Local Group of Friends of the Earth 

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Guildford and Waverley Friends of the Earth voted Group of the Year 2012!

16 September 2012

Delighted to be voted Group of the Year at the Friends of the Earth Local Group Conference 2012 by other local group activists. Also very surprised, which may account for Hilary’s expression when receiving the prize from Clive Anderson.

 

Here are the slides from our winning presentation . Just use the arrows to click through.

 
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Upper Tuesley planning brief still contains basic errors!

So much for public consutation………

In February 2012 Waverley published a draft planning brief for the site it calls Upper Tuesley and asked for public comments.  There were a number of problems with this draft  the most glaring of which was how anybody had managed to justify this isolated site which is remote from any facilities as suitable for 120 residential housing units including 40% affordable.  In addition there were factual errors about the bus services, particularly the 503, and a grossly misleading statement claiming that it is a 10 minute walk from the site to the buses on A3100 Portsmouth Road.

To be fair there has been some improvement in the final version such as the recognition that there needs to be some consideration of the safety of schoolchildren trying  to get to Rodborough School and that there is a potential traffic issue with the junction at the top of Station Lane.  However other fundamental problems with the site have been ignored.  These include access to all facilities but particularly nursery and primary schools.  Another omission is the outcome of the Surrey County Council bus review which has now been published. The mistakes about the walking distance to the bus service on Portsmouth Road persist as (quite incredibly) the document still maintains it is only a 10 minute walk from the site to the buses on Portsmouth Road.

In fact this claim of a 10 minute walk  is so blatantly misleading that we have even begun to wonder whether HCA, GL Hearn and LCA Design are reluctant to correct it because it could have other implications on the overall sustainability assessment of the site and the number of non-vehicular traffic movements.

 
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Solar in Guildford and Waverley

30 May 2012

Guildford & Waverley Friends of the Earth have been instrumental in encouraging the installation of increased solar power throughout the area.

In the last year (since June 2011) solar power has seen rapid expansion:-

  • a 2MW solar park at Dunsfold Park which we supported at the planning application
  • the installation of significant arrays of panels on five local schools  through the Wey Valley Solar Schools Energy Co-operative which is a community owned scheme and was the brainchild of local Friends of the Earth group member, Mike Smyth.  Mike is now the Chair of the Co-operative which has over a 100 member and has just held its first AGM.
  • nearly 500 installations on Waverley owned council houses (which would have been more but for the changes to the feed-in tariff)
  • a large installation on Waverley Council offices

Dunsfold Park solar field from the air:

Just some of the solar panels at Broadwater School

 
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Rodborough Head talks about the benefits to the school of solar pv

Andrew Smith, headteacher at Rodborough School Milford talks about the innovative scheme that provides renewable energy, education and ongoing funding and dividends for the pupils and investors alike.
More information at: http://www.weyvalleysolar.co.uk

 
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