Tandridge Buzz

Caterham-based Paul Cannon has released his debut pop single Dream, which he hopes will inspire people to work hard to achieve their goals.

Cannon, 37, has been writing songs since he was nine years old and is a former DJ and teacher. The song is an uplifting electronic, string symphony with a strong synthesiser driven melody.

“I wrote it at a point when I was feeling very positive and working quite hard in my normal job and some of the hard work was paying off,” he said.

“Everything was going the way I wanted it to and I was feeling very positive and my attitude when writing the lyrics was if you work hard and get on, it may be tough but if you keep going you will get there.

“If you sit on your backside, you won’t get anywhere and so many people take that attitude.

“I wanted this to be a statement to everyone to say come on if you pull your finger out, you will do really well.”

Cannon joked his dream for the single would for it to go to number one in the charts.

“All musicians say this, but I would be delighted if one person likes it but I am hoping that a lot more like it.”

Cannon expects an album to be released at a later date. The single was released on Monday 29 August on Greater London Records and available for download from iTunes and Amazon.

Residents are being invited to have their say on planning policies and Green Belt settlements by Tandridge District Council.

A consultation starts on 28 January and views are being sought on:

• Possible future content of a Development Management Development Plan Document (DMDPD). The DMDPD will contain detailed policies which will help determine planning applications and replace Local Plan policies.
• A review of the Green Belt Settlements to consider whether some or all should continue to be designated as settlements.

“These documents are an important next step in preparing the planning framework for the district,” said Councilor David Weightman, chairman of the planning policy committee.

“We would encourage local residents, community groups and businesses to get involved and help us draw up these important documents.

“Residents in the villages will be particularly interested in the discussion paper about the Green Belt Settlements, as this will affect what level of development will happen in their communities in the future.”

The consultation documents can be viewed on the Council’s website www.tandridge.gov.uk/Planning/PlanningPolicy/planningpolicyconsultations.htm. The consultation runs from 28 January until 11 March.

The streets, parks and open spaces of Tandridge District are now 97% free of graffiti after a “dramatic’ reduction, the Council has said.

Tandridge District Council checks the quality of its street cleaning against national standards every four months and it says the state of our public areas has improved for the third year running.

Top of the list of improvements is the reduction in the level of graffiti — which the Council claims is down to its “proactive” approach in forming partnerships with the private sector, parish councils and local community groups, to get their help and support in removing it.

The Council’s street cleaning team can now also remove minor graffiti, rather than waiting for a specialist company to do it.

The last cleaning check in July revealed that 98% of the areas inspected were litter free, 94% were clear of debris, 97% graffiti free and 100% clear of unacceptable levels of flyposting.

Street cleaning teams use the information to identify problem areas and change their schedules accordingly to deal with litter “hot spots”.

“We are very pleased with our street cleaning performance and ask the community to help us make sure the district stays clean and tidy, by using the litter, dog and recycling bins and reporting any issues,” said councillor Tony Elias, chairman of the Community Services Committee.

Residents can find out how often their road is cleaned here.

To report a problem in your area call the Council on 01883 722000, or e-mail customerservices@tandridge.gov.uk.

Do you believe the Council is doing a good job on keeping parks and streets clean? Let us know by posting a comment below.

Six-year old James Kennedy scooped the top prize in the Church Walk Shopping Centre Treasure Hunt during the town’s Medieval Day celebrations.

Kennedy, from Caterham and who attends Audley School, received his prize from WH Smith manager Ross Whyall.

He beat 20 other children to win the prize by getting all answers correct. Children collected entry forms from First Choice and visited every store in the centre looking for items in the stores, they did not normally sell.

“We would like to thank all the shops and public who supported our event by shopping locally and Morrison’s for providing the Free Parking,” said centre manager Shelley Filippi.

The day raised £87.59 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institute — £41.81 from the Bubblegum face painting stall and £45.78 from the balloon modelling.

“We would like to thank all the public who supported our event by shopping locally and donating to this cause,” Filippi added.

James Kennedy and Ross Whyall (photo: Shelley Filippi)

Disgruntled residents will now be able to lodge e-petitions with Tandridge District Council.

But petitions can not relate to planning or enforcement issues and must concern an issue, which is relevant to the Council or which affects a specific area in the district and its residents.

The Council defines a petition as one with ten signatures or more. Once the deadline for signatures has passed, chief executive Stephen Wiegel will decide whether a petition is acceptable to be presented at full council or relevant meetings.

Those presenting the petition at meetings will have three minutes to speak in support of the petition. Councillors will consider the petition and take any action they decide is necessary.

“We have accepted petitions by post and in person for many years and this new service is just an easier way for people to ask us to consider a particular issue or service area,” said Councillor Martin Fisher, chairman of the Resources Committee.

There are currently no petitions lodged on the new service.

To lodge an online petition visit http://petitions.tandridge.gov.uk/

A company has been ordered to fork out over £4,000 in fines and costs after displaying advertising signs in a field next to the M23 in Smallfield without council consent.

B&S Ventures (Smallfield) Ltd pleaded guilty to displaying two unauthorised signs in a field next to the motorway at Redhill Magistrates Court on 23 August.

The company was fined £3,400 and ordered to pay the Council’s costs of £649, plus £15 to the victim support fund.

Tandridge Council had gone to great lengths to avoid a prosecution but in the end were left with little choice.

The Highways Agency first informed Tandridge Council about the two advertisements on 19 May 2010. The Council’s planning investigation officer visited the site and asked for removal of the signs within seven days because the owner did not have  advertisement consent.

Mr Strutt of B&S Ventures (Smallfield) Ltd, which owns the site, responded to advise they were getting quotes to remove the advertisements.

The Council wrote again to ask for the advertisements to be removed by 21 June. Mr Strutt replied the advertisements would be covered up.

On 21 June another site visit was made by the Planning Investigation Officer. He contacted Mr Strutt as the advertisements were not covered sufficiently and still liable to prosecution. The Highways Agency also confirmed that partial covering of the advertisements was not acceptable.

The Council wrote again asking for the advertisements to be removed or covered completely by 19 July. On 20 July, a third site visit was made and the advertisements were still visible, with the covers hanging off.

“We gave the company enough time to resolve this issue, but they did not remove the advertisements and in the end we had to prosecute,” said Councillor Gill Black, chairman of the Planning Committee.

Thousands of people enjoyed the Kenley Air Day on Saturday despite the poor weather causing the Battle of Britain fly-over to be cancelled.

Organisers of the free to enter community day, to raise funds for the up-keep of the RAF Kenley Tribute memorial, estimated that around 6,000 people had visited during the day. Money was raised from the sale of programmes on the day at a price of £5 each.

Unfortunately, the weather took its toll on proceedings with monsoon conditions meaning Spitfires and Lancaster bombers were unable to take off from Eastbourne, where they were scheduled to appear in another air show before making their way to Kenley.

However, there were displays from the Breitling Wing Walkers and the Croydon Airport Model Flying Club to excite the crowd.

“The day is all about raising money for the RAF Kenley Tribute, which was built in 2000 and it does need maintaining and does need a lot of money because specialists have to come in to repair the stone work during the winter when it gets frost damaged,” said Chris Baguley, chair of the Kenley Airfield Friends Group — one of the original four that built the RAF Kenley Tribute.

“We are flattered so many people braved the weather, which is totally outside our control, and we hope they enjoyed themselves. It is good to see so many planes buzzing over the skies of Kenley.”

The Battle of Britain display was also cancelled in 2005, when the planes were stuck in Cardiff as poor weather closed in.

Baguley added: “This is a Battle of Britain airfield and part of our national heritage. We usually have Battle of Britain aircraft give their service free of charge because we are a Battle of Britain airfield and we are synonomous with that.”

Guest of honour on the day was 97-year-old Flight Lieutenant William Walker who was posted to Kenley the day after the famous Luftwaffe attack of 18 August 1940.

Warlingham resident Gayle Gander said: “We had a great day, despite the rain. Still some great displays.”

And Sharon Richards, who tethered the hot air balloons, added: “Shame about the weather but great turn out even so.”

What did you think of the Kenley Air Day? Let us know by posting a comment below.