News

By the time this issue of the magazine is published the Neighbourhood  Plan Sites Meeting will have been held at Beare Green Community Hall on 26 January to enable residents of Capel, Beare Green, and Coldharbour to view site proposals received and to give their comments. There is a link to the Neighbourhood Plan on the Parish Council’s website  www.capel-pc.gov.uk for anyone who has been unable to get to the meeting to view the proposals and to give their feedback. It is essential that as many residents as possible get involved and give their views because the Neighbourhood Plan can only become a reality if the required majority of residents vote for it in a referendum later this year. 2016 will indeed be a very unusual year for democracy with the national referendum about our membership of the EU taking place as well as the local referendum on the Neighbourhood Plan. As we have seen, other countries have referenda at the drop of a hat, while in England we are far more restrained about these matters!

Following the last issue of the magazine, a Parish councillor attended a briefing about the changes to Surrey’s police service.  There are not going to be a lot of cutbacks but there is going to be a lot of reorganisation within Surrey Police. The local Inspector will have a bigger team but officers will not be allowed to specialise in one particular area. Training will be given to officers to enable them to respond to a wider variety of incidents, so policing will continuing to be reactive rather than proactive.

The good news is that 2 new scramble bikes have been purchased by the Police to add to the 2 bought by the Parish Council and officers will be trained in their use, although the know-how  of the dedicated police officer previously assigned to off road duties in the Surrey Hills area may be lost as he has been reassigned.  PCSOs will no longer attend Parish meetings but crime statistics will be provided.  The chairman of the Parish Council will attend a further briefing in February and an update will appear in the March issue.

Further good news, a new defibrillator has arrived and been installed on the wall of the new Parish Office and Community Hall, which is behind the Capel Memorial Hall.  If you haven’t had training yet you can sign up for it.  Even without training, the machine is very easy to use and guides you every step of the way so there is no chance of “shocking” anyone by accident.

MRS LESLEY BIGNELL

Clerk to Capel Parish Council

01306 712447

capelpc@btconnect.com