News & Mail launches www.woking.co.uk

VIBRANT and interactive new website for residents living in and around Woking, Chobham, Byfleet and Addlestone goes live on Monday next week.

With the address www.woking.co.uk the website, which is brought to you from the team that brings you the News & Mail and the Review, will be accessible from 11am on Monday morning.

Each day, breaking stories will be uploaded on to the site from the 10-strong editorial team, as well as sport and entertainment and features on travel, business and property.

A number of interactive features are also available at woking.co.uk including video, blogs, competitions, polls, and a Twitter feed.

Readers will be able to Facebook, Tweet, andemail their favourite stories to friends and relatives with easy to use icons.

The website has been developed by Guildford firm Arcom IT.

“The News & Mail has been lacking a strong web presence since a major shake-up in regional media in Surrey in April,” said editor Colin Parker.

“Now the town and its surrounding villages and urban areas will have their own dedicated site through which they can access all the latest Woking news and sport, as well as larger breaking news from across the county of Surrey.

“This is an exciting development for the News & Mail and cements its place in the community as the best for news, sport, entertainment and business.”

He added: “Figures have shown that Woking residents are among the most web friendly and are also the most keen to comment on stories that affect them.

“We are sure you will find plenty on www.woking.co.uk to supplement our two newspapers.”

Work on the site first started in July this year as IT experts and the News & Mail’s editorial team planned www.woking.co.uk.

For companies wishing to advertise, each page on the website has three large spaces in which adverts will be placed. To advertise on www.woking.co.uk, call the News & Mail’s advertising team on 01483 508777 for rates and packages.

Latest refusal sparks calls to help showmen

THERE is light at the end of the tunnel for travelling showmen who have been living at a green belt site for more than nine years after councillors agreed to look at the needs of the ‘forgotten community’.

Despite voting unanimously to refuse the application for continued use of the site for caravans, mobile homes and storage members of Surrey Heath Borough Council’s planning committee were sympathetic to the residents of Field 2100 in Pennypot Lane, Chobham.

Labour leader on the council Rodney Bates said members would have to look at the application on planning grounds.

However, he added: “I think as a council we need to look at the general needs of the travelling communities in the same way we look at the needs of the Muslim community.”

Speaking on behalf of West Chobham Residents’ Association at the meeting on Monday Edmond Bain said it reflected the council’s ‘failure to act’ that a number of applications since 2001 had been refused by councillors but no enforcement action was taken.

“On October 27 the Prime Minister reaffirmed unlawful traveller camps could not be tolerated,” he said.

James Osbourn, of The Chobham Society, also spoke about the human rights of residents living in the road.

He added: “It is wrong and unjust if the applicants are treated differently from any other application.

“It was a quiet lane prior to the occupation. The site is totally unsuitable for this purpose.”

But showman Thomas Peak, who lives at the site with his wife Joannie and two children Olivia and Thomas, told councillors there is a lack of provision for travelling showmen in the country.

He said: “We are the forgotten community. We would be happy to move but there is nowhere to go. It is my home and my life.

“My family have been showmen for seven generations and we are members of the Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain.”

Mr Peak pleaded with councillors to defer the decision until they had been able to make a site visit.

He added: “There has never been a meeting between us to negotiate finding an alternative site. The council has never put an olive branch out to us.”

Cllr Ken Pedder reprimanded the showmen for moving onto the site in a ‘devious way’.

“There was planning for horticultural production but you converted it into a site for six caravans,” he said.

However, Mr Peak said it was action taken out of desperation.

Cllr Chris Rowbotham, for the Chobham ward, said he sympathised with the problem but that the site was on green belt land and have been deemed ‘inappropriate’ for development.

“The constituents of Chobham bear no ill will personally to the occupancy of the site bit they feel the law should be obeyed. Residents living nearby have rights as well,” he added.

Cards set for showdown

LEVEL-HEADED boss Graham Baker fears his Woking players might freeze in what is the first FA Cup tie at Kingfield against Football League opposition since fourth tier Kidderminster trounced the Cards 3-0 in 2003/04.

Next Tuesday’s hugely anticipated First Round replay against Brighton & Hove Albion – live on ESPN and set to pull in £33,750 in TV receipts alone – is already attracting massive interest.

And the carrot of a Second Round home clash against FC United of Manchester is coming tantalisingly into view. Baker just hopes his men can cope. “It might be too big a game for us,” he admitted.

“There is a chance we might freeze but we’ll be drumming into the players they have already matched them once and kept a clean sheet. They have to have self-belief.” Baker conceded he is yet to decide how he will tackle the tie – with the onus on the home team to attack meaning gaps may well be left for the League One leaders to exploit.

“It’s impossible to take in at the moment how we’ll approach it as we have a big league game against Chelmsford on Saturday. A lot depends on the bodies we have available.

“It will be a whole different ball game at Kingfield. Do we employ the same tactics as we did away? Do we attack them? Can we come up with another surprise? One thing’s for sure, we won’t be able to dominate Brighton for long periods, it’s not going to happen.”

Baker has been vilified in some quarters for his tactics and team selection this term but he got it spot on at the Withdean. “I know what I am, I know my ability and I don’t shout about it. I let my team do the talking,” he said.

“I know my strengths and weaknesses. And football is about opinions. “There’s a minority of people who don’t think Sir Alex Ferguson is a good manager so there will always be a few who don’t think Graham Baker is either. That’s football.”

The boss revealed Adam Doyle and Ricky Anane both had injections to play at the Withdean. And also that his decision to bring on Ola Sogbanmu, Josh Watkins and Charlie Turnbull was tactical – as well as the realisation of Woking’s future.

He added: “That’s where this club is. Because of our Cup run, those lads have been on the fringes and for them to get on the pitch in a big game was great for their development.”

West End recognised for its ‘vibrant community spirit’

WEST End scooped a prize of £300 after being chosen as the best large village in the communities category of this year’s Village of the Year competition.

Chobham was also a winner being awarded as the best large village in the business category.

Villagers from the two communities attended Ewhurst Village Hall, last year’s overall winners, where the results were announced and prizes given.

West End Parish councillor Adrian Page was delighted with the outcome.

He said: “We are lucky to have a dedicated collection of people, who are passionate about maintaining our village’s character by their involvement in our large number of traditional groups or institutions. They are namely, the pubs, the church, the schools, the parish council, the village society, scouts, brownies and all the sports clubs.

“The prize was awarded for West End’s vibrant community spirit as demonstrated to panel of judges over the summer.

“The competition has given us a golden opportunity to recognise and celebrate the effort of so many of those
who devote their time in making special things happen.”

Parish councillor for Chobham Carol Gregorious said she was thrilled with the result.

She said: “West End equalled the result we achieved last year and we are delighted for them.

“We will make sure we are more ready for it next year, making improvements and flushing out what needs to be done.

“We showed the judges we have a strong community and invited them to the community lunch.

“We were delighted to find out we had won anything at all.”

The overall winner of the competition was Tatsfield, which won the title of Surrey Village of the Year 2010.

Competition organiser Jean Roberts-Jones said: “Our congratulations go to all the villages in this year’s competition.

“We were very impressed by the standard of the villages and the judges had a very tough job selecting the winners. We hope that even more villages will be encouraged to participate again in 2011”.

Council ignores calls for ‘danger’ road restrictions

SURREY County Council will not be introducing parking restrictions in a road residents complain has got worse after controversial charges were implemented in the village car park.

People living in Chertsey Road, near the junction with High Street in Chobham, said pulling out of their drives had become more dangerous because motorists were parking either side of their driveways to avoid paying for parking.

The county council considered introducing parking controls in the road but said it was not appropriate.

In an agenda item put before councillors at the council’s local committee meeting for Surrey Heath, Chertsey Road was named among others where no action was to be taken.

But angry residents living in the road blamed the decision of Surrey Heath Borough Council to start charging at the car park in High Street leading many workers to park in the surrounding streets instead.

A homeowner, who did not want to be named, said: “People park here from 8am until 6pm and I see them going with their cases and lunch for the day and just come back in the evening.

“I’m disabled so I don’t go out but I gather it’s horrendous. I have visitors and they are always nervous. Some of them park at then top of the road because they are afraid to bring their car.

“But we can’t do anything, we just have to put up with it.”

The resident criticised the use of charging in the village car park and said: “Why don’t they just stop charging?

“Hardly anyone uses the car park for long term. That’s when it started and it’s got worse. It’s all right when someone is in the village to go shopping but for the people working, they’ve got to park somewhere. For five days in the car park, it’s a lot of money.”

Vice chairman for Chobham Parish Council Carol Gregorious, who also lives in the road, said councillors did not want to see yellow lines introduced into the village.

She said: “It wasn’t necessary if it wasn’t for the charging for parking in the car park.

“We would rather try a different approach to try to get the car park for the parish and get the people back into the car park. Then they wouldn’t be on the roads.

“The problem didn’t exist before the car park charging.”

However, she said she thought it was unrealistic for the council to take on the running of the car park because of the public toilets on the site.

She said: “We told the borough if they introduced charging there would parking in the side roads and they ignored it. If we end up with yellow lines it would be very disappointing.”

Chobham Parish Council is currently in contact with the borough council about taking over the running of the car park and is waiting for a response.

Tribute to charity patron lost in crash

Ian Wooldridge - picture provided by Centaur Photographic

THE patron of a charity for children with special needs has been killed in a helicopter crash in Northern Ireland.

Businessman Ian Wooldridge, who lived at the 230-acre Twelve Oaks estate in Woodlands Lane, Windlesham with his wife, Thandi, was thought to have been travelling back to Surrey when the privately-owned chopper crashed in the Mourne Mountains, County Down, at around 4pm on Saturday.

The pilot and another man, Charlie Stisted, also died in the incident. Friends and colleagues of Mr Wooldridge have paid tribute to the father-of-two who was a supporter of the Chobham based Children with Special Needs Foundation.

Founder of the charity Gordon Parris MBE said Mr Wooldridge, who ran a £40-million turnover construction company the Wooldridge Group with his brother Graham, had helped the foundation for a number of years.

He said: “He came to one of our balls raising money to buy a minibus. He said give the money to other children, we will buy the minibus. It is still serviced and taxed by the Wooldridge Group. He was very generous.

“I actively worked with him as a consultant and he was a personal friend. You couldn’t ask for a better dad, husband or employer. He was so generous to everyone and he did it quietly and sincerely.

“He did so much for the village. It is a great loss.”

A childhood friend, John Drennan, who babysat Mr Wooldridge as a child at a farm in Bagshot Park, said he would be sorely missed.

“He was great as a child and he really never changed. You wouldn’t have met a nicer person,” he said.

A message on Windlesham United Football Club’s website, where Mr Wooldridge was a kit sponsor, sent condolences to friends and families for their sad loss.

The Guards Polo Club website, where Mr Wooldridge was a patron and attended events along with the Queen and other members of the Royal family, read: “Ian was a generous supporter of the club and has often been in front of our lenses.

Our thoughts and sympathies are with their families, Thandi and his two children Charlie and Rhett.”

A spokesman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed the incident had taken place and said the investigation was in the hands of air accident investigators.

She added there were believed to be three victims, who had not been formally identified, but that a search was still ongoing.

Windlesham businessman killed in helicopter crash

A WINDLESHAM businessman has been killed in a helicopter crash in Northern Ireland.

Ian Wooldridge, who lived at the 230-acre Twelve Oaks estate with his wife, Thandi, was thought to have been returning to Surrey when the privately-owned chopper crashed in the Mourne Mountains in County Down at around 4pm on Saturday.

The businessman, who ran the Wooldridge Group construction company with his brother Graham, was a keen polo player and a member of the Guards Polo Club with links to the Royal family.

A spokesman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed the incident had taken place and said the investigation was in the hands of air accident investigators.

She added that there were believed to be three victims, who had not been formally identified, but that a search was still ongoing.