Ewell Court Residents Association

Welcome to the Ewell Court Residents’ Association

Dear Residents,

During this unprecedented time dealing with the coronavirus we will be posting a series of infographics on our Facebook page and here on our website, containing current info coming from EEBC and our RA Councillors to assist you if you need help. Stay safe everyone.

The summer issue of our quarterly magazine The Courtier has been produced as a digital only version and can be viewed by clicking the link on the left for ‘The Courtier’. If you haven’t yet paid your £3 membership for 2020, please click the GoCardless button and follow the simple instructions to set up the regular payment. This helps us so much, especially right now when we can’t deliver paper magazines in person. I’m sure you’ll agree that our £3 membership is great value and paying through your bank allows our volunteer Road Reps to deliver the magazines more quickly and avoids the need for them to visit houses several times. A BIG thank you to those who already pay by DD or Standing Order.

Regards,

Kerrie Baker, ECRA Chair

If you would like to set up a Direct Debit for £3 annual subscription, please click the blue button below:

…

************************************************

Since 1938 ECRA has been working to keep our local government truly local and we are proud of what a lovely place Ewell Court is to live.

We have many social events throughout the year and many of these aim to raise funds for local charities and causes, and also serve to bring local residents and businesses together which benefits everyone and makes for a cohesive style of living. Our ECRA Annual Charity Duck Race is currently ‘on hold’ due to ongoing works to the Hogsmill River by the South East Rivers Trust. Over the last 10 years we are proud to have raised over £27,000 from the Duck Race and our Social Committee have donated over £45,000 to local causes. We do hope to bring the Duck Race back as soon as possible.

If you would like to join ECRA, either as a resident member or as a Committee member then send us an email and we’ll contact you as soon as possible.

Best wishes,

Kerrie Baker, ECRA Chair

************************************************

Announcement: ECRA Annual Charity Duck Race – January 2020

It came to our attention during Autumn that significant work had been done by the South East Rivers Trust to improve river flow and enhance local wildlife along the section of the Hogsmill used for the duck race, including the addition of ‘berms’ on each side of the riverbank. We fully support these improvements and we feel lucky that our special Hogsmill River will be improved for the future.

However, after careful consideration we feel that it will not be possible to run the duck race at the moment because it’s important that those river improvements are given time to bed in and make a difference to the environment and the local wildlife.

If you visit the river you will also see that our ducks (unlike the real ones!) will most likely get stuck in the new berms and, if the river flow is low, it would be even more difficult than before to move the ducks along.

We are hopeful that we might be able to bring the race back at some point in the future as evidence suggests the berms smooth out with sediment over time, or we might be able to screen it off somehow.

Obviously we are all very disappointed that we can’t go ahead for this year at least, however we would like to thank you for all the support you have given to the event and for your generosity in helping us to raise over £27,000 for Epsom General Hospital’s Casey Children’s Ward, 1st Ewell Court Scouts, Epsom Girlguiding and other good causes over the last ten years. We could not have done it without you all.

Keep an eye out on our Facebook page for other events we may come up with! Our sixth Trifest will be in early September.

Kerrie Baker
Chair
Ewell Court Residents’ Association

***********************************************************************************

Epsom and Ewell Borough Council

Over the past four years Epsom and Ewell Borough Council has been led by Residents’ Association councillors, including your Ewell Court ward RA councillors Eber Kington, Peter O’Donovan and Guy Robbins. Below are some of their policy initiatives and successes.

A Green Borough – Your RA councillors:

► Introduced the Simply Weekly recycling service in 2018 which, against the trend across Surrey, has seen a rise in the % of recycling by residents

► Commissioned an independent study of the Green Belt which confirmed that the vast majority of our Green Belt is performing well and needs to be protected

► With the support of the Friends of Ewell Court Park and the Park Rangers, ensured the continuation of Green Flag status for Ewell Court Park

A Safe Place to Live – The RA led Borough Council has:

► Obtained an injunction protecting 56 borough council owned sites from being occupied by unauthorised encampments

► Worked with TfL to check licensed vehicles & Uber cars at night to ensure residents travel in safe vehicles driven by fully compliant drivers

► Worked with the Environmental Agency & the Police on waste-carrying vehicles as part of a move against fly-tipping

► Introduced Alcohol Control Public Spaces Protection Orders to deal with alcohol related nuisance & anti-social behaviour in parts of Epsom and Ewell

► Upgraded CCTV, improve security against fly-tipping at more vulnerable green sites, and equipped the Rangers with radios with GPS tracking & body worn cameras

Family Friendly Policies. Your RA councillors have:

► Provided £500k to support a South Western Trains bid to make Stoneleigh Station step free and accessible to all, including those with disabilities and parents with young children and buggies

► Upgraded Depot Road car park with additional child dedicated spaces and new pay machines that take credit/debit cards and upgraded lighting to improve safety

► Funded a new outdoor table tennis facility in Auriol Park and have continued to upgrade children’s playgrounds across the borough

A Thriving, Prosperous Community – Championing our local High Streets. Your RA councillors:

► Committed £2.25 million of CIL money (a levy on developers) to redevelop Epsom’s market area, support our High Street and upgrade Epsom’s status as a town in which to shop, eat and do business

► Introduced the Business Improvement Fund providing grants up to £10k enabling small business to improve their shop frontage

► Provided a temporary home in the Town Hall for Epsom Post Office when it unexpectedly closed in 2017

► Supported Epsom businesses (financially/administratively) throughout their successful bid to establish the Business Improvement District which will see an additional £1.5 million invested in our town centre

A Healthy Community. Your RA councillors have:

► Been at the forefront in opposing the sale of EGH land unless it is used for social care or health related purposes

► Campaigned for any new acute unit agreed by the Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust be sited at Epsom General Hospital

► Funded new Routecall buses, and new mobility scooters for the shop mobility scheme in Epsom town centre

► Funded a £70k refurbishment of the Longmead Social Centre

► Reduced homelessness levels by 37% to its lowest figure for several years

Sound Financial Management – Your RA councillors have:

► Made no cuts to services over the last four years

► Maintained one of the lowest council tax rates in Surrey

► Received annual audit reports from the Councils independent External Auditors for almost twenty years that show that the council’s finances and accounts are of a high standard with no concerns or errors