Cranleigh High Street Redevelopment

SAVE THE HEART OF CRANLEIGH

The objectives of the Cranleigh High Street Redevelopment Plan are stated as follows:

Create an attractive environment for residents.
Encourage more active modes of transport (like walking and cycling)
Improve air quality and biodiversity net gain.
Encourage more people to visit the village and stay longer.
Improve the local economy.

CranleighHighStreet.uk have summarised below the major changes planned for the High Street and have listed our concerns with these plans, but we are encouraging everyone to make up their own minds. If you want to study the full proposals in more detail, then they can be found here https://cranleighhighstreet.commonplace.is/

The current Plan states that work will be undertaken at the Obelisk/Petrol Station junction in the spring 2024. Those of you who remember the serious congestion recently caused at this junction by a week’s work replacing kerb stones, will be worried by further lengthy work here. We struggle to see why changes need to be made at this junction.

The Plan further states that the main work on implementing the plan will cover the first 9 months of 2025. That is a substantial period of temporary lights and road works in Cranleigh which will totally gridlock the Village. Given the experience of North Camp where the work took 50% longer than promised, you can now perhaps appreciate our concerns, especially the impact on local businesses.

Consultation on the changes has now closed and it is clear that Surrey Councillors believe they have public support for their proposals. In order to force them into dialogue to discuss residents' concerns and to put forward alternative ideas that really have community support, we have been forced to create an e-petition to stop the current Plan. This petition has now closed, thank you for all the support.

If we pull together as a community, we at CranleighHighStreet.uk believe we can create a better Plan which will work in the best interests of residents and businesses alike and truly create a Village Centre we are all proud of. Please don’t let apathy dictate the final solution.

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.

Lets take a closer look at the proposals

No more Horseshoe Lane roundabout...

But a new raised table/speed bump

What is happening outside Sainsbury's?

A narrowed high street with much less free parking

But another new raised table/speed bump

Finally the changes at Village Way

At Village Way - we are also losing the roundabout to make a T-junction

Another new raised table/speed bump

What are our concerns with the proposals?

Here are a few of the CranleighHighStreet.uk concerns with the new proposals:

The Horseshoe Lane roundabout is a key access road to Cranleigh School and Cranleigh Prep School, there are over 1000 children at those schools, many of whom are being dropped off and collected every day. With no roundabout how will people access that road?
The raised tables will create noise and traffic pollution as people have to slow down and then accelerate over the bumps, there is already a 20mph speed limit in the high street
The raised tables will mean children find it harder to see the delineation between the roads and the pavement so could cause accidents. There are six schools in Cranleigh.
Removal of the crossing point at Rowlands Road
Narrowing the High Street will make it very difficult for emergency services vehicles to get through the village. At the moment cars already need to move onto the pavements to let them through.
Blocked off access to Onslow Mews, so no vehicle access to the Cranfold Physio.
Shrunken and narrowed bus lay-bys which will cause blockages along the High Street.
The Village Way roundabout is vital to give people access to the Village way carpark and all the important amenities that are there - the leisure centre, the band room, access to Snoxhall Park, the Doctors, the Scout Hut, the Parish Council office...
The removal of so much of the free parking will make life harder for the already struggling local businesses.
Narrowing the roads will mean that when there are deliveries the high street could become gridlocked.

We are sure there are many other very valid concerns with the proposals, but one thing to agree on is that these changes will not make Cranleigh an easier and nicer place to visit. This is why having an alternative vision for Cranleigh is so important.