Because — quite simply — you may die before you  get to the nearest hospital!

WHY ?

Because the Guildford & Waverley CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) is proposing some very worrying  changes to provisions for stroke patients in Waverley and is asking local residents to join in  the consultation of its plans.

Why do we cynical souls at the Waverley Web actually believe the decision has already been made!

Members of one local Patients Group in the East of the borough is asking residents to sign its  petition to the CCG and NHS England to ensure  their concerns are heard – before, and not after, decisions have been made!

It is proposed,  that patients  suspected of having a stroke be taken to Frimley Hospital to the new hyper acute unit there. After stabilisation, they would then be sent to Farnham Hospital or Woking Hospital for further rehabilitation or sent directly home under “early supported discharge”.

OK of course, if you happen to live in Farnham, – we can  just be  nipped down the Blackwater Valley Route and we’re home and dry – or hopefully, alive! But how about those poor souls in Ewhurst/Cranleigh/Ellens Green/Shamley Green/Dunsfold/Alfold… we wonder quite how well they will fare? And… talking of fares? How will their partners/family get to Frimley Park in Camberley? Or for that matter to the Woking or Farnham Hospitals. There is no direct bus route, railway line from East to West, or to Woking just congested roads.

We have heard from the …Cranleigh Patients’ Group that it  recommends patients  call for:

• An Excellent & reliable rapid access to the hyper-acute stroke unit in Frimley Park Hospital
• In–hospital rehabilitation in an acute stroke unit in Royal County Hospital Guildford, accessible to Cranleigh & Ewhurst patients & their families.
• A first-class network of specialist stroke rehabilitation physiotherapists, speech & occupational therapists based nearby to support stroke patients after discharge from hospital.
• It must be emphasised that the PPG fully supported the need to create hyper-acute specialised units and they stress to that those are the best places to treat stroke patients in the first instance.

However, the  patients group  has deep concerns about the safety of the wider proposals put forward for patients who live in rural Waverley for a variety of reasons. The main ones are the following:-

An inadequate ambulance service.
SECAM, the present emergency ambulance provider, has recently been assessed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as “inadequate” both for the times it takes to reach patients and the training and retention of skilled paramedic staff.
The traffic congestion between Cranleigh, Guildford and Frimley is extreme and even in off peak times the time to reach the proposed hospitals will be critical
Cranleigh to Frimley Park hospital = 23.3 miles
Cranleigh – RSCH = 11 miles

It is very difficult, nigh on impossible, to reach either Farnham or Woking by public transport for family and friends to visit and support family members who have had a stroke and need that extra emotional support. Both are 17 miles away from Cranleigh.
There is a lack of stroke specialised physiotherapists and speech and language therapists in the community to support patients who are sent home, especially if that is only after 3 days in the hyper-acute unit without step down time.

http://www.guildfordandwaverleyccg.nhs.uk/page1.aspx?p=20

For further information contact Lynda MacDermott
Chair – Cranleigh Patients’ Participation Group
07779251890

You’re joking! Not another one? Oh, for God’s sake, I can’t, honestly, I can’t stand this!’

No, that’s not Brenda from Bristol, ambushed by a reporter seeking her reaction to the news that the Government has called another General Election on 8 June;

That was an Alfold villager who contacted us after hearing the Clerk to Alfold Parish Council – AKA – Crystal Tips, is chugging for funds on the council Website.

Yes, you read it here first!  – That is of course unless,  you’re signed up to the Alfold PC  website – because its Crystal Tips Clerk has issued a clarion call for FUNDS to enable PoW and the Parishes to take a Leading Role in the Public Inquiry into Dunsfold Park’s planning application for 1800 homes at the Aerodrome – described by CT as  Dunsfold New Town, !

PoW and the Parishes want to persuade the Inspector and the Secretary of State that the application is in the wrong place – one wonders where the right place is but, as far as PoW’s concerned, it’s anywhere as long at it’s not on their doorstep! Which would explain why Waverley Borough Council is now urging  landowners to come forward with more sites for housing in and around Cranleigh New Town, whose green fields  have been ear-marked to take the 1800 shortfall if Dunsfold is derailed!

 Crystal Tips Weddell claims PoW and the Parishes think they have a strong case and every chance of being successful – well they would say that wouldn’t they! They want your money over there in the East of the borough and no doubt villagers will  be less inclined to give it to them if they say  they have –  a weak case!

They say: 
We are  looking to appoint traffic and planning consultants and a QC, all of which don’t come cheap!

Really!…

 Apparently, they’ll be running… ‘fund-raising events over the next few weeks and hope the villagers will support them ‘generously’!

No doubt Bob Lies (ooops! We meant Lees!) will be picking up the phone to the Dunsfold Developer and asking him to let PoW and the Parishes host a sponsored cycle ride around the Top Gear track, which Protect our Little Corner now has the bare-faced cheek to describe as…

‘the national treasure that is the Top Gear track at Dunsfold’! 

A lawnmower race down the runway and parachute jumps are but a few of the delights in store for local residents over the coming weeks, we understand, so watch this space …

News in brief:

There is an intellectual snobbery about Protect our Little Corner. We, at Waverley Web, can attest to it as we’ve been on the receiving end! According to one correspondent, we know nothing about Dunsfold Aerodrome, and need to do more research –  and, nobody reads anything we say anyway. Well, the peabrain who wrote in to tell us that obviously bothers to read us!

Will Cranleigh people stand together?

We here  at the Waverley Web can feel the anger of those poor souls over there in the East of ‘Your Waverley’ which should be re-named – “Their Waverley’ as it is completely out of touch with many of its own backbench councillors… and even more important – with its  residents!

This is the latest call to arms by the Cranleigh Civic Society … 

WW’s message – turn out in your droves if you want to endorse the village Slogan – ‘Cranleigh Cares.’

The CCS continues: we have heard that people living in other parts of the borough are laughing at us. “Why is Cranleigh not up in arms?” they say, “why aren’t they shouting in the street?” and “why are they accepting this housing dump without any fuss?”. They think you don’t care, and basically, they think Waverley can, and will do, whatever it wants in Cranleigh with absolutely no backlash.

It is time to shake off any apathy and stand up to be counted.

Are you going to let them wreck Cranleigh completely?

This is the last opportunity to hold the Conservative Waverley leadership –“we can do whatever we like to Cranleigh” – to account and really show them what the people of Cranleigh think about their secret plans to expand Cranleigh into a major town in Waverley.

There is more to come…..
 Don’t believe you have seen the end of huge planning applications in Cranleigh, Waverley wants our Neighbourhood Plan Group, as you will see from Item 5 on the Parish Council Agenda for 20th April to find even more housing sites, employment sites, community sites and retail sites in and around the village. So, if you live near a green field and are breathing a sigh of relief because you think you’re safe, think again. You could soon have a huge housing estate, or industrial units next to you. If we do nothing, this will only be the beginning……………….

Join us in the Village Hall at 7pm on Thursday 25th May. Invite your family, neighbours and friends, because Cranleigh people are not going down without a fight!

The CCS says – WE ARE DETERMINED – WE WILL BE HEARD!

The Waverley Webbsters say they will be astounded if Alfold’s Councillor Kevin De’Anus isn’t on the new Joint Planning Committee to be formed in May by the Council’s EXECUTIVE on which he also sits. It is this small group  which runs the council and decides  the membership of all  committees including planning.  Councillor De’Anus and Dunsfold Councillor John Gray are hell-bent on stopping development at Dunsfold airfield and have shown scant regard for neighbouring Cranleigh.

Watch this space!

The Executive  tail is wagging that Waverley  dog… again…

HOW LOUD DO YOU HAVE TO SHOUT TO BE HEARD BY ‘YOUR WAVERLEY’?

Haslemere Town Council  fired off a hard-hitting letter of objection to Waverley leader  Julia “Gone to ‘ Potts last month, protesting Haslemere had been used as a “soft target” to help plug the borough’s £1.5 million budget deficit. Recently Councillor Robert Know-less – claimed the town would be better off as part of either Hampshire or West Sussex County Council!

But other towns and villages in the borough are also joining the growing band of protestors.

Over in the Eastern villages they claim the views of residents and their elected representatives  are being “totally ignored” and there are calls for Protest Marches and Public Meetings. 

Large numbers are threatening to turn up at the Cranleigh parish council meeting on Thursday. Villagers  are angry that the 99 year-lease on Rowleys has been forfeited  by the present board Chairman who comes from… Midhurst! The valuable lease with a peppercorn rent will be handed back to ‘Your Waverley’ in return for  a 25 year lease with five year break clauses and a £6,000 rent reguarly reviewed and increased in line with the Retail Price Index!

 Haslemere  recently lost its  borough council’s free weekly green waste collection at Wey Hill car park. The town also stands to lose its public toilets in the High Street car park as soon as an alternative provider can be found, and The Edge Leisure Centre’s future is in doubt.

The town The council is considering  how it can  take over axed services if financially possible.
Deputy town mayor Malcolm Carter said:

“We are trying to get hold of Waverley to discuss the potential closure of The Edge. It’s a major sports facility and those people using it are extremely concerned. I understand Waverley thinks The Edge is not efficient because it’s not used more – but are they prepared to let someone else manage it and invest in it.”
Mayor Sharan Abeysundara added: “The Edge is also the counting centre for elections because it’s the largest centre in Waverley. There is no alternative venue offering the necessary parking and security.
“I am also extremely concerned about Haslemere losing its public toilets. Last year, we applied for an official tourist sign to say it’s a historic town and were told the criteria for that requires having public toilets.
“They are well used for all the town events we host. Waverley needs to open negotiations with us.”
Other members agreed a market town must have public toilets. Jim Edwards who sits on the town and borough councils, said: “The decision has been made and agreed. The town council needs to say it will take them over and that it wants to be the same as Cranleigh.”

Members also discussed the possibility of the town council taking on the weekly green waste collection and believe a fortnightly, rather than a weekly service, would make it financially viable.
“Haslemere is the gateway to South Downs National Park and is surrounded by National Trust land,” councillor William King said. “Fly tipping is going to start, we will get people dumping stuff.”
Members agreed to get quotes from two other contractors to see if the service could be restored more cheaply and to request the town council restore it.

Last week! The possible new site of ‘Your Waverley’s new council offices.

Fancy having the first exclusive view of ‘Your Waverley’s’ proposed new offices in Godalming?

This week-end after the Graffiti Guys had been out with their paint spray in Godalming