We have made progress on our path to improving biodiversity in the parish and we’d love everyone to get involved and make a difference in their own small way.
Author: Clerk Page 1 of 11
Following enquiries from residents about he potential for a 4G mobile comms mast to service the Limpsfield Chart area, we have made various enquiries in a bid to see if there is something we can do to help the situation.
As you will know while there is a Shared Rural Network body, the installation of mobile masts and 4G improvements is driven by the networks / comms companies.
The Shared Rural Network:
The programme is being driven by The Shared Rural Network – the body driving the improvements to rural areas – a body made up of all the main providers – EE, O2, Three and Vodafone – https://srn.org.uk/faqs/, launched in 2020 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/shared-rural-network .
According to their timeline, they have a deadline of 2027 for all public and industry funded rural mobile network improvements to have been made with 95% of the country covered by 4G.
We recently sent an email to SRN to see how the process works and how we find out if we are a “ total non-spot” area or “partial non-spot” to see where we are on the programme timeline.
Unfortunately their response was lacking in much clarification or further insight.
Requirements & Site Criteria for new masts:
This article from Vodafone is quite good in demonstrating the trickiness of finding a suitable site: https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/smart-living/everything-you-need-to-know-about/mobile-phone-masts-everything-you-need-to-know/
With regards for the need for two masts to replace the one that will be decommissioned at the quarry at Broomlands, this info from Waldon Telecom:
“The two sites are required in order to replace the coverage and network capacity lost as a result of the decommissioning of the site at the nearby Quarry. No single solution has been identified that is capable of achieving this alone. There is some detail on this within the Supplementary Information document submitted with the application and a set of coverage plots was submitted for each operator that shows the geographical reach of the coverage from each site and how they would operate in relation to one another as well as other linked sites in the wider network. It may be useful for the council to refer to these to get a better understanding of the network requirements and also the various issues and constraints that have to be worked around when trying to fulfil them. This should all be available to view online but I’m attaching the three documents for ease of reference. I hope this helps.” Juliet Baller.
Waldon Telecom is the contractor driving the search for masts in this particular area and works with all the providers, although recent specific applications have been for Three and EE.
Two of the applications were turned down due to their locations being unsuitable in relation to green belt and AONB. A third application was approved at Moorhouse lay-by on the A25, and a temporary mast installed, but then removed due to its prominent and highly visible location. Ideally another site needs to be found, although Waldon is looking at ways to improve signals from other nearby masts to compensate.
Waldon Telecom was instructed by MBNL specifically to find solutions to the network impact of losing operational apparatus from the nearby Moorhouse Sandpits quarry site. This was the extent of their instruction. Neither Waldon nor our client MBNL are instructed on the Shared Rural Network.
Their advice was to contact the mobile operators directly for discussions on the wider area issues, but this has so far been unsuccessful. There are a number of links on the SRN website https://srn.org.uk/.
The Annual Parish Meeting is this Thursday, 25th April 2024 at 7.30pm at St Peter’s Church Hall, Limpsfield Village and it would be great to see as many parishioners as possible.
A common source of dispute between neighbours and complaints to the council is overgrown hedges, bushes or trees obscuring light, overhanging other people’s property, or obstructing the pavement or highway.
If any part of your hedge borders a pavement or footpath, it is YOUR responsibility to keep it maintained and trimmed back to the point that it doesn’t encroach over the footpath / pavement / road or obstruct or risk injury to passers by.
Over the autumn and winter months, despite some awful weather, we have continued to improve our network of footpaths across the parish, with a focus on helping to make more of our footpaths accessible for all.
We’ve had some enquiries about the sudden appearance of a mobile phone mast at a location on the south side of the A25 going towards Westerham, near Broomlands Lane. Below is a statement issued by OLRG with their current understanding of the situation. We will publish any updates as necessary.
The Boundary Commission of England has published proposals to change the Tandridge Council wards for electing our District Councillors, including a new three-member ward, which will merge the existing single member ‘Tatsfield and Titsey’ ward with the two-member ward of Limpsfield, to become Limpsfield, Tatsfield & Titsey.
The last year has been a busy one for the Friends of Limpsfield Common (FoLC) with work including changes to their information boards around the commons and ongoing upgrades to the car parks.
Following the launch of their Family Activity Trail last summer, the FoLC have been road-testing an easy access trail in the High Chart woods.
The District and Parish Councils were held on Thursday with the vote count taking place yesterday, Friday 5th May, at De Stafford Sports Centre. Limpsfield had the highest turnout in Tandridge of 44% for the District Elections and for the Parish Elections at 42.9%. Congratulations to our re-elected District Councillor Claire Blackwell for the Oxted & Limpsfield Residents Group.
All incumbent Parish Councillors who were standing again were re-elected, with newcomers Sophie Kemp and Tony Taylor (Independent Limpsfield Residents) also being elected.
Thanks very much to everyone who attended our Annual Parish Meeting at St Andrew’s Village Hall on Limpsfield Chart last night. It’s great to see such enthusiasm from our parishioners for all things Limpsfield!