Update 9 February 2024
In recent months Elmbridge Borough Council has been having informal and productive discussions on the way forward for Claygate with key local stakeholders including the Claygate Village Association (CVA) and Claygate Parish Council (CPC). This is a collaborative project which aims to engage the Claygate community in shaping the future of the village. CVA through Claygate the Way Forward have been foundational to our project.
We are committed to shared aims which include….
- Protect and enhance sense of community.
- Enable community groups to grow and succeed.
- Continue to support a thriving local economy.
- Ensure Sustainable Elmbridge aims are established in Claygate.
- Agree future for underperforming council asset - Torrington Lodge car park - in line with community views and need to support financial resilience of the council.
- Reinforce collaborative working approach to agree and action shared ambitions for Claygate.
We all agree that engaging with the community is key to the success of our ambitions for Claygate. To that end, I am incredibly grateful to the CVA as they will undertake a comprehensive residents survey in March, the data from which will be used to create realistic and creative ideas for Claygate’s future.
I would encourage all Claygate residents to support this survey. CVA is an independent and non-party political charity, and I am very grateful for the work being done by the many volunteer residents, the energy and passion they display is a credit to the village they represent.
I look forward to viewing the results report from the survey and working with the CVA, the Parish Council and Claygate community on shaping the future of Claygate Village.
Bruce McDonald,
Leader, Elmbridge Borough Council
Update November 2023
We are all proud of Claygate, the shops, the businesses and the sense of community. As such we want to ensure that we have a thriving and sustainable Claygate, in line with our 2030 Vision.
A few months ago, having listened to the views of Claygate residents and businesses, we concluded that the most positive way forward was to undertake a wider community engagement in which all voices in Claygate are heard and where all opinions and views on a thriving Claygate could be expressed.
We have been considering how to approach this engagement in the best way and you will see in this short presentation our initial thoughts on that collaboration.
What is crucially important now is engaging with the community and key stakeholders on how we take this forward together.
We look forward to the discussions in the months ahead and to supporting our shared ambitions for Claygate.
Cllr Bruce McDonald,
Leader, Elmbridge Borough Council