The Annual Assembly will be held after a short Annual Parish Meeting on Monday 22nd May at 8pm.  There will be a variety of guest speakers, a summary of 2022-2023 accounts and an introduction to any new councillors joining the Elstead Parish Council.  

Afterwards residents are invited to stay for light refreshments and to ask any questions on issues that might be affecting the parish.

Following the tree survey all of the necessary works on trees on Parish Council land have been completed.  The Parish Council would like to reassure residents that it has still has every intention of keeping this a natural area and will only be doing those works which are deemed essential for pedestrian and highways safety.  Trees are checked for wildlife and nests before any work is started.

The Coronation weekend of 6-8th May will be a celebratory weekend.  There are a number of events happening across the village from cricket at the pavilion to live music.  Following the Jubilee events of 2022 some of the monies left over were distributed between three village charities.  The remaining monies were held over for a village fete.  

In view of the Coronation is was agreed that two smaller events would be organised for 2023 to mark this auspicious occasion and hopefully a Village Fete Committee can be formed in September to start work on a Village Fete for 2024.

To celebrate the Coronation an afternoon tea has been organised for Sunday 7th May and any residents over 60 are warmly invited to come along.  There will be cakes, scones, bunting and entertainment!  

On Monday 8th May children are invited to come along to the Thursley Road rec for an afternoon of fun activities.  More details on both events will be shared in the next issue.

 The Parish Council is delighted to support these and is contributing £500 to both events.  Many thanks to the wonderful team of volunteers who are making these events happen.  We hope that you will support them.

May 2023 will be the year for local elections and on 4th May 2023 residents will be able to elect councillors for Elstead Parish Council.  There are nine seats on Elstead Parish Council – some councillors will look for re-election however it is likely that we will need some new councillors to join Elstead Parish Council.  

If anyone is interested in standing for election please contact the Parish Clerk or the Parish Chairman for more information and to understand what is involved.  Everyone is very welcome to attend our monthly public meetings so why not come along and see what happens in a typical meeting.  Anyone wishing to stand must complete a nomination paper.  Nomination papers are available from Waverley BC and must be submitted in person by 4pm on 4th April 2023.

Being a parish councillor is a really interesting role and absolutely no prior experience of local government is necessary.  Training is available for any new councillors who join and the main attribute is being enthusiastic about the local community / area.  The Parish Council meets typically once a month with a couple of ad hoc meetings in addition.
Should there be less than nine candidates to stand, the election is uncontested and there will be no need for a vote.  The Parish Counl will then need to co-opt individuals to fill any remaining vacancies within two week of the date of the election.  Don’t forget all residents must bring ID in order to vote on 4th May. 

The Parish Council have written to Jeremy Hunt over the on-going delays caused with the NHP.  Jeremy hunt has responded and has forwarded it to his colleagues to see what advise they can offer. A copy of the letter to Jeremy Hunt is below:

On Saturday 30^th April 2022, Our Elstead, a sub-committee of Elstead Parish Council unveiled an exciting new addition the village, a stunning wrought iron village sign.  Located on the edge of the central village green, the new sign will proudly welcome visitors and those travelling along the busy B3001 in between Farnham and the A3 alike.  The sign was funded in its entirety thanks to a very generous donation from the Billmeir Trust to whom Elstead Parish Council is most grateful.

The sign, which was based on an initial design concept from Paul Williams, Creative Director Springetts, was created and made by Nick Bates of Burroughs Lea Forge who has produced a number of village signs in Surrey.   Many possible symbols or stories associated with Elstead and its history could have been chosen for the design, but Nick’s advice was clear “less is more.”

The village sign project, which was initially an idea from Diana Mathisen, was overseen by Our Elstead.  The project team comprised; Elstead Parish Councillor John Mathisen, Stefan Reynolds, Elstead Parish Councillor, founder and editor of VantagePoint and Paul Williams.

Inspiration for the sign’s design came from Gillian Drew’s book “Elstead Then and Now” and Alan Bott’s book “A History of the Parish Church of St James Elstead.”  The project team also visited several local villages and looked at a number of village signs in the surrounding area.  Bott’s book has a facsimile of the 1341 copy of the 1128 Foundation Deeds of Waverley Abbey.  This records that the Bishop of Winchester gave the Cistercian monks of Waverley Abbey two acres of meadow at Helestede.  This is the earliest known mention of the village of Elstead.  While the monks devoted themselves to silent worship, the lay brothers toiled on the land – farming, building bridges, barns and fishponds to feed the Abbey community.  St James’s Church was built in the early 13th century for the lay brothers to worship while working away.

Taking this as a design lead, the frame of the sign is a symbolic Church window with tracery at the top.  The monks built the much loved ancient monument, Elstead Bridge, and this sits proudly spanning the body of the sign.   A sheep walks across the bridge on its way to market and this references Elstead’s agricultural past.

It is said Helestede means the place of the elder trees.  The parish is certainly blessed with trees – represented here by a bouquet of leaves and berries.  The sign would not be complete without a dragonfly – Pudmore Pond, in Elstead Parish is synonymous with these beautiful insects and is a dragonfly hotspot.

We hope the sign will show passers-by that Elstead is an historic village and worth a visit.  It will also remind villagers of our history and to look after the village in the way that our forebears have done.

Elstead Parish Council is interested in starting up a Community Speed Watch in the village and need volunteers to help them get it off the ground.

Community Speed Watch enables residents to get involved in monitoring traffic through their local community. It is intended to educate and inform drivers about anti-social driving and the impact and consequences of their actions.

The scheme has been operating across Surrey for a number of years and has achieved significantly positive results in changing the behaviour of motorists, reducing the threat to life, reducing the impact of anti-social driving and improving the quality of life of those most affected.

A scheme requires a minimum of six volunteers who are trained by police in the use of speed monitoring equipment, health and safety and how to manage enquiries by motorists and/or other members of the public. The scheme is to have a designated co-ordinator and deputy, responsible for the equipment and contact with the police. It will then be the responsibility for the co-ordinator to pass any information onto the rest of the team. Volunteers must be over 18 years of age.

Volunteers arrange times when they want to target anti-social driving, which normally involves monitoring vehicles for up to an hour during peak traffic periods. Vehicles identified as speeding will be recorded by volunteers on a log sheet. This is forwarded to an Administrator who will send out an advisory letter to registered keepers.

If there is a persistent problem with a particular motorist, police will target the driver of that vehicle and, if appropriate, take further action.

The volunteers will need to be registered on the new online Surrey and Sussex Community Speed Watch system and complete the online mandatory training. The Speed Watch team will then need to agree where they want it to operate within the village. There can be more than one site location but there is a criteria that needs to be met and our request/s will be sent to a road risk assessor to check and accept before it can start.

If you would like to get involved so that a Community Speed Watch can get off the ground in Elstead please contact the clerk at elsteadpc.clerk@gmail.com.

The Annual Parish Assembly will be held on Tuesday 10th May at 7.30pm in the Youth Centre. There will be a review of the previous year 2021-2022 followed by updates on the NHP and Jubilee Events. There will be presentations on Fibre Broadband and Preserve our Reserve – boardwalk update. Wine and soft drinks will be served afterwards. All residents are very welcome.

Burford Lodge Rec Car park will be resurfaced during half term.  The car park will be closed from 7am Tuesday 1st June until 5pm Friday 4th June (the end time might change depending on how long it takes).

There will be strictly no vehicular access to the car park during the day – please note that there will be heavy machinery on site and large vehicles delivering crushed concrete.

During this time:
Access to the tennis courts should be via the footpath at Hazlewood or via Lower ham Lane. 
Access to the allotments is best via Lower Ham Lane and walking across the rec following the Lower Ham Lane/rec boundary or via Hazelwood and then turning left and walking around the tennis courts to the Lower Ham Lane/rec boundary side.
Access to the pitches and play equipment either via Lower Ham Lane and walking across the rec following that boundary or via Hazelwood and then turning left and walking around the tennis courts to the Lower Ham Lane/rec boundary side.
Many thanks for your understanding.