The results of ‘Save a Space for Me’ are in following the nomination of three open spaces in Mole Valley to become Queen Elizabeth II Playing Fields in 2012!  Here they are for the three sites with Ashtead Recreation Ground topping the list with a whopping 473 votes of support:

Ashtead Recreation Ground  473 votes

Cock Lane Recreation Ground 119  votes

Cradhurst Recreation Ground 117 votes

The full nationwide sets of results are accessible through the link below, and you’ll see Ashtead fared very well.  The results have yet to be collated into a national league table but Fields in Trust are working on this.

http://www.qe2fields.com/Upload/file/Voting%20results.pdf

http://www.qe2fields.com/Castyourvote.aspx?dm_i=P46,MA30,3IZDYK,1SZ6M,1

The following announcement is currently on the Mole Valley District Council website http://www.molevalley.gov.uk.  If you are proud of our recreation ground in Ashtead and would like to see its preservation and enhancement even more assured than it is already, then please visit www.qe2fields.com as described below and vote for Ashtead.

Mole Valley District Council (MVDC) is delighted to be participating in The Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge, which is being headed by its patron the Duke of Cambridge. MVDC is
working in partnership with Fields in Trust to support their goal of protecting outdoor recreational spaces by 2012 as a permanent, tangible legacy from both The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012 Olympics.

Fields in Trust is the only independent UK-wide organisation dedicated to protecting and improving outdoor
space for sport, play and recreation and aims to ensure that everyone – young or old, living in an urban or rural area, able or disabled – has free, local facilities for healthy outdoor activities.

MVDC has nominated three sites to become Queen Elizabeth II Playing Fields: Ashtead Recreation Ground, Cradhurst Recreation Ground, Westcott and Cock Lane Recreation Ground, Fetcham. If accepted by Fields in Trust, the sites will be dedicated and protected as playing fields for the purposes of outdoor sport, play and recreation and would be open to a greater range of external grant funding if local community groups
are willing to get involved.

For four weeks only, from Tuesday 18 October to Tuesday 15 November, residents are being invited to visit www.qe2fields.com and show their support for the green spaces that have been nominated by MVDC by
clicking ‘Save a Space for Me’.

As a result of this consultation and in the light of the comments received, Councillor Chris Reynolds, the Portfolio Holder for the Environment, has agreed that this application will not proceed.  Thank you to all who responded to our request for views.

Comments are invited urgently on a proposal currently being considered.

 The Council has received an approach from a catering company who wish to have a licence to operate a refreshment stall and/or an ice cream van on the recreation ground.  The Council often receives requests for such a facility on the site and there is no doubt it would be a popular amenity for users of the Recreation ground. 

The proposed terms are for a daily service, between the hours of 8.00 am and 6.00 pm, the vehicles to be removed overnight. They would be located adjacent to the tennis courts in the corner of that section of the ground nearest the football pitches, which is currently unused.

 The advantages apart from the extra amenity are a small additional income to the council, and that litter picking would be paid for by the licensee.  Also it would provide a presence in the park encouraging use and providing a degree of natural surveillance. 

 The disadvantages to neighbours may be some extra noise, smells and litter, but the Council will exercise some control over the type of catering offered.

 If you wish to make any comment on the proposal, please contact Cllr Simon Ling, who represents Village Ward in which the Recreation Ground lies, or any other Ashtead Independent Councillor.