Woodcote (Epsom) Residents Society

For those that don’t know me, I have lived and worked on Langley Bottom Farm since 1983 when I started working as an apprentice tractor driver.  We have seen many changes over the last forty years, the greatest of which was when the Woodland Trust purchased the majority of the land and planted what had been a working farm with trees. We have subsequently worked extremely closely with the Woodland Trust and graze our flock of herdwick ewes on their ‘open spaces’ as part of their conservation policy.

As well as the sheep, we are also arable farmers. We grow 107 acres at Langley Bottom Farm, along with a further 350 acres at Perrotts Farm, Burgh Heath. In order to minimise the build-up of disease and weeds and to maximise yields we rotate different crops around the entire acreage. Last year we grew field beans at Langley Bottom Farm, which were sold as a protein source for pet foods. Field beans naturally collect nitrogen from the atmosphere and fix it into the soil for the following crop. Nitrogen is an essential element for plant growth. This year we are growing wheat, which was sown in September, will be harvested next August and hopefully sold for bread making.  The arable side of the business calms down in November, but work starts for our rams, Reggie and Ralph. They will be visiting the ewes and hopefully in mid-April we will see the arrival of next years lambs. Over to you boys!!!!!

The Council has recently adopted a new Arts, Heritage and Culture Strategy – the first of its kind. Epsom & Ewell is certainly not short of cultural history and boasts over 400 listed buildings and this strategy will celebrate these assets.  A Digital Heritage App is already live!  and can be downloaded from the free Bloomberg Connects app. You will be able to access information about points of interest and history whilst walking around Nonsuch Park, with more tours to be added One Community Wall Mural Project is already complete and the artwork can be seen on an empty council building in the Upper High Street.  If you would like to more about the Arts, Heritage and Culture Strategy please go to:

The future of Epsom town centre is important for all residents of the Borough and WERS is especially keen that residents in Woodcote & Langley Vale ward make their views known on whether they support the guiding principles set out in the Masterplan for development of the town centre up to the year 2040. It includes guidelines for developers, investors and infrastructure providers about specific major development sites and suggested highways and public space improvements.

The draft Town Centre Masterplan is available for public consultation for a period of four weeks up to Friday 22 December 2023. You can respond to the consultation questions via the Councils online consultation portal by using the following link:

Epsom Town Centre Masterplan – Epsom and Ewell Borough Council Consultations (inconsult.uk)

If you have particular views that you wish to feedback to WERS that would also be helpful in enabling WERS to submit a response on behalf of all Woodcote & Langley Vale residents.

John Mumford, Chair Woodcote (Epsom) Residents Society Committee

At the meeting of the Epsom and Walton Downs Consultative Committee last Monday we raised resident’s concerns about the need for a better balance between mowing and cutting long grass and providing space for wildflowers and nature to help biodiversity and tackle pollution.

A new habitat management plan has now been finalised and can be found here

Development of Epsom Hospital Car Park

It has been confirmed that there is not yet a planned start date for this work. There are many pre-commencement planning conditions that have still to be submitted for approval including interim parking arrangements.

We will be keeping a careful eye on this and will be pressing for a public consultation on anything that will impact on residents.

Implications of ULEZ on visiting St Helier Hospital

St Helier Hospital is now within the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). It operates 24 hours a day 7 days week. This means that if you choose to drive to your appointment or to visit someone in hospital, or are driven by a family member or friend, you car will need to meet the ULEZ emissions standards or you will have to pay a £12.50 daily charge.

Did you know there is funding available for community projects?

Your Fund Surrey (YFS) has funding for projects for all shapes and sizes in your area

You can find out more about how you can make in happen in your area here

Derby day, downs maintenance, road verges, school safety, village hall, more ……

Derby Day – Thank You to Residents

Tuesday was an important milestone. It was the first face-to-face Committee meeting since before the pandemic and it was great to have so many local residents give up their evening to come and talk to us.  We were delighted to be joined by Simon Durrant.  He was responsible for ensuring the Derby could take place safely and without disruption.  

Simon opened by saying how pleased he was to have the opportunity to talk to residents about the Derby. He apologized that it had not been possible to let residents know in advance about the different arrangements the racecourse had to put in place to deliver a safe race and avoid it being disrupted.

Challenges

He thanked us for our understanding and took on board comments about simple changes that would have made a difference for residents. Simon gave us a fascinating insight into the challenges they faced this year and the actions they took to mitigate the risks as they arose in the lead-up to race day. Among them was a discussion with Animal Rising to try to stop them disrupting the world-famous race.  He also confirmed the cost of all the additional security had been met by the Jockey Club.

We then had a very lively debate reflecting the national discussion about whether disrupting events and people’s everyday lives was the only way to get attention for urgent changes to the way we live.

Simon also explained changes to entertainments on race days in recent years. The cost and availability of bands post-Brexit and the pandemic meant it was no longer viable to host live bands.

Residents thanked Simon for attending the meeting and for his excellent and really informative presentation. They welcomed, in particular, the Jockey Club’s commitment to working in partnership with local communities.

Management of Downs and Verges

The meeting moved on to discuss management of the Downs and roadside verges. There was agreement on the need to balance mowing and cutting long grass with providing space for wildflowers and nature to help biodiversity and tackle pollution.

In response Cllr Steve McCormick acknowledged that Surrey County Council hadn’t got that balance right this year and would be making changes for the future. As Chair of the Epsom and Walton Downs Conservators he also committed to discuss the feedback about the maintenance of the Downs at their next meeting.

Council Business

There were then short updates from Cllr Bernice Froud and Cllr McCormick.

They thanked residents for their support in getting them re-elected as Councillors for a further term. They could often get quicker answers or solutions to residents’ problems with Council matters. They wanted residents to keep in touch about concerns and contact them about issues they couldn’t resolve.

Cllr Froud highlighted the huge number of initiatives being led by the Community and Wellbeing Committee to reduce the high levels of homelessness in the area.  Private rented accommodation is at a premium and temporary accommodation for families is among the biggest threats to a sustainable Council Budget.  She also said the borough currently has the highest suicide rate in Surrey and the committee was focused on ways to reduce this.

Cllr McCormick talked briefly about his Borough and Council remits and his roles in relation to licensing and planning and in particular the local plan.

Residents’ questions

The meeting then turned to residents’ questions. They were many and various including:

• problems with brown bin collections
• potholes
• getting football pitch lines painted at the recreation ground
• useful green and energy efficiency advice on the Epsom Citizens Advice website
• getting planning restrictions on listed buildings reduced to allow sustainability measures such as PV panels.
• work in hand to improve road safety in the village and particularly around the school
• grants available for improvements to community buildings; and
• fears about losing the Village Hall following a decision by the Vale Primary School to set up a nursery from September.

Residents also urged the Society to prioritise ways to engage and support young people living in the ward.