Physical reconstruction of public areas, changes to traffic management and planting of trees, hedges and bushes to improve our environment were all recommended in the Neighbourhood Plan supplementary documents ‘Placemaking’ and ‘Ecology Report’
The Forum Steering Committee is committed to seeing as many as possible of these recommendations implemented, and have divided these up into a serries of Projects.
Some of these projects are being carried out already and only need monitoring. Others need us to exert pressure on Runnymede Borough and/ or Surrey County Council, and some will involve us in managing the work ourselves. All require funding at a time when money is very tight, and all involve fighting our way through an incredible amount of bureaucracy seemingly designed to thwart progress. The following is a summary of the active Projects;
- Re structuring of Egham Hill (A30); Besides carrying a lot of traffic, the A30 Egham Hill section has over 5000 students crossing and/or walking up and down it to and from RHUL. We suggested that it should be remodelled to include separate cycleways, safer paths, and a 30mph speed limit- a considerable programme of work involving the spending of millions. Luckily for us Surrey CC has made this work its number one priority under the Local Walking and Cycling Infrastructure Programme and the work is well into the feasibility stage. We are included on the list of consultees, and are particularly concerned to monitor what is proposed with the junctions of the A30 with Middle Hill and Harvest Road, as these configurations influence traffic flows in the Village.
- Re structuring of St Judes Road: This proposal is for the remodelling of St Judes Road mainly between Victoria Street and the A30 traffic lights, and involves the provision of a separate cycle way and 1/2 hour parking on the grave yard side opposite the shops to encourage more casual shopping, plus trees, planters and bushes. we had the scheme priced up at about £2.5m so it is unlikely to surface for a while. However the reason for doing an overall scheme was to provide a template so that when some funds become available bits of it could be done with the assurance that they are part of an overall plan.
- The Transport Hub; This is part of the proposals for St Judes Road, but we have separated it out as it is (relatively) low cost, enhances the centre of the village and fits well with other proposed schemes. It involves clearing the bush in the area on St Judes Road between Victoria Street and Alexander Road (not the trees), paving the area and installing various features such as a new enlarged shelter/ meeting point, bike racks, and a village sign. This creates a central area that could then be used for pop up markets, coffee van, etc. Eventually we would hope to have a shuttle bus service from there to the Egham shops, maybe in conjunction with RHUL. There are also plans underway to have an electric bike hire point located there, and we are in discussion with RBC regarding this addition. You can see an illustration of what it might look like here.
- Trees, Hedges and Other Planting: Increasing the number of hedgerows, trees and other vegetation in public spaces is an obvious win-win. alongside roads planting provides a screen, an absorbent of pollutants, a haven for wildlife and a contribution towards countering climate change. The Ecology report prepared by experts at Surrey Wildlife Trust identified a number of areas that could be planted up, including the top of Bond Street, a number of roads in the Forest Estate, and the edge of School playing fields. An initial project involving school children planting 30 trees at St Cuthbert’s School was undertaken last year, and we are working on arranging larger schemes along some of the streets identified in the Ecology report and the Placemaking report.
- Parking in the Central Area; Parking in the central area of Englefield Green has always been a contentious issue, and in the Placemaking Report it is recommended that parking controls be put in place. A complete review of past fact finding and a house to house survey of residents views has been undertaken and submissions will be made to the SCC Runnymede Parking Review 2024/25 before the deadline on November 29th. We will learn in H1 2025 if these have been approved for advertising for public comment. Next year the same project group will continue their work looking at the feasibility of parking controls.
- One way system in the Central Area; Proposed in the Placemaking report, this is another long term project that requires us to investigate and identify the need and liaise with Surrey CC Highways. Again, it is subject to the same bureaucracy and funding restraints as the Parking and will take time. Its configuration is also determined by the outcome of the A30 LCWIP designs regarding inlet roads to Englefield Green.
- Speed Limits; in accordance with the recommendations of the Placemaking report, we have made submissions to SCC Highways to lower speed limits in and around our village. SCC have accepted our submissions for Priest Hill, St Jude’s Rd, Bakeham Lane and Prune Hill and have undertaken to advertise these for public comment in due course. Our submission for specific areas of the village to become 20mph zones has been adopted by SCC for further consideration.
- National Cycle Highway 4; Did you know that National Cycling Route 4 currently runs up the impossibly steep and badly maintained Coopers Hill from the bypass up to the Air Force Memorial and then on down Coopers Hill Road, Ridgemede Road and Bishopsgate into the Park? it is a highly unsatisfactory route due to the poor quality of the first section, and the reluctance of the National Trust (who own part of it) to allow improvements. we have therefore been in discussions with SUSTRANS the custodians of the National Cycling Routes, to alter Route 4 and bring it through the village. current standards prevent a new route from going along roads with 5000 vehicles/day or more without a separate cycle lane. Unfortunately St Judes Road is that, and it is too narrow (and too expensive) to accommodate a separate cycle lane, and so the proposed route is up the A30 (once the new LCWIP is complete- see (1) above) then down Harvest and Barley Mow Road, alongside the Green, and on to Bishopsgate again. Besides depending on reconstructing the A30, approval of this route depends on the installation of a crossing at the St Judes/ Barleymow road- and it just so happens that Surrey CC have taken on this responsibility through their approval of the reconstruction of Birchlands (see Planning)
- Gardens and Children’s Play Area; utilising one of the larger open spaces in the Forest Estate, this project is proposed as a combination of a flower garden, a vegetable garden, a children’s vegetable garden and a children’s play area, the idea being to the community together and provide a meeting point. this project is suspended at the moment due to lack of funds, but a preliminary view of the concept can be found here.
- Reconstruction of the Hub, Forest Estate; Originally conceived as the construction of a brand new facility equipped and staffed to provide facilities for all from toddlers through teens to the elderly, this project is being promoted by the Journey Church and others as an extension of their existing activities in a refurbished existing building.