Welcome to CranleighHighStreet.uk 

SAVE THE HEART OF CRANLEIGH


Thank you for visiting our website - CranleighHighStreet.uk are a group of local Cranleigh people. We want a village that is accessible, and which can be enjoyed by all, where local businesses, sports clubs, schools can thrive and prosper, and which is attractive to visitors and residents alike.  


As you may be aware Surrey County Council are proposing major changes to the High Street


Latest Update – August 2024


In March this year, the Save the Heart of Cranleigh team met with Councillor Matt Furniss (Surrey County Council Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Economic Growth), to discuss SCC’s response to the petition started by Philip Chapman.


At that meeting, Cllr Furniss confirmed that the project would now be split into phases, with the first phase being the improvements to Fountain Square. He also confirmed that a new stakeholder group would be formed (replacing the previous High Street Working Party), and that this new group would work together to develop potential plans for any additional phases. The new stakeholder group includes a member of the Save the Heart of Cranleigh team, along with a representative from each of the Parish Council, the Chamber of Commerce and Cranleigh Business Improvement District (BID), as well as officers from SCC and Councillor Liz Townsend.


In May this year, Cllr Furniss wrote to the residents of Cranleigh (see letter below), to provide an update on the project. You will see that this letter referred to a recent speed survey, putting forward the view that speeding is still an issue on Cranleigh High Street, ‘even at the busiest times’. However, our analysis of that speed survey data does not support this assertion – you can read more about our analysis on our ‘Traffic Speed’ page here.


The first meeting of the new stakeholder group took place on Thursday August 8th and you can view the minutes of that meeting on our ‘Stakeholder Group’ page here, and also on the SCC Commonplace site here: https://cranleighhighstreet.commonplace.is/en-GB/proposals/cranleigh-stakeholder-group-meeting-minutes/step1


At that meeting, the Save the Heart of Cranleigh team made it very clear, that the purpose of the group must be to work together to develop potential plans – and not just to re-consult on the previous SCC plans. The next stakeholder group meeting is scheduled for early October 2024, and we look forward to working with other stakeholders to achieve the best possible outcome for Cranleigh.


We will continue to post updates here, and we also suggest that you keep an eye on the project website: https://cranleighhighstreet.commonplace.is/ - where you can sign-up to receive updates on the project from Surrey County Council.


Letter from Surrey County Council to Cranleigh Residents (May 2024)

Updates from the survey...

Crainleigh high street's purpose is to serve local residents and community, please keep it that way

Updates from the survey...

The number one priority must be to reverse the decline of the village retail businesses which has been occurring in recent years. The closure of Manns was a huge blow to the village. One way to achieve this is to provide more parking and, even better, more free parking. If the High Street continues to decline we will be left with a sad ghost town with no heart or soul.

Updates from the survey...

I work in south Croydon and have witnessed a similar scheme take place there last year, which has resulted in major traffic congestion and has subsequently affected local businesses with people unable to park and visits local shops. The idea of that scheme was to increase cycling and walking. That hasn’t happened. People like their cars, the sooner politicians accept that, the more chance will have as a society of coming up with traffic schemes that work in the real world. 

Why signing the petition was important

The proposals so far put forward will materially change the village with further changes about to enter consultation phase.

By supporting the petition you have voiced your concerns at the proposals and helped many of the businesses have a voice. We still want to help create a High Street we are all proud of and that works for the residents, retailers, school users and any other visitors to our village.