Surrey County Council (SCC) approved the planning application for the roundabout in July 2022. This had many serious flaws pertaining to veteran trees and hedgerows amongst other issues which made it a very bad solution for our village. In October 2022 the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) amendments and Side Road Orders (SRO) were published which materially affect the approved scheme to a significant degree.
The scheme has been affected to such a degree since approval was granted, it now needs further re-engagement with the public for consultation and a new planning application submitted.
The so-called public engagement through SCC Commonplace is not fit for purpose and is trying to elicit public opinion on landscaping details before a design is established . Most people are unaware of the process and the options are just ‘tick boxes’ which DO NOT constitute meaningful engagement with the community. We believe this to be a deliberate and cynical attempt by SCC to bypass the democratic process by using a technical loophole to achieve the least line of resistance to their plans.
Despite strenuous efforts by the Ottershaw residents groups, SCC have not fully engaged with the community, and in fact have repeatedly ignored our pleas for information. They have also chosen to ignore alternative suggestions of design which would work best for the community and residents. We believe SCC has no intention of listening to the community or changing the scheme as it currently stands.
The issues which need to be urgently addressed through redesign and re-approval include.
Veteran Trees and hedgerows will be lost
Local traffic congestion will not be resolved
Cycling and pedestrian routes drastically reduced
No A320 crossing north of the roundabout
Drainage ponds close to the village centre to become stagnant muddy eyesores.
PLEASE CLICK ON THE SIGN PETITION LINK AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE IF YOU AGREE
Started by: Gemma Pickett (Ottershaw Neighbourhood Forum)
This ePetition ran from 24/08/2023 to 08/10/2023 and has now finished.
387 people signed this ePetition.