Agenda item

The Leader, or their nominee, to answer any questions raised by members of the public in accordance with Standing Order 13.

One question has been received from a member of the public (as attached).

The Mayor reported that, under Standing Order 14, two questions had been received from members of the public.

Question 1 from Mr Andrew McLuskey:

“Given the current issues affecting Ashford Town Centre (including particularly Anti-Social Behaviour) can the Leader indicate when a new Town Centre Manager for the area is to be appointed?”

The Leader gave the following response:

“I recently attended a very constructive councillor/officer meeting (Spelthorne and Surrey) to discuss the key challenges facing Ashford, plus some initial thoughts on possible practical solutions. This approach is bringing together a range of services at both Borough and County level (breaking down silo working) to ensure we all work collectively to deliver what is best for Ashford – known as place making or place shaping.

The project has ambitions to improve the centre of Ashford, to bring about a high-quality high street which is attractive, safe, economically buoyant, socially vibrant and enables & encourages social interaction via an extended range of activities.  As part of this project, consideration will be given to the best way of supporting businesses”.

Question 2 from Emma Pattinson, Shepperton Splash Ltd

“Will Spelthorne Council now write a letter in support of an application for bathing water status for Shepperton Open Water”?

The Chair of the Environment and Sustainability Committee, Councillor Beecher gave the following response:

“Thank you for your question, Ms Pattinson. The River Thames Scheme is a Nationally Significant Infrastructure project which will provide future flood protection for thousands of Spelthorne’s residents and businesses.  The recent flooding incidents which occurred in some areas of our Borough have been a timely reminder of the vital importance of this project.

When you submitted your previous question to the Council, the Scheme was moving towards gaining planning permission through the Development Consent Order Process, but in view of concerns raised over how the proposed design could potentially affect open water swimming, a feasibility exercise was progressing to investigate the possibility of re-routing the Spelthorne section of the flood alleviation channel, to avoid fully or partially connecting through Ferris Meadow Lake. 

Although we anticipated the publication of the results of this exercise in the first quarter of 2024, the Scheme has not yet completed its evaluation of options for potential alternative designs to address the effects of the Scheme on Ferris Meadow Lake.  A number of other potential alternative solutions to address this issue were suggested as part of the recent statutory consultation and these are now also being assessed by the Scheme in terms of cost, technical complexity and environmental impact.  At this stage we have no indication how long this will take.

This ongoing work means that this Council is not currently in a position to change its stance on this matter.  In view of the vital importance of the River Thames Scheme to protect Spelthorne’s residents and businesses from flooding, this chamber must fully understand how any such diversion could affect our wider Borough and whether this would result in any significant additional costs to the Scheme before we can consider whether we can support any application for bathing water status for Shepperton Open Water.  Once we have all the necessary information available to Councillors, we will debate this issue and decide whether we can offer support for such an application”.