The Council has made £500k available in 2017/18 specifically to pay for community nominated improvements. This round of funding is now open for residents to nominate pavements they feel are in need of extra work. This is in addition to the regular maintenance work being carried out. Funding will be directed to pavements that receive the most nominations and fulfil the greatest community need. Nominations close on 31 March 2017.

This scheme looks at “small fixes” only. These are normally minor improvement works such as:
• Replacing damaged paving slabs
• Blacktop infills
• Eliminating standing water

Generally, materials used for improvements will be on a “like for like” basis.

For more details on how to nominate your pavement, please visit the Council’s website.

You may have noticed that 10 of our local Hampton Wick Street name signs have been renovated. This is great news and follows an 18 month campaign by the HWA for some of our iconic signs to be refurbished and saved.

We’ve been delighted with the help that Hughie Walsh and his team at the Council have given us along with the support we’ve had from Cllr Jim Millard.

The council very kindly identified a budget which could fund a trial of the10 signs. We now plan to get in touch with residents in those streets with the older traditional signs that haven’t yet been renovated to see if they would like to club together to pay for their own signs to be renovated. The costs should be very reasonable as long as enough residents are interested.

We’ll be discussing the practical details with Hughie and we’ll drop letters through letter boxes when we have the full details. If you are particularly keen to get involved or to become a ‘Champion’ for your street, please email us now – info@hamptonwick.org.uk.

Once again we’d like to say a big thank you to Hughie and his team for making this happen. Also a big thank you to all the Hampton Wick residents who offered to help with this campaign. It was one of the most popular we have ever run.

Below is another example of the renovated signs – before and after.

Other signs renovated include some on the following roads: Park Road, Cedars Road (x2), Lower Teddington Road (outside The Swan), Glamorgan Road, Vicarage Road, Old Bridge Street, St Johns Road.

Why not take a walk around the village to see them for yourselves. We did and it was a very pleasant 10 minute stroll. Let us know the route you took: info@hamptonwick.org.uk.

There have been 29 applications since 6th March 2019 in Hampton Wick. Notable applications include:

Wick House 10 Station Road

Proposed construction of additional floor level to create 2 no. additional two bed flats, together with a three-storey side extension in the form of a bay window, change to existing fenestration and addition of 8 no. balconies at first and second floor level and associated hard and soft landscaping, 2 no. parking, refuse and cycle stores.

There’s already a consent for an additional floor with two flats. These proposals essentially are to add a projecting bay to the west elevation serving two flats per floor, to add balconies (with glass fronts) and tidy up the windows, using more contemporary style ones. This building is alongside Orione House.

Fairlight 4 Church Grove

Two-storey side/rear extension with accommodation in the roof, removal of external staircase to facilitate the conversion of existing dwellinghouse into 7 self-contained flats (4 × 1 bed and 3 × 2 bed) and associated cycle and refuse stores.

Scheduled as a building of Townscape Merit. The proposals are respectful of this in terms of the way the elevations are handled.
Our principle concern (again) relates to parking as only two spaces are proposed for 7 flats. Bear in mind the revised Application for the nearby Firs tries to do away with the parking in their Approved scheme, save one disabled space. One reason we objected to the scheme.

It states in the Application: “The applicant is prepared to enter into a unilateral undertaking confirming the scheme as proposed offers no further parking on site. The current provision of two spaces would be retained and used. The undertaking would include a limitation on future owners / tenants applying for street parking permits.

In design terms, had additional parking been provided, it would have been located at the front of the site. The rear car park is under different ownership so cannot be relied on for access or use. Additional parking at the front of the property would greatly diminish the quality of the front garden and by implication the street scene and would have had an adverse impact on the residents of the basement flats.”

HWA to object on grounds of inadequate parking.

Previous Applications, update;

12 To 14 Station Road and 13 And 19 To 33 Lower Teddington Road (Orione House)

Independent senior living extra care building comprising of 28 units (following demolition of existing care home)

Revised drawings have been submitted 7th March 19. “Roof form adjusted on the south elevation facing Seymour Lodge. Balcony facing Seymour Lodge set further away” AND (23rd April) “Plan indicating relationship with Seymour Lodge added”.

This appears to be responding to objections from Seymour Lodge. Orione house is still just about double the volume of the existing, however.

HWA to maintain its objection on the basis of size and intrusion to neighbours.

During the recent consultation on 20MPH the HWA argued for main roads (bus routes) to remain at 30MPH whilst setting a 20MPH limit on residential/side roads.

Our reasoning was based on pollution effects (on which the jury is out), journey speeds (including public transport) and the need to discriminate positively on behalf of residential roads, in particular with respect to rat-running caused by vehicle satnavs.

If main roads are 30MPH while side streets are 20MPH most satnavs will direct through-traffic along the main road where it belongs – it’s the differential that counts.

We’d prefer residential roads to be mainly for residents, pedestrians and cyclists, NOT rat-runners.

The council was pressing for a blanket 20MPH limit on all roads in the borough. Through the consultation process, we did succeed in winning a couple of concessions – Between the Walls/Hampton Court Road/A308 won’t be reduced to 20MPH but will be reduced to 30MPH only – a victory for common sense. Upper Teddington Road/Kingston Road/A310 has also had a reprieve (subject to a separate review) and will remain at 30MPH for the time being.

We thank the councillors for at least saving these roads from 20MPH.

But wait! Let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater!

As many of you will remember, the HWA has long campaigned for 20MPH on our High Street – the stretch from the roundabout at Kingston Bridge to the railway underbridge near the station, all 400 metres of it. Our High Street has extremely narrow pavements with residential homes and shops alike being very close to speeding traffic, especially in the evenings and at night. Once under the railway bridge (travelling in the Teddington direction), the road opens out and the buildings, flats and houses are set back much further from the road.

Of course at peak times, the traffic on the High Street can be virtually stationary so looking at average speeds is irrelevant. At other times, cars and lorries hurtle along at dangerous speeds. Even 30MPH makes the High Street feel a threatening place because of the narrowness of both the road and the pavements.

Let’s look on the bright side – a 20MPH limit would benefit businesses, shops, residents and shoppers alike.

So we’ll continue our campaign for a 20MPH limit on the 400 metre stretch that is Hampton Wick High Street.

If you agree that our High Street would benefit from being a 20MPH zone, why not show your support by emailing us at info@hamptonwick.org.uk.

NB: the time difference between travelling for 400m at 30MPH and 20MPH is 15 seconds! All we’re asking for is drivers to sacrifice 15 seconds for a greatly improved shopping and residential environment for our High Street. Surely that’s not too much to ask.

Please see below from our partially successful campaign. With regard to the HWA proposed 20MPH limit, we were told at the time: “The High Street is a major route so our hands are tied” and other similar excuses (see below). Now that these are as dead as the Monty Python parrot, maybe we can have our High Street back, please.

2008/2009 HWA campaign to improve Hampton Wick High Street.
We did indeed win various improvements during this campaign. We gained two pedestrian refuges towards the roundabout end of the High Street. These make it safer to cross and do reduce traffic speeds. At the railway bridge end there were plans to put a raised red coloured platform over the pedestrian crossing outside the station but following the global economic crisis that was emerging at the time, these plans – along with other improvemts were shelved, not to be seen again. We didn’t of course reach the holy grail of a 20MPH limit for our High Street.

Please click below to open a PDF of the minutes of the January 2019 meeting of the Hampton Wick & Teddington PLG meeting.

PLG notes meeting 15 jan 2019

Click here for further reading – What does the HWA do to help local businesses.

An old TV script has come to light. We’re proud to publish it here for the very first time…

Man in pub: So, the Hampton Wick Association was founded in 1962, each year we pay our £5 subs and what have they ever given us in return?

Commuter1: Chestnut Sunday?
Man in pub: What?
Teacher: Chestnut Sunday.
Man in pub: Oh. Yeah, Yeah, they did get that going again, that’s true, yeah

Commuter2: And the Christmas Carols
Schoolchild: Oh, yeah, the Christmas Carols, remember what it used to be like when there was no Christmas?
Man in pub: Yeah, alright I’ll grant you Chestnut Sunday and the Christmas Carols are two things that the HWA has done

Hairdresser: They let us know what’s going on in The Wick with their village noticeboards, Tweets, email news, HWA newsletter, four websites…
Man in pub: Well yeah. Obviously they tell us what’s going on, that goes without saying doesn’t it? But apart from the Christmas Carols and Chestnut Sunday and telling us what’s going on…

Commuter3: They make sure that Remembrance Sunday goes without a hitch

Commuter2: They keep a watching eye on planning applications

Skateboarder: They organised the Hampton Wick Festival and Grand Parade and help organise the Hampton Wick Big Picnic
Man in pub: Yeah yeah, alright. Fair enough

Shopper: Richmond in Bloom, all the lovely hanging baskets and public garden displays…
Commuters: Yes, yes, yes
Commuter2: Yeah. Yeah, that’s something we’d all miss if the HWA wasn’t around, huh? They got us the Christmas tree too

Cyclist And the HWA Fish & Chips Quiz Night

Hairdresser: And the Library, …
Commuter3: Yeah, they’ve certainly picked the Library up by its bootstraps, those lovely flower beds, the exhibitions and the talks and better signs telling us all where it is—they’re the only ones who could have done that
Commuters: Heh heh heh

Commuter1: Didn’t they also save St John’s Church from closure by lobbying the Church Commissioners?

Motorist: And they keep a watchful eye on parking – only recently they saved seven parking spaces from double yellow lines in one road alone

Man in pub: All right, but apart from Chestnut Sunday, the Christmas carols, telling us what’s going on in the village, keeping an eye on planning matters, the Hampton Wick Festival and Grand Parade, The Big Picnic, Richmond in Bloom, The HWA Fish & Chips Quiz Night, The Friends of Hampton Wick Library, saving St John’s, looking after our parking interests, what has the HWA ever done for us?

Old man: They saved the village from a huge Kingston flyover that would have destroyed half the village
Man in pub: Oh. Saved the village? Shut up!

With thanks and apologies to Monty Python

Many of you have followed with interest our efforts to get some trees planted in Hampton Wick – the village not the ward! See here for previous trees news story.

We recently had a successful meeting with the council’s tree officer and we’re delighted with the outcome.

Not only do we have a number of new plantings on Church Grove but 16 have also been planted in the King’s Field. When mature they will provide some much needed shade. Do go along and have a look – we think they look great! We’ve also spotted one by the post box opposite Hampton Wick Gate into Bushy Park. Have you seen any others? info@hamptonwick.org.uk.

But there’s more: we’ve identified a number of other sites in Hampton Wick which would benefit from more trees. The next step will be for the Council to collect data in the field to plot suitable locations. The output from this exercise will be a report and accompanying map which identifies viable tree planting sites in Hampton Wick. The aim is to have this survey complete by the end of August, with a view to planting in the 2019/20 season, subject to agreement from the respective Council Cabinet Member.

If you have identified a site that would benefit from a tree, please let us know at info@hamptonwick.org.uk – we’ll pass this on to the Council. Please bear in mind that not all sites are suitable due to reasons such as drains and other services, sight lines etc.

From the South Western Trains website:

“If your local station is not accessible for you, please get in touch with our Customer Service Centre and we can arrange alternative transport (usually a taxi) at no extra charge. This will take you from the nearest or most convenient station for you to the closest accessible station, so that you can continue your journey.”

More information on the South Western Railways website here: www.southwesternrailway.com/travelling-with-us/assisted-travel/accessibility

The next Room for Work employability skills course starts 10 September and runs to 3 December.

Classes are held at The Warehouse, St John’s Hampton Wick, Church Grove, KT1 4AL on Tuesdays from 10.30am-1pm. Register online at www.roomforork.org

Click link for latest newsletter: PPG Newsletter Autumn 2019