Housing plan welcomed (From Streatham Guardian)

Housing plan welcomed

8:00pm Wednesday 23rd April 2008

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As residents' "rep" on Stanwell New Start, I am keen to bring folk up to date with some key developments.

The revised plans for housing, especially under phase one, are broadly to be welcomed.

They do seem to take into account the points people have made about layout, insulation and outlook. However, there remains a concern here about the provision for people who have to be "boarded out" while their new homes are being constructed. This aspect of things needs to be made completely water-tight.

We can applaud too plans for the children's and skills centres. Both are badly needed.

Real worries, however, remain about the planned health centre.

Residents on the estate remain concerned about the surgery being upstairs rather than in the more obvious location (ie downstairs).

Despite strenuous reassurances from council officials, it is still not clear to some of us how the first floor area would be cleared in an emergency or why the library and café (important though they are) should take precedence over medical facilities.

We are exercised too about the proposal to create parking places in the generous green pavement which adds so much to the pleasant aspect of Hadrian Way.

Some other points need to be made too. Surrey County Council has approved £150,000 funding for Stanwell.

There needs to be local input on deciding how this money is spent.

Good though many of the proposals in the New Start scheme are, there is a danger that councillors and others involved may take their eye off the rest of the Stanwell "scene".

For example, Stanwell Moor Village is now effectively a community under siege. To the south the county council is planning to give over the George VI reservoir to gravel raising. To the west there are plans for a new railway (Airtrack).

And to the north Heathrow is planning a "crash pad" at Junction 15 of the M25.

We need sometimes to raise our eyes from the very real issues in south Stanwell and take in the needs of our other communities too.

Andrew McLuskey
Residents' representative Stanwell New Start management committee

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