Brookwood Village News Volume 22   Issue 1   October 2001

Mists and mellow fruitfulness be blowed – Winter’s coming!

Time to check your torch batteries and bulbs, bring your favourite plants indoors and get your Christmas shopping out of the way before the Easter eggs appear! Who’s joking?!

The local transport policy seems to have found a new way to encourage us to use the buses. We’re told that return tickets, which are cheaper than two singles, cannot any longer be used on rival companies buses. So, two singles to and from Knaphill will cost you £2 whereas a return would cost you £1.70 and still will if you come home on the same company’s bus. Now that’s progress!

Neighbourhood Watch

Are you really prepared for the possibility of being burgled? Firstly, are you insured? Is your insurance cover a true assessment of the value of your property and contents? Do you have a reasonably detailed list of your more valuable items? Do you have photos of valuable jewellery items? Can you locate the invoices for the valuable items? If you have had jewellery a long time, do you know if the value you have put on it for insurance purposes is still valid? Are your doors and windows security locked? Do you have someone who checks your house when you are away for a long spell? Do you know a Glazier who can quickly come and repair broken glass? Do you have quickly available the names and telephone numbers of contacts to stop credit cards, advise of theft of leased or hired property? These and other points came up recently following a burglary and made us think. Do they make you think?

66% of crime in our patch in September involved theft of bicycles! One was from the rear garden of a house in Connaught Road another from outside the Hunters Lodge. (Our other crime was damage to a vehicle in the station car Park). Lessons to be learned? ALWAYS lock up your bicycle whenever you leave it somewhere and secure it to an immovable object – like a lamppost (but don’t obstruct anyone’s right of way!). NEVER assume that it is safe on your own premises unless you have secured it in a similar way. POSTCODE your bike and better still, get Woking Police to stamp it with their "engraving" kit. Won’t stop it getting pinched but might help you get it back if found. Have you said "Hello!" to Mark Parry yet, our beat Policeman?

Tools and telephone equipment were stolen from a white Iveco van in Bagshot Road between 11.30 and 12.30 on Monday 17th September. If you have any information on this, please let P.C. Mark Parry know on 761991 ext 5144.

Finally, some paving slabs were stolen from a house in Heath Drive recently. Did you see anyone helping themself? Again Mark Parry is the man to tell.

RAINBOWS

Somewhere there must be someone who would be prepared to be over the Rainbows!

Our local Rainbow Guides have had to close because they do not have a Leader. This is very sad as it prevents our young girls from having a lot of fun and starting off on the ladder of Brownies, Guides, Rangers and, of course Leaders in one of these Sections. Is there not a former guide out there who would like to come back and help get the Rainbows restarted?

GUIDES

And our troubles don’t end with the youngest branch of the Guide Movement! Our Guide Company has Leaders but is running out of GIRLS! 1^st Brookwood Guides meet every Thursday, 6.30 to 8.30pm at Brookwood Memorial Hall. If any girls aged 9 and a half to 14 years are interested, please go along to any Thursday meeting and see what goes on! Contact Karen White on 01483 835368 or Claire Stone on 01493 489699 for more details.

CONTROLLED PARKING ZONE

Residents should be aware that tradesmen working at their houses during the magic hour of 1.00 to 2.00 pm are subject to the CPZ rules. However, they must have a dispensation from the Council in order to park free of charge in a parking bay or on a yellow line within the Zone. (Don’t confuse the CPZ yellow lines with those that are NOT part of the CPZ). WBC have advised that written dispensations can be obtained from the Parking Shop in Woking by the resident or tradesman in advance provided there is just cause. Just causes only include activities where the workman needs to have his vehicle close to the property, e.g. roof felters using heated boilers, glaziers carrying glass to the house from the vehicle. Builders and decorators are not usually regarded as needing their vehicle at hand and parking just because the tradesman is working at that house is not a good enough reason and a parking voucher would be necessary. A bright spot is that the parking warden now carries blank dispensation forms and can be asked for a permit. He will exercise his discretion according to the instructions he has been given by the Council. What we mustn’t do is enter into pavement rage if his view differs from yours or the tradesman!

And we learn that Elphinstone Close will shortly be yellow-lined and brought into the CPZ. This will put a stop to the commuters who were quick to spot this hole in the arrangements!

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS

..are not the most exciting occasions especially when England are playing or the soaps have reached a point in their storylines where the utterances of the stars have everyone glued to their sets! Well, the BVA AGM is nearly upon us – 14th November to be precise – and it would be a good opportunity for you to show your support by putting in an appearance. Set the VCR if you must and come along if only for the wine, the cheese and other nibbles! We really do owe it to the Committee to back them up on this formal occasion. Throughout the year they keep on top of developments in the Village, liaising with the Council and trying to help out whenever a problem is brought to their attention. With this Newsletter comes a Notice of Meeting that also contains an invitation to nominate someone for the Committee – you are even allowed to nominate yourself! Come on! Stand up and be counted! And have your £2 ready for when the subscription collector calls!

AND HERE’S A SORRY TALE! Friends of Brookwood School (FOBS) held their AGM recently and, alas, they could not find a Chairperson or a Secretary for the Executive Committee. Unless a couple of volunteers can be found quickly, the Village may be facing a future without FOBS, without the Village Fete, without the Christmas Fair and without any support for the School which, of course, means for the children. Obviously, one looks to the Parents of children at the School first for service on the Committee and with nearly 200 pupils one would think this not to be too difficult a problem to solve. However, so many people have so many commitments these days that it isn’t always possible to find the help needed from one source. So, even if you are not a Parent of a child at the School but would like to help FOBS keep up its role, then VOLUNTEER! There will be an extraordinary meeting of FOBS at the School on Tuesday 6^th November at 8.00 pm to try to solve the problem. Anyone can go along, member or not, and hear what is to happen. If you feel you would like to help anyway, then give Kate Smith a call on 489553 NOW!

Remember!

Friends of Brookwood School are holding an Evening Craft and Gift Fair on Thursday 18^th October

at the School from 7.30 pm to 9.30 pm. Be "Crafty" and get your ticket in advance for £1 from either

Yvonne Craven or Jo Greenwood

And already we have a Christmas treat in store for everyone!