It was a pleasure to bring Kemi Badenoch to Godstone today to hear from some of the local business owners who have faced so much disruption this past year.
Thank you also to everyone who came along to Friday’s public meeting on traffic management in the village. There is clearly a strong appetite for change, and I think we came away with a range of potential short and long-term options for when the road does eventually reopen - with a 20mph restriction and road narrowing the two most popular interim measures.
I’m going to put together a survey in the next week to send to all residents. I’m keen to listen to the views of the whole village and understand which ideas people would like to see prioritised in the immediate term.
What cut through in the meeting was a feeling that the collapse has accelerated the sense that the village has lost some of its community spirit. We should all feel proud of where we live, and the resilience shown by residents and local businesses over the past year is testament to that. If improved traffic management can help the village in some way to regain that sense of pride, I will do all I can to make the case to Surrey County Council.
Please keep an eye out for the survey next week. I also send out monthly updates on the collapse to keep you all up to date. You can sign-up here: https://tinyurl.com/ClaireCoutinhoGodstoneUpdates
Thank you all once again to everyone who made it and to the wonderful team at the White Hart Barn for allowing us to use their space.
