmaking was an important business in the
surrounding area with bricks made at Brickhill from the 1600’s to about 1880, and is possibly responsible for the distinctive red colour of many of the buildings faced at that time. There were at least three other local brickworks, the last at Castle Grove closing in the late 1930’s. During the 1870s, the lord of the manor was so given to collecting fees for granting permits to dig for sand that local commoners instigated a course of events in the High Court, known locally as The Great Court Case, to curb this activity. A number of villagers raised money for the expensive process. It was a ‘David’ taking on a ‘Goliath’ and the commoners won.
Two small rivers flow through the village - the Mill Bourne and the Bourne – towards their confluence about one mile east and are flanked by wide water meadows, essentially extensive flood plains. Several footpaths run through these meadows affording attractive views of the village. The Leat is an attractive waterway originally serving as an overflow for the watermill. When the mill closed, the Leat tended to dry out and was in danger of being filled in to widen the road. The Chobham Society devised a way of tapping water from the Bourne. The old Victorian lamps here were installed by the Chobham Society in 1984. The Town Mill in Chobham is said to be the middle one of three on a 4 mile stretch of Mill Bourne (partly also Hale Bourne), the others being Chobham Mill and Emmett’s Mill. Town Mill was the last to be built
c.1780. It was extended shortly after 1890 when machinery dated 1780 was still in situ. After the second World War turbines were added, and it was working until 1960 and demolished in 1967. Chobham was always subject to flooding. So much so that true Chobhammers were nicknamed ‘Webfooters’. Every road into the centre had its water splash in living memory.
Chobham was once a much more important centre than it is today, its change in status in part due to the development of the railways. It is possible that Chobham was the shopping centre for the people of Old Woking (then just Woking) before Woking Town came into being. The Chobham Corn Exchange was famous for miles around and its weekend market was said to rival that at Guildford. Chobham is fortunate in being an attractive village located in the prosperous south east and within the Green Belt.
The market was still thriving in 1844 but the gradual development of Woking probably took its trade. The naming of Station Road proved premature; dating from plans to build a light railway at Chobham, linking Woking with Sunningdale in the nineteenth century, which did not materialise. The Castle Grove public house (outside the conservation area) may have been built as a station or as the railway hotel. The lack of growth in the nineteenth century was in part due to the location of railway lines and stations; the lines passed through the nearby and then smaller villages of Sunningdale and Woking. Chobham has since remained largely undeveloped whilst Woking has grown into a large town. It is somewhat incongruous that the very thing that has preserved Chobham from transformation through rapid modern development and kept the open spaces on our roads to other towns and villages, is precisely the reason why the village has now lost some of its vitality. Chobham was run by farming, and the disappearance of virtually all the farms has left us to find new, sustainable, functions arising from and being a cohesive binding for the modern community.
Chobham Common, like all heathland, was originally created by early settlers cutting down the forests. The sandy gravelly soil then allowed the leaching away of nutrients and these impoverished areas resulted, colonized by creatures which it suited. For centuries local people exploited the heath by grazing sheep for wool and meat, cattle for milk and cheese, cutting gorse for fires and brick kiln furnaces, heather for roofs and for brooms (Chobham common supplied brooms to the navy’s ships who wore them out at a profitable rate) and the digging of turfs for turf houses and for fuel and the gathering of wood. All this robbed the heath of nutrients, keeping it impoverished and so preserving the niche habitats more or less intact.
Once all this activity of exploitation stopped as it began to do from 1850 onwards, though ever so gradually at first, the re-colonisation by birch and some pine, and the unchecked growth of the gorse and grass began the enrichment of the soil. Precipitation of nitrogen from industry and vehicles added more enrichment that now Chobham Common has degraded to second grade heathland. Its status as an SSSI depends on the fragile habitat being conserved, restored and maintained. The EU has cited it as a rare European heathland and requiring preservation. [Picture wanted of today’s appearance of the same view of the common as was used for the pre-1960 picture on page 5 of this doc.]
In 1853 from June to September a great encampment of 7,000 of Queen Victoria's troops took place on Chobham Common. The camp became a tourist attraction with special trains to Longcross bringing visitors to watch the regular manoeuvres. A daily report of activities appeared in "The Times" and local entrepreneurs applied for licences to sell food and drink to the tourists. Queen Victoria visited to inspect her troops before their departure to the Crimea. At the turn of the century a fund was started to erect a monument to commemorate this great event. It stands some way out of the village on the Sunningdale Road (known originally as North End). Rumour has it that the residents of North End raised more money for this edifice than Chobhamers, and insisted that it was placed nearer to North End than the centre of the village. [Picture of Cannon cottage and cannon] [Pic of Memorial?]
Many of our young men gave their lives in the two World Wars. Some families losing three sons in the Great War. The Cannon that had stood in the middle of the village to commemorate the Great Encampment since 1901 was taken to be melted down for the War Effort in the early forties. Thankfully it was replaced in the seventies by a Chobham Society initiative when a new cannon was acquired and drawn into the village from Burrow Hill by village children.
During WW2 a camp of corrugated iron Nissen huts was constructed at Brick Hill to accommodate Canadian troops. At the end of the war, with the return of our troops wanting to marry and settle down, came the great housing shortage. These huts became occupied by squatters until the first large development in the village was started by the then Bagshot Rural District Council to re-house people. This was Brookleys, off the Chertsey Road – new houses, with running water and indoor toilets!
More local authority housing was constructed during the late fifties/early sixties on previously farmed rising ground to the north of the village. Semi-detached houses, bungalows and sheltered housing for the elderly were built in Little Heath Road, Bowling Green Road, Windsor Court Road, Turfhouse Lane and Oakhurst.
In the 1970's the planning authority designated Chobham a special status as a 'settlement within the green belt', which it has enjoyed to this day, with a conservation area in the centre. Development has been restricted to homes for the over 55's (The Grange in the 1990's and Heathlands 2005). Unlike the villages of West End, Windlesham, Lightwater and Bisley, no large developments have been permitted. Wonderful for those of us who are fortunate enough to live here, but not so good for our children, who have had to move far away to find cheaper property. This makes it difficult for those who become old and frail, whose loving well meaning children encourage us to sell and move nearer to them, away from their lifetime friends and all they know and love.
In recent times Chobham’s vitality has been undermined further by the loss of shops, facilities and amenities in common with other rural villages throughout the country. The secondary school was closed, bakers and butchers disappeared with some pubs becoming restaurants. Just as with the railway, cars and supermarkets have changed our habits.
The Future
Our challenges now are to provide housing without destroying the character of the village; to retain the common for air, exercise and refreshment but not to prejudice the heathland habitat and the special creatures that live here; to protect the vulnerable areas from flooding; to protect the open spaces from illegal settlement and building of which travelling people have recently become more and more guilty; to divert most of the weight and the volume of through-traffic away from the village centre; and to find new and sustainable functions for the heart of the village.
Here is much talk of affordable housing. Some people mean affordable by key workers; some mean affordable by the children of residents; some mean for the socially vulnerable. All mean sustainable housing that is not lost but retained for the next inhabitant.
Of the Common, the tension now is over getting the right balance between keeping it as an open space for air, exercise, and refreshment (which is what it was acquired by SCC for) and restoring the heathland for wildlife. The passing of the economic exploitation of the common means that unless a new form of is put into effect, the common is something of a white elephant, more so as heathland than as merely an open space. Both involve severe cutting back of the encroachments of gorse and birch (otherwise the open space soon becomes impenetrable and views are lost). Heathland demands restoration of impoverishment and so the continual removal of the present excess enrichment and the future prevention of any more. To those accustomed to the common as it is now the necessary work will seem like vandalism, destroying an integrated landscape they love. Clearly, the heath whose destruction would be lamented has come about by the natural encroachment of plants and trees to the degradation and ultimate destruction of the natural habitat that existed before (which had been man-made by felling of the forest now trying to re-colonise!). Even fifty ears ago Chobham common was an almost treeless open wilderness you could see right across from edge to edge and all round. [Picture wanted showing view of pre-1960 common similar or same as used by speaker in recent SWT consutation . See picture note on page 4 of this doc.] Now the natural development of such land is to revert to woodland (first birch, then oak) as each new species gets a roothold and improves the soil for the next species. The congenial niches which the changing habitat affords change also; and the animal, bird and insect species which can live there change along with it.
This is no different from the destruction of habitats by the carving of the railways all over the country, and of the subsequent creation of a new habitat along the whole length of the tracks, likewise the motorways. Choices have to be made. To some extent the choice is limited by the EU requirements imposed on us to restore and maintain heathland as part of their attempt to save what is left of it in NW Europe. Chobham Common is a rare and important European heathland site. Despite this, national money to restore and maintain it is not much in evidence. Some people think a small part of the common should be sacrificed to some publicly owned commercial activity of an appropriate and harmonious sort, the income from which could support the restoration and maintenance of the rest much as income came from allowing film making on the common in the 1960s.
Though flooding is endemic in Chobham steps can be taken to reduce it and then to protect the vulnerable places.
There used to be friendly relations with Travellers and Gypsies. That was when everyone ‘knew their place’, and before their way of life was made almost impossible by the loss to them of open spaces and verges to stop on for a while. We have become more resentful as they have become more aggressive and desperate.
The narrow gently winding High Street in the village centre cannot cope with the traffic already, never mind the expected increase from the Office and housing development planned at the former DERA site in Runnymede borough and the county incinerator planned for a site a little further off which will have trucks continually going in and out, many through Choham. [Picturefrom north or south as seems best of winding nature of High Street showing narrowness of the street and the closeness to the road of the buildings] Among ideas in the air are a bypass of the High Street and even its pedestrianisation. The extra traffic will not fit through Chobham in anything like a civilised manner and further vibrates the old foundations of the historic buildings.
Solutions need to support and not act against the revival of the commercial uses of High Street properties. Can shopping be recovered in spite of general countrywide trends? Or should we be looking to promote Chobham as a business centre and tourist attraction? Or what?
The Village Design Statement offers answers to these questions and others, based on the canvassed opinion of villagers.
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Environment
Context
This self contained village lies to the south of Chobham Common extensive of rare lowland heath and is elsewhere surrounded by water meadows and pasture crossed by numerous footpaths. Due to the various watercourses it forms a nodal centre for a roadway network. Its low-lying centre, once crossed by fords, can occasionally suffer flooding.
The entire future of the Village is overshadowed by a very extensive development proposal on its north eastern border.
For the purposes of the Village Design Statement Chobham Village is defined by the Parish boundary and land usage maps (Fig.s ? and ?).
The surrounding environment of Chobham is wholly within the Green Belt regulated by PPS7 and is dominated in the north and north east by Chobham Common; the largest remaining area of heathland in Europe extending to 650 hectares (1500 acres). As such, it has been granted the status of a Special Protection Area under EU regulations and has been designated a National Nature Reserve as a means of protecting its flora and fauna, much of which is unique, rare or threatened. The principal flora consists of various forms heather, gorse, pine and birch scrub. The land owned by Surrey County Council is managed by Surrey Wildlife Trust, on a fifty year lease.
Chobham Common
The area known as Burrow Hill marks the northern limit of dwellings with its popular public house, the Four Horseshoes. Part of this area is referred to as “surplus land” but is well maintained with its newly restored pond originally formed by sand extraction. Just beyond the extreme northeast corner of the Common lies a redundant industrial area formerly used by the Ministry of Defence for armoured vehicle development which used to form part of the Common prior to 1941. This, and an associated test facility area of some hundreds of acres, are scheduled for re-development. SEERA has earmarked the site for 2500 houses. This is likely to have a significant impact on the Village and on Chobham Common (Appendix ?).
The common is used extensively both by local residents and visitors for walking and riding (Appendix ?). There is also a very active model aircraft flying area established before the Second World War.
Various plans are being explored in order to limit the rainwater run-off from the Common in order to lessen the flood risk in the Village.
The common extends to form much of the eastern boundary and includes a pond known as Fishpool, popular with the fishing fraternity. Close by in a privately owned wood is Gracious Pond currently somewhat overgrown but being restored.
Open spaces
To the east the land is mainly pasture and open farmland. Just on the eastern parish border there are isolated dwellings in the area known as Stone Hill and the small busy airfield of Fairoaks, used mainly by light aircraft and helicopters (Appendix ?). Within this area lies the second of Chobham’s mills, known as Emmett’s Mill. The Hale Bourne river feeds this after its passage through the centre of the village.
To the south east are the small communities of Mimbridge and Cox Hill again surrounded by open farm land.
To the south the parish boundary extends but a half mile and includes the small communities of Castle Grove, bordered by the Addlestone Bourne River, Penny Pot, some horticultural land and a small sewage works.
To the west are mostly open fields, much nursery land and some scattered houses typifying the Village (Appendix ?).
To the northeast the are small communities at Valley End, with its school, Brick Hill, Chobham Place House and Chobham Place Wood which contains many aged specimen trees such as Wellingtonia and sweet chestnut. The area also includes fields and stabling for polo ponies near Westcroft Park Farm (Appendix ?).
The whole parish is criss-crossed by numerous public footpaths and bridal ways generally well used and still open.
The centre of the village with its 12th century church tends to be dominated by the road system which is essentially a cross roads. It is very busy and congested during rush hour periods feeding traffic from the M3 via the A319 Bagshot Road to Chertsey, the A3046 to Woking,
Castle Grove Road to Knaphill and Guildford, and the Windsor Road to Sunningdale on the main A30 road to London.
Reference has already been made to the problem of flooding in the centre of the Village. Unfortunately, this has been a feature of village life for well over hundreds of years. This is principally due to the flood plain to the west of the Village of the rivers Bourne and Clappers Brook. These two rivers being the main contributors to flooding during either very heavy or prolonged periods of rain. This surfeit of water explains why Benham’s Mill used to be located in the centre of the Village.
This problem can only be exacerbated by the type of unauthorised encroachment in the fields in Scotts Grove Road at Pennypot. One of these fields has been re-instated but above the level of the flood plain.
The current trend to pave driveways and the piping of ditches only exacerbate the problem.
APPENDICES
Appendix I
At the time of writing there are plans to replace the existing old DERA development site on the north side of the M25 motorway into a business park and up to 2500 domestic dwellings on the south side of the M25 motorway.
The estimated additional 6 – 10,000 traffic movements will adversely affect life in the Village, already seriously congested at peak times.
If these developments proceed as currently outlined this will adversely affect Chobham Common despite being within a Special Protection Area controlled by a European Directive and its status as a UK National Nature Reserve.
Appendix II
Fairoaks is a thriving small airfield servicing light aircraft and helicopters together with associated business activities.
( add further data…………………………………..)
Air movements are limited and controlled by the Civil Aviation Authority who need be mindful of local views especially with regard to noise.
Appendix III
Horse riding in all of its forms has become ever more popular after the Second World War as usage of farming and nursery land use declined. Equine activities range from a busy polo field with its supporting stabling to veterinary and farrier sevices.
Due to the wide range of these various equine activities their requirements need to be considered. Many of these needs are covered by the British Horse Society in particular their one page document on “horse capacity”. Ref. ……..
Local planning authorities should set out in LDDs their policies for supporting equine enterprises that maintain environmental quality and countryside character.
These considerations need to be balanced against some of the adverse environmental impacts of these activities.
Appendix IV
Throughout the parish many old farm properties have been converted to domestic dwellings but there are still a number of active farms and smallholdings. These are dairy farms or others that support the large equine community.
Environmental Design Principles
In order to protect and preserve the identity of the Village for future generations the following design principles should be considered.
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Community
CHOBHAM COMMUNITY
Chobham has 1600 dwellings (four times as many as in 1908 when there were just 400 houses) and a population of c.4,000. A further hundred households are in adjacent parishes (for example those in Scotts Grove Road and on one side of Station Road) but their residents regard Chobham village as home.
Surrounded by common land Chobham is a rural village not connected by ribbon development to any other village or town in the area yet close enough to the M3, M25 and M4 motorways to enable easy access to Heathrow, London and elsewhere. Main line trains are available from Woking, Sunningdale, or Longcross stations all within 2 to 3 miles of Chobham.
Chobham has its own Parish Council and is in the administrative area of Surrey Heath Borough Council whose Council offices are in Camberley some 6 miles away. As there are not any direct transport links to Camberley from Chobham, the administrative region of Woking Borough Council and Woking town centre some 3 miles away is probably more widely used by Chobham residents.
Chobham is an historically prosperous village with many fine farmhouses and old cottages. The High Street is the centre of the village with St Lawrence church (a Grade 1 listed building) several shops and a War Memorial. Other hubs are the small parade of shops in Chertsey Road and around the Doctors’ Surgery and Post Office in Windsor Road. Bus services are limited leaving residents dependent on motorised transport. There is an increasingly ageing population and the lack of public transport leaves elderly residents dependent upon family and volunteers for hospitals visits.
Although surrounded by countryside, the land is used mainly for horticulture, hobby farming, allotments and increasingly for equestrian activity. Local industry has declined and many residents commute to London or nearer towns such as Woking Guildford, Camberley and Bracknell for work and leisure. As with much of the South East, housing is expensive and there is a severe shortage of affordable accommodation, resulting in the young leaving the immediate area with the consequent break up of extended families.
The lack of a village centre is a continuing disadvantage for Chobham Valuable contact and social meetings are so often helped by the physical shape of the centre of a community. Accidental conversations that occur in pubs, newsagents, the doctors’ surgery, the post office and community centres provide a daily glimpse of the importance of such opportunities.
The daily trip to the shop may be the only social event in the routine of an elderly person living alone or an isolated mother without transport. It is in the local shop, post office or fruit and vegetable stall that a face is recognised and the welfare of children and family discussed.
The School Community
The village has two main schools, St. Lawrence Church of England Primary and Valley End Infant School. Both schools support families within Chobham and beyond. Coworth Flexlands is a private school within the village and attracts a number of children from neighbouring counties of Berkshire, Hampshire. Wishmore Cross, on the site of the old secondary school supports 11- 16 year olds from within the county who have Emotional and Behavioural difficulties.
The Young Community
There are many group activities for young people in Chobham, such as Scouts and Guides (including Beavers, Cubs and Brownies), Army Cadets, St John’s Ambulance Badgers and Cadets. Sporting activities include, cricket, tennis, football and rugby. Schools have breakfast and after school clubs
The closure of Chobham Youth Centre in (when), means our teenagers do not have a central meeting point. Other than sporting activities, there appears to be little to occupy teenagers in the village. The particular needs of this group were highlighted in Chob Quest in 2000
The closure of the secondary school in the 1960s has affected the social life of our young people as children after the age of 11 years are dispersed to different secondary state schools in local towns and villages not of their choice
The Older Community
Chobham has an active Old Folks Club which meets fortnightly throughout the year, at the Recreation Ground Pavilion. .The aim of the Club, which presently has 85 members is to provide stimulating talks, outings and entertainment for the over 70s and to get members out of their homes regularly for social contact.
The Sporting Community
Sport is well catered for with separate grounds available for cricket clubs, rugby and soccer, as well as tennis clubs, badminton, yoga, riding, short mat bowling, angling and rifle shooting. Chobham is bordered by golf clubs (Chobham, Sunningdale, Foxhills and Wentworth). There is common land available for other pursuits such as walking, riding, model plane flying, and a recreation ground with equipped play area for the young.
The General Community
St Lawrence Church with St Saviour Valley End produces a monthly magazine taken by the majority of homes which has information on activities in and around the village.
The Church organises quarterly Community Leaders lunches, a parents forum, the annual Thomas of Chobham lecture and an annual music festival. The Church Hall is home to various U3A groups, mothers and toddlers, brownies and others. There are groups for bellringers, choir and handbell ringers.
A weekly country market is held in the Village Hall and two local farm shops are well supported, although most residents shop for food outside the village in Brookwood, Woking or Sunningdale.
The Business Community
Chobham has always relied on enterprise right from the days when the water driven mills were in use and the pubs served the farmers while their corn was being ground.
In the past twenty years the village has seen the loss of banks, a resident police station, butchers, bakers, several pubs and a library. It has retained its Doctors’ Surgery, Chemist and Post Office but the High Street is not as vibrant as it once was.
The change in the nature of the way in which an increasing proportion of people earn their living in Chobham continues to mirror that in similar areas of the UK and unfortunate happenings elsewhere should be heeded.
The relative decline in manufacturing and land-based industry continues as service activities grow but skilled specialists can and do survive and thrive
Catering and other direct retailing enterprises rely on passing trade typically selling to consumers providing input to other businesses. The threat to such businesses from alternative providers outside Chobham is resulting in a surplus of high street premises and may eventually lead to pressure to revert or convert shop units to residential use. This will accelerate the loss of vibrancy in the village centre
Professional firms, technical and scientific experts and sole practitioner specialists can be home-based or in small, possibly shared, workspaces. A burgeoning array of skilled people increasingly look after the tasks that people are unable or unwilling to tackle for themselves.
Economics of a Village like Chobham
When you look at the financial impacts of local earning and trading you really see the impact on the local community.
Here is an example of how powerful shopping decisions are. Consider a chain store or supermarket where 80% of the money spent at the till in the village leaves Chobham, and only 20% is left as wages, rates and services.
If £100.00 is traded four times it leaches out of the local economy fast
Within four trades £100 is down to 16p left in Chobham.
|Trades |Value of transactions |Leaves the local economy |Stays in the local economy |
|Trade 1 |£100 |£80 |£20 |
|Trade 2 |£20 |£16 |£4 |
|Trade 3 |£4 |£3.20 |£0.80 |
|Trade 4 |£0.80 |£0.64 |£0.16 |
If, however a local producer or service provider sells to you and 80% of the money stays here and 20% leaves then:
|Trades |Value of transactions |Leaves the local economy |Stays in the local economy |
|Trade 1 |£100 |£20 |£80 |
|Trade 2 |£80 |£16 |£64 |
|Trade 3 |£64 |£12.80 |£51.20 |
|Trade 4 |£51.20 |£10.24 |£40.96 |
£40.96 is 256 times the amount left in the Chobham compared with 16p. This is why our towns are drained of resources; every time we trade with non-local trading entities, our hard earned local money leaches out of the area never to return
Community Section Design Principles
1. The continued decline of the High Street can only be averted by far-sighted thinking, appropriate policies and, where necessary, strategies that constrain short-term financial goals of either the local authority or individual investors or owners.
2. Minimising parking provision in the centre of Chobham is counter-productive as people will simply drive further if they cannot park easily to use what is still available.
2. Planning strategies should consider how best to encourage a vibrant village centre and sub-centres. In support of this, adequate parking, pedestrian and cycle friendly features need to be provided.
3. Planning strategies need to consider the safety of our children attending local schools, families and others using the High Street and other shopping hubs and the safety of everyone accessing the doctors’ surgery and community centres.
4. Easily accessible workspaces, enterprise centre, hot desking workstations and a skill transfer centre are required. - Such workspace can provide the launching site for self-employment and help existing businesses where a home-base is unavailable.
5. The sports fields and open spaces form major facilities for people from the village and the surrounding area and in planning terms such irreplaceable assets should be guarded and retained in perpetuity to maintain the character of the area and to continue to provide facilities for today’s sports people.
6. Consider turning the delightful feature of two rivers in our midst into a design feature both to enhance the look of the village and to alleviate flooding.
Appendix
COMMUNITY GROUPS AND ACTIVITIES
Schools: St Lawrence Church of England (Aided) Primary School
Valley End Primary
Coworth /Flexlands
Wishmore Cross
Montessori; Chumps childminders, Nurseries and playschools -Summerfields, Squirrels, Jackanory, various classes, eg kindermusic and dancing
Churches: St Lawrence with St Saviour Valley End
The Gospel Hall in Chertsey Road
Groups also meet in Village Hall and Valley End Institute.
Places to meet.: Church Hall, Community Centre, Village Hall, Parish Pavilion, Chobham Club, Cricket Pavilion, Rugby Club, School Halls
Sports: Tennis, Angling, Rugby, 2 Cricket clubs, Soccer, Rifle, Yoga, Riding, Badminton, Golf, Short mat bowling, Riding for the disabled. Common Riders Association
Outdoor facilities: Recreation Ground with children’s play area:,
Church fields
Chobham Common
Cemetery and allotments
Public footpaths and bridleways
Societies
Chobham Society and other Residents’ Associations
Open spaces and Common Preservation Society
Chobham Museum
Art Group
Morris Men
W.I. Floral Club. British Legion and War Memorials,
Chobham Neighbourhood Care, Chobham Club,
Annual Carnival, Agricultural and Horticultural Society, Chobham Business Club
Mobile library once a week
Adult education classes
Bridge club
Community Interest Company
Fire Station with volunteer force
Young Farmers, Army cadets
St John Ambulance (Beavers
Brownies, Cubs, Guides
Baby Clinic , Mothers and Toddlers
Highways Traffic and Transport
“ A lovely village, what a pity about the traffic “ (heard from visitors to the village on seeing and hearing the incessant traffic which clogs the High Street outside the Grade 1 listed Church of St Lawrence).
A paper prepared by the Chobham Society in 1993 points out that five roads, namely the traditional routes to and from Chertsey, Guildford, Windsor, Ascot, Bagshot and Camberley and the more recently established road from Woking all focus on the centre of Chobham’s ancient village. Two of them – the A319 (that has close links with J11 M25 [2 miles] and J3 M3 [3 miles]) and the A3046 which is a direct route to Woking (2 miles) are influenced by
both Guildford and Woking having recently been designated as “transport hubs”.
Because of its links with the M25 and the M3, the A319 becomes a ‘rat run’ whenever there are difficulties on those motorways resulting in traffic chaos in Chobham. Some of the attractive rural roads are or are becoming regular ‘rat run’s as traffic increases.
Both the A319 and the A3046 are designated routes for Heavy Goods Vehicles. There is a 17 tonne lorry ban on the A3046 section of the High Street that is difficult to enforce without constantly tying up police resources. The remainder of the High Street is taken up by the A319, which zigzags through the village centre where it joins the A3046 at a sharp right hand bend where a mini-roundabout has to be negotiated.
(Map and Photographs)
The Village School is in the village centre. Many of the children have to cross two main roads on their way to school. The two main roads effectively hem in the entrances to the school. Apart from a simple unsupervised crossing at the Church entrance, there are no controlled crossing places.
The paper prepared by the Chobham Society in 1993 included a plan identifying the many traffic hazards in the village and its surrounds and suggested solutions. This was adopted by Surrey Heath Borough Council as a working document and many minor works were undertaken in the next 7 years
(Map)
The basic principle was that work should be prioritised in three 5 year phases, the third phase being used to review the effectiveness of work already done. The Scheme worked well although based on low-cost exercises until the County Council took over at the turn of the century. The County co-operated closely with the local “special interest group” (Traffic SIG) to formulate and identify areas of recognised difficulty e.g. the five way intersection at Burrow Hill Green where serious accidents have occurred. A County Highways Engineer was allocated to the task, County drew up alternative plans for consultation purpose and priorities were being established. The first of these, improvement of High Street traffic flow was partially completed, at which time the County’s support was withdrawn on funding grounds. Since then only one scheme (not prioritised and controversial) has been completed. How very sad it is when a genuine village initiative ends like this. We continue to fight on.
Our programme included a cycle track to Woking passing the local High School for which some funding had already been obtained. We are determined not to allow this to drop.
But guess what! We have just become belatedly aware of a planning application (determined by Runnymede Borough Council in favour of the applicant) bordering on Chobham Common and 129 hectares in extent. The Common is a Special Area of Conservation as well as the site of a triple SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest), enough to prevent any small-scale development because a 4 kilometre cordon has been established within which there is a strong presumption against development. The Runnymede application includes an option to close Staple Hill, a traditional local road which links Chobham to neighbouring villages, where it climbs a ridge on Chobham Common 200 feet above the village and providing a spectacular view of the North Downs some 6 miles away. The village may need to use all its resources to seek a public inquiry having bought the Department of Transport to heel in the 1990s when, with the aid of our Member of Parliament, the Parliamentary Ombudsman was persuaded to publish a rebuke to the Minister of Transport for serious misadministration in over 24 years in failing to complete the “exchange land” arrangements for land taken for the M3 where it crosses and blights Chobham Common. In an attempt to help the Highways Agency, the village suggested that the many complications created by the 24-year delay might be reduced by acceptance of our proposal that a recommended alternative area of land be substituted for part of the original area. This has been pursued by the Highways Agency and after a further lengthy delay the new arrangements are likely to be concluded in 2008! There is no intention to overlook outlying areas of Chobham such as Philpot Lane; the Borough took indeed minor calming measures 10 years ago in Philpot Lane and Scotts Grove Road. Valley End has also not been forgotten. Residents of Pennypot may remember that the proposals for the Knaphill-Bisley-West End Bypass which would have turned the quiet road into a much busier highway. However we hope that you will, like us, adopt the motto “ if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again”.
ROADS
“A lovely village, what a pity about the traffic”
Chobham lies about 3 to 5 miles midway between the M25to the East the M3 to the North and 7 miles South to the A3 [M].
The A319 from the M25 to Camberley runs East to West dissecting the village. The A3046 road to Woking lies to the South East. It then continues North, again the village is dissected, as the A3046 changes to the B383 and on to Sunningdale and the A30. Woking town is now designated as a transport hub.
The village is a cross roads for commuting traffic which causes long queues of vehicles particularly Monday to Friday from 7am to 9.30 and 4.30 to 6.30pm.
If there is a solution to the congestion it appears to encourage yet more vehicles seeking alternative routes to all the heavily used roads of Surrey. So as the traffic flows steadily increase a solution to congestion may be insoluble.
The creation of an outer ring road could make as many problems as it solves. It is not a simple and obvious solution.
The high Street has a lorry ban for vehicles over 18 Tonnes but this it is not always enforced. A small but significant number of the largest Lorries use the A319, some of which are from mainland Europe. There have been many fatalities on these 4 main roads and some traffic calming measures eg, lower speed limits, pedestrian crossings and roundabouts have been introduced which appear to increase safety.
The country lanes surrounding the village are mostly without footpaths. Many are heavily used by commuters as “alternative routes” to avoid traffic queues. Other road users such as cyclists, horse riders and pedestrians also share the same lanes - if they are brave enough. In the dark evenings of mid Winter these lanes are even more dangerous to other road users. Most have had one scare too many and are wary of using their lanes unless in a vehicle. There are many lanes which would benefit the countryside and non vehicle users by becoming “quiet lanes” or similar with slow 10 or 20mph speed limits and both weight and width restrictions. Examples are at Staple Hill Road across Chobham common, Loveland’s Lane and Gracious Pond Road.
PARKING
Cars using the Centre of the village and the High Street can use a large car park off the High St. This is now more than 40 years old and is requiring enlargement or the provision of another one within a few 100 yards of the High Street. [Possibly at the other end of the High Street.]
RAILWAYS
Chobham was fortunate in missing out on the railway age; it retarded development of the village. It is served about 2 to 3 miles away by stations to the North and South. Sunningdale, a local line, which links the West with London Waterloo. Woking to the South has an excellent and extensive service of both local lines and expresses serving the South and West and London Waterloo. Some villagers use the railways to commute to work. Chobham Parish Plan found a need for a rail commuter’s shuttle bus to Woking station and this Summer it has finally begun.
AIRPORTS
Chobham unusually has a small airport Fairoaks beside the A319. It is restricted due to the length of the runway to small private and business aircraft. It does not have any scheduled passenger flights. It has a large number of businesses contained within “a major developed site” in the North West corner, many of which are not aviation related. The international airports of Heathrow, about 13 miles away, Gatwick, about 30 miles away, Luton about 48 miles away, Southampton airport 53 miles away and Standsted airport 75 miles away. All making the village an attractive residential location for commuters.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
There are a number of different bus providers serving the large local hospitals at Frimley Green and St Peters in Chertsey, the towns of Woking and Camberley, Schools and a large supermarket.
There is the new commuters Shuttle bus to Woking operating only at peak periods. All of these services are infrequent and very time consuming. None operate in the evenings.
CYCLISTS
There are relatively few cyclists in the village and fewer still outside of it. There is plenty of scope for more cycle use if it can be made safer. Cycle Clubs hold races over the common roads during summer weekends that are well signposted and marshalled, but these rely on safety in numbers. There is an identified need in Chobham Parish Plan for a cycleway to Woking. An appraisal and Report for one has been made in 2004 but has not been pursued. This route could be used by secondary school children and commuters and possibly walkers and horseriders providing it was designed safely. On Saturdays and Sundays the lanes around the Village are extensively used by recreational cyclists. Then there is very little traffic. The County have introduced a cycle route from Chertsey to the North East 4 miles away to Woking. It uses the existing road system but lacks any new safety measures to protect cyclists from speeding vehicles. It is little used on working days.
HORSERIDERS
Chobhams village fields are overwhelmingly used for keeping and feeding recreational horses. Chobham probably has more horses than any other village in England. There is excellent riding to be had on Horsell common 600 acres between the village and Woking and at Chobham common 1400 acres to the North between Chobham and Sunningdale. Public Bridlepaths links do exist but some roadwork to get to the commons inhibits many riders from access, unless the horses are transported there by road.
WALKERS
There is a large network of public paths throughout the Parish linking all areas but especially to the village Church. These along with the Bridleways are well signed and maintained by the County. Most paths are used for recreation rather than a journey. The footpaths in the village rarely can be used as an alternative to walking beside the busy and crowded roads. The village school for under 12 s is opposite the High street in the village centre. The crossing of main roads inhibits use by children. There are some pinch points where the footpath is too narrow and therefore is unsafe.
OBSERVATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS and ASPIRATIONS
Built Environment
As a rural village washed over by Green Belt Chobham has particular planning requirements. The uniqueness of Chobham does not lie in its centre, but in the spread of its historic buildings throughout the surrounding countryside between valley and heath. No doubt ownership of the land by the Abbey conditioned this pattern of building, but everywhere on the lanes and byways are to be found the stock of fine farmsteads, set on land which was originally cleared and enclosed from the Abbey waste, probably in medieval times.
The regular pattern of plot boundaries along the High Street, which probably date from the 12th century, and the pattern of landholdings outside the village, which do not show a reliance on the common three field system of agriculture, are likely to owe their origin to the planning influence of Chertsey Abbey. The settlement developed from the agriculture use and topography of the land. The area of higher ground between the Bourne and the Mill Bourne may have been the centre of this settlement - it is today the site of the finest building in the village, St. Lawrence’s Church. But both Fowlers Wells and Burrow Hill Green can also lay claim to having a clustered settlement on cleared lands in these early times.
The craft based rather than an agriculture based population lived in what are almost certainly the root-stock for the buildings we see on the High Street today. The plots have probably changed little since the church was built, from 1080 to 1215 when the graveyard was opened. The buildings themselves have been renewed over time. Many in the High Street are buildings of the late 16th or early 17th century; their timber frames being later altered by the addition of a brick façade. (Photos) There were at least three local brickworks which flourished from the 1600’s until the 1930’s in Chobham, Brickhill and Valley End.
A selection of architecturally significant homes, pubs and shops give an indication of the wealth of an affluent village since Saxon times. There are 15 buildings on the High Street that are Listed, with many more protected through the Local list, show varied architecture with unspoilt character.
Architecturally significant buildings of Chobham are not confined to the central historic core of the village. The architecturally significant features are detailed in the drawings>>>>
Planning
As Chobham is washed over by Green Belt planning policy should permit new housing only in the form of infilling or small scale development SHBC Policy H9 supported by Surrey Structure Plan 1994 RU1 and RU2. Any housing permitted on such sites to be counted towards the Borough’s Housing allocation set out in Policy H1
There is very little space available for further development apart from back garden infill or replacement of larger buildings.
The dispersed nature of settlement of farms and estates are due to former heathland husbandry with many examples of listed farmsteads.
Architectural character
Chobham consists of a varying density mix of residential and commercial buildings with very little zoning which reflects the growth of the village. Settlement growth is predominantly to the north of the village. There is a rich tapestry of ancient settlement within the Parish, and it is upon this tapestry that the thread of modern living has been embroidered.
Additionally there are many fine buildings outside the Conservation Area, notably the fine string of 19th Century houses leading from the High Street to the Village Hall. photo
Castle Grove Road, Alpha and Beta Roads offer Victorian semi-detached villas built mainly of red brick with grey slate roofs; a visual rhythm set up by the uniformity of design and bay windows with polychrome brick dressings to windows and doors. photo
At the junction of Chertsey Road and Windsor Road there is an extended group of delightful buildings with immense character. The timbers of the oldest, Old Pound Cottage, have been denro-dated to the winter of 1543. Chobham is well-endowed with vernacular timber framed ‘dawn to dusk’ cottages dispersed through the village eg. Frogpool, Old Pound Cottage, Pennypot Cottage, Yew Tree Cottage and Fowlers Wells below both within and beyond the Conservation Area.
|[pic] |
|Fowlers Wells, probably early in the 20th C source: |
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To the north and east, along Brimshott Lane, on Little Heath and Mincing Lane, Gracious Pond Road and at Stanners Hill, there are 12 listed or locally listed buildings, many medieval in origin, and including Stanners Hill Farm, Gracious Pond Farm, Paradise Farm, Burr Hill Cottage, Little Heath Farmhouse, and Three Ways Cottage. And a little further east lies Emmet’s Mill, at one time a vital commercial workstation on the Mill Bourne.
To the north and west, along Windsor Road, Burrow Hill, the Steep, Windlesham Road, Ford Road and Clappers Lane, there are a further 18 protected buildings, again mostly farmhouses dating from the 15th and 16th centuries, such as Fowlers Wells, Home Farm, Biddles Farm, Buckstone Farm, Steep Acre Farm, the Cloche Hat, Shrubbs Farm, Bourne Brook Cottage, and Frogshole. To the west and south, in Castle Grove, Pennypot, and to the edge of the parish boundary with West End, there are 4 more. This is an incredible richness of historic buildings, unequalled in any other parish so close to London, and more reminiscent of the cellular villages of Kent than the impoverished settlements of Surrey.
There are the 1920’s developments along Sandpit Hall Road and Philpot Lane, originally built on the land of Chobham Farm. There is Brooklands estate and the Leslie Road development; Brimshott and Sandy Lane and all the multifarious ribbons of 19th and 20th century building along the principal arteries of the village - Windsor Road, Chertsey Road, Station Road, Guildford Road and Bagshot Road. Today there is Chobham Lakes, a new build development built on the site of the former Chobham brickworks, strictly within the Borough of Woking, but served by the village of Chobham.
Village centre
Surrey Heath Borough Council designated Chobham village centre as a conservation area in 1972. This area was extended in 1992 to include St. Lawrence School playing fields.
The former village centre, a conservation area, comprised mainly buildings constructed as pubs andsmall homes, originally built with no garage and shallow front gardens or hard edge to the road photo which over time were converted to shops and restaurants which reflect the current use of the village.
Community Buildings
These range from the oldest building Church of St. Lawrence, a Grade I listed Church in the High Street to the recently constructed Community Centre in Windsor Road. Architecturally they are alldifferent and reflect the organic growth of Chobham within the last two centuries. Examples of note are:
▪ The Gospel Hall, Chertsey Road, locally referred to as the ‘Tin Tabernacle’ – a suitable candidate for local listing? Photo
▪ The Village Hall (1888), Station Road, a fine early example of the Arts & Crafts architecture of its time Photo
▪ The Museum, formerly the public toilets.
Commercial buildings
The commercial part of the Village centre is a mixture of modern developments mixed with older properties and dwellings.
Other commercial buildings are on Industrial Estates on both sides of the road at Fairoaks airport.
Streetscene
Front boundary treatments such as garden walls and hedges play an important role in defining and softening the streetscene.
Architectural detailing
Most of the older properties have period architectural detailing including string courses of bricks and old English bond and quoins at the corner of the buildings, often picked out in white. Some of the houses are in white render or are painted white. Some have date plaques and timbering adding to their visual interest.
Positive Buildings, Neutral Buildings and Negative Buildings:
Chobham is a largely unspoiled example of the rural evolution of the English countryside from earliest times to today.
Exceptions are:
The modern parade of shops west of Benham’s Corner immediately north of Mill Bourne and the uninspired 1960’s Telephone Exchange. photo
Insert “ ” from questionnaire
Small Dwellings
There is a small dwellings policy in Chobham designed to retain entry level housing for residents.
Affordable housing
Two housing needs surveys in 2000 and 2005 highlighted a need for affordable housing for village people. The Village Design Statement questionnaire reinforced the need in the village. PPS3 (2005) recognises that in rural areas there are often difficulties in securing affordable housing for local needs.
Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showmen
A permanent site, Kalima, has been provided in the village with easy access to schools, doctors, dentists and shops and they appear to be very settled.
Green Belt policy
Although there is a general presumption against inappropriate development that adversely affects the openness of the Green Belt there is also a perceived slackening of regulation on the fringe of some towns and villages in the UK (research item).
DESIGN PRINCIPLES:
All new development within the Village, including conversions of existing premises, should be designed to relate appropriately to its location as a rural village wholly in the Green Belt with a central Conservation Area. Consideration should also be given to:
Flooding
Philpot Lane June 2008
There is local concern over the risk of flooding in Chobham which is in a low lying area dissected by the lower and upper Bourne Rivers. There have been twelve incidents of flooding since 1912; six of which were in the last fifteen years.
Approximately sixty properties are affected in nine different locations within the Chobham Boundary:
a. Castle Grove Road; north and south of Grantbourne Bridge
b. Chertsey Road, Green Lane and Barnmead
c. Benham’s Corner, Cannon Crescent, Windsor Road South of Millbourne Bridge
d. Station Road
e. Sandpit Hall Road,
f. The Cloche hat area, linked with Windlesham Road and Thompsons Lane
g. Leslie Road
h. Pennypot Lane
i. Philpot Lane, Emmets Mill area
In addition consideration should be given to Halebourne Lane, the Deeppool area and the southern end of Pennypot Lane which are just outside the boundary.
(There are 5 agencies responsible for drainage in Chobham. There needs to be coordination between these parties and knowledge of where their responsibilities lie.
(A programme of coordinated action needs to be in place for when there is a severe weather warning.
(In the event of flooding there needs to be an accessible control room which all agencies can report to.
(Preventing the telephone exchange from flooding again should be high priority and given that it is liable to be flooded Walkie-Talkies should be made available to agencies.
(Consideration should be given towards purchasing a high powered pump which would cost £250k. Storage, maintenance and operators would need to be located.
Rothwell Nursery, Sandpit Hall Lane July 2007
( Elderly people need to be identified so that they can get extra help. Who is to co-ordinate this list and who is to be responsible for ensuring they get help?
(The Bourne Rivers need to be dredged on a regular basis; this has not been done for fifteen years.
(A drainage map needs to be marked with different coloured lines to denote who is the riparian owner of each ditch and culvert and where necessary enforcement should used to ensure that these are cleared annually.
( There are not enough balancing ponds to hold the water back from the village and the Church meadows are not taking their full capacity. It is important to identify areas where water could be retained.
(Planners need to consider not only buildings within the floodplain, but also buildings and roads on higher ground where the run off will add to the already overloaded drainage system.
(As from autumn 2008 all impermeable surfaces such as driveways will require planning permission.
(Any new development should be asked to make provision for water storage, balancing ponds and permeable surfaces.
(Given that Chobham already has a high probability of flooding no green belt areas should be considered for future development.
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APPPENDICES
1. Appendix A Page XX
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2. Appendix B Page XX
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3. Appendix C Page XX
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4. Appendix D Page XX
• XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Policy G4: Design Principles
Policy H17: House extensions
Policy H18: Residential Development in Settlement areas
Core Policy 4: Local character, design and heritage
References:
Surrey Heath Local Plan 2000
Acknowledgements
Contributions from the following Chobham villagers:
Please add your name below if it is not already present. They will appear in last name alphabetical order.
Gill Axtell
Edward Bain
Gill Balister
Harold Bamburg
Jonathan Barlow
Diane Beach
Wendy Bentall
Maria Budd
Ken Carter
Jim Dakin
Joan Dakin
Paul Goodley
Cllr Carol Gregorius
Adrian Ince
Rupert Jennerg
Brian Leadsom
Cllr Margaret Melrose
David Moss
James Osbourn
Helen Parvin
Jeremy Porter
Chris Ragg
Richard Roads
Cllr Chris Rowbothament
Rob Searle
Judith Trow
(Back page)
SUMMARY OF DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS
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APPENDIX
Produced by Chobham Villagers
Supplementary Planning Document
chobham-.uk
Chobham Village Design Statement
Prepared for Surrey Heath Borough Council
for adoption as Supplementary Planning Document
June 2008
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7. Development should incorporate front boundary treatment particularly through the use of brick walls and hedges. Planting scheme to use native species of trees, shrubs and hedging to enable the proposed development to be acceptably integrated into the existing visual and ecological fabric of the village and its rural setting
8. New development to provide sympathetic car parking to serve the needs of the development without aggravating existing problems of on-street parking and in the historic core not to obscure building frontage. All development should avoid undue traffic generation and not compromise highway safety. Specifically, any new building should not require parking spaces on the highway and should not cause any increase in traffic congestion.
9. New development to protect existing rights of way to preserve and enhance pedestrian access within the village and the surrounding countryside.
10. Development which may obstruct or harm existing public views of the significant features within the village and of the surrounding countryside should not be permitted.
11. Street furniture to be to a design and quality that preserves and enhances the visual quality of the village.
12. The demolition of those buildings which make a material contribution to the character or appearance of the Conservation Area or its setting should be resisted.
13. windows and doors on new development within the conservation area should be of a design and appearance which reflects the traditional styles within the conservation area.2
14.TPO’s should be enforced– tree groups in the village make a significant contribution to the rural setting of the village (SHBC, 2001)
15.Gypsies and Traveller and travelling Showmen provision
16 Due regard to be given to the areas of High Archeological Potential HE14.
Design Principles
1. Retain small dwellings policy H11 to maintain entry -level dwellings in the village
2. Rural exception sites to provide affordable housing.
3. Due account should be taken of the historic buildings in determining any application for development affecting the village
4. New and extended buildings or alterations of existing buildings to be in harmony with the scale, height, massing, materials and significant design details of the buildings within the immediate vicinity of the proposed development site (including the boundary walls or fences, roofscape and landscaping) and should preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the village Conservation Area. Avoid urban or suburban built forms and styles which may harm the overall rural character and appearance of the village
5. Extensions: should maintain the style balance and character of the existing building and should be sympathetic to the adjacent properties and existing streetscene and should also incorporate the new flood guidelines (August 2008)to the whole building at the same time.
6. Materials used should relate to and reflect their immediate surroundings, for small scale infill developments or extensions. Similarly materials to be used on external walls and any boundary walls for development within the conservation area and in any locations elsewhere in which the proposed development may have a visual impact on the conservation area unless native hedging is more appropriate.
6. Roof lines and building elevations to be configured to achieve a rural vernacular style sympathetic to the character of the village particularly apparent in the conservation area. Slate or clay pantiles should generally be used as roofing materials on all buildings or extensions within the conservation area and in any locations in which the proposed development may have a visual impact on the conservation area.
Design Principles
1. Green and open spaces providing recreational, environmental and amenity value to the Village should be protected from fragmentation or incursion through further development and enhanced wherever possible.
2. Heathland areas of the Common should be maintained as wild open spaces and not be developed and should be protected and enhanced for their landscape and wildlife value.
3. The trees, hedges, grass verges and other forms of landscaping within the Village, such as front gardens and along roadside verges, should be protected from encroachments. These features should be incorporated into any new development where this would be in keeping with the streetscene.
4. Any development adjacent to watercourses or those with established floodplains should only be permitted if compatible with a thorough hydrology survey, lest further flooding problems are created.
5. The parts of the Village that fringe neighbouring Boroughs of Surrey Heath Borough Council area, should undertake Environmental Impact Assessments of those developments affecting Chobham Village.
Chobham Village Design Statement
Supplementary Planning Document
Chobham Village Design Statement
Supplementary Planning Document
Design Principles
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10.
Design Principles
1. All roads in the Parish should have a much-reduced speed limit.
2. In general all properties applying for planning permission for enlargement should provide off street parking to cover the extra parking induced.
3. Traffic calming is required to make the village accessible to people whom live, work and visit here. The present system is unsafe for children and the infirm who cannot always judge and move with alacrity to avoid an accident.
4. Serious consideration is required to install Pelican crossings on at least each of the five main roads entering the village and close to the centre.
5. A safe cycle track from the village to Woking avoiding cycling on main roads is required. It would serve both the Woking secondary schools and the town’s facilities.
6. Traffic solutions should reinforce the rural character of the village and provide safe and convenient access.
7. Bus services need to be more frequent, run later and cheaper or free if people are going to use them although the new Chobham/Woking Shuttle will help.
DRAFT
Design Principles
1. The lanes outside the village being heavily used by commuters and with a 60 mile per hour speed limit are too fast for the mix of traffic including cyclists, horses, pedestrians and those with prams or motorised scooters. All roads in the Parish excepting National A and B roads should have a much reduced speed limit.
2. There are many lanes which would benefit the countryside and non vehicle users by having a reduction of traffic with slow 10 or 20 mph speed limits and with weight and width restrictions. Examples are at Staple Hill road across the common, Loveland’s Lane and Gracious Pond Road.
3. In general all properties applying for planning permission for enlargement should provide off street parking at least to cover the additional car parking use it may create.
4. In principle, at present all vehicles are given priority over other road users. Traffic calming is required to make the village accessible to people who work and live and visit here. The present system is unsafe for children and the infirm who cannot always judge and move with a skittishness to avoid a traffic accident.
5. Serious consideration is required to install Pedestrian controlled traffic light crossings on at least each of the five main roads entering the village and close to the centre.
6. The High Street vehicle weight limit should be reduced to 7.5 tonnes and the speed limit reduced.
7. A safe cycle track from the village to Woking avoiding cycling on main roads is required. It would serve both the Woking secondary schools and town facilities.
8. With no limits yet perceived for the continual growth of vehicles it is vital that new road safety measures are continuously introduced for those who live and work here. Traffic solutions should reinforce the rural character of the village and provide safe and convenient access.
9. Bus services need to be more frequent and run later and cheaper or free if people are going to use them.
Design Principles (for retaining Historic character)
1. xxx
2. xxx
3. xxx
4. xxx
11.
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