Local Borough Election - Gemma Adamson
About
BOROUGH COUNCIL ELECTION
Thursday May 4th 2023 7am-10pm
Thursday May 4th 2023 7am-10pm
GEMMA ADAMSON
Gemma has served 8 years on Reigate & Banstead Borough Council, initially in the Preston Ward. Elected to the Nork Ward following a house move.
Long-standing member of the Planning Committee, and has also sat on the Audit and the Surrey Local Committees.
A working mum, married to David with three sons at our local schools – Secondary, Primary & Preschool.
Lives in Nork and attended Shawley Community Primary and the Beacon School.
Dear Elector,
My term in office has been an incredibly busy period for me, full of ups and downs. With Covid hitting less than a year into my first term as a Nork Ward Councillor, it was a difficult time for all. The silver lining from this was the shift in focus - encouraging our community to come together. It enabled me to liaise with local residents more frequently, especially those normally working long hours all week. This highlighted several areas where we needed to re-focus our efforts as Councillors working towards a better Nork once all the restrictions finally lifted. In these unprecedented times, we’ve kicked off and delivered some great projects.
I ask you to cast your vote for the Residents Association and give me the continuing honour of representing your interests at the Borough Council. I will listen to and represent ALL residents, regardless of political persuasion, and will be pleased to hear from you.
Please exercise your vote to help make Nork a better place.
Yours sincerely,
Yours sincerely,
Gemma Adamson
RECREATION
Pump Track
Set out below is a layout of the new pump track. We have laid great importance on ensuring this area is suitably landscaped to complement the surrounding character of the park. Once the new plans are available they will be shared through our new emailed newsletter.
Tattenham Recreation Pavilion
The Recreation Pavilion has been fully renovated thanks to our successful bid to the Community Infrastructure Levy Fund at Reigate & Banstead Borough Council. We worked closely with the Community Infrastructure Levy, Greenspaces and Asset Management Teams to ensure a good, fit for purpose refurbishment took place. Securing a new tenant for the property has taken longer than we had originally hoped; however, it has allowed us to properly assess the surrounding facilities and incorporate them into further plans for Nork Park and Tattenham Recreation Ground. We are confident that we will have a new tenant to occupy the premises this year which will be a great addition to the grounds and local community.Pitch Provision
We have been working with local clubs and organisations as well as reviewing all the current in-depth reports from the Football Foundation, to establish how we best move forward to improve the pitch provision at Tattenham Recreation Ground. Our intention is to bring this recreation ground and park up to a much better standard, for all to enjoy.
ROADS
Our number one priority is resurfacing Nork Way. After extensive lobbying, the section between Beacon Way and Parkwood View will be completely resurfaced in 2023.
We have campaigned continually for repairs and are proud that over the past decade more than 50 projects have been delivered. Unfortunately, the severe weather this last winter has seen many potholes develop. Money needs to be directed to tackling whole sections of roads, rather than piecemeal filling the odd pothole.
Many of our smaller residential roads and especially pavements need attention. This last year work was undertaken in Banstead Road, The Drive, Harkness Close, as well as the footpath from Eastgate to the station. In the current year we have a more intensive programme. Besides Nork Way, we have work scheduled for Bunbury Way, Fir Tree Close, Picquets Way, Waterer Gardens and Yew Tree Bottom Road.
Our survey of residents’ priorities highlighted the difficulty in parking around the Nork shopping parade. We conceived a scheme to increase parking in Eastgate, which also dictated that the road become a one-way street. This has improved safety as well as providing some extra car spaces. It has also improved business for the shops in Eastgate.
PLANNING
The Residents Association vigorously scrutinises planning applications, striving to preserve and protect the beauty and character of our area – minimising intensive and detrimental development. We promote the local environment and help residents oppose un-neighbourly cramped schemes with inadequate parking and loss of trees. We have had some notable successes, and have been able to reduce the number of houses in these developments by some 250 houses. Moreover most of the developments that have been built were only approved by the Government Inspector on Appeal, after we had persuaded the Planning Committee to refuse the application.Acting with other parties we have successfully opposed incursions into the Green Belt. We are concerned about the possibility of building on the Green Belt over in Epsom & Ewell, on the Downs Farm land neighbouring Nork. We will oppose any such development. We will continue to lobby to ensure the local view is heard.
Just one of our recent successes was the refusal and dismissal at appeal of the 15m mast application behind the Nork Community Centre adjacent to the children’s playground and football pitches.
COUNCIL TAX & SERVICES
Both the County and Borough Councils must be more effective than ever in using our money. This is why we scrutinise budgets in detail – exposing excess spending and highlighting ways to obtain better value. With our support the Borough increase has been kept down to 3%; we did not support proposals from Green Party councillors, which would have meant spending an extra 3%.
The County Council also increased its tax by 3%. We opposed severe cuts in the Adult and Children’s budgets as money was available from unused funding in prior years. Our analysis was that the savings were a combination of the unachievable (these budgets were overspent last year) and the undesirable. We must properly support children in care.
A Message from the Chairman
Councillor Gemma Adamson has served Nork Ward since May 2019, having previously been a Councillor for the Preston Ward - she follows in the footsteps of her father, Bob Harper, in serving as a Councillor in the Borough. In addition to sitting on full Council, Gemma has spent a year on the Planning Committee during her recent term of office, as well as being on the Audit Committee and the Surrey Local Committee.
She juggles her work as a Councillor with being a mother of three young children, which is not an easy task. She has been very involved with Nork Park childrens’ playgrounds which, due largely to her hard work, are now in fine condition. Along with her fellow Councillors Peter Harp and George Hinton she has had the outdoor gym, playground and surrounding area named The Stead in honour of long-serving Nork Councillor Brian Stead. The Tattenham Recreation Ground Changing Rooms have been refurbished too and are to be renamed in honour of Councillor Norman Harris.
She has been heavily involved with the administration around the football pitches in Tattenham Recreation Ground and Nork Park, which is a time-consuming and frustrating task. Despite her best efforts a new tenant for the changing rooms is yet to be found. She has secured funding for a pump track (a children’s cycling exercise feature) to replace the former skateboard ramps. This was delayed while we waited for additional funding from a national body but now on track for successful completion. She has also put a huge amount of effort into creating a system whereby we can send out bi-monthly emailed newsletters, to supplement the Nork Quarterly.
Local Politics
Our Councillors work closely with the Residents’ Association Councillors in neighbouring Tattenham Corner and Preston Ward and together with them we form the Residents Group on the Borough Council, which is led by their Ward Councillor, and our shared County Councillor, Nick Harrison.
Our creed has always been to seek best value and what is best for Nork from our Councillors, without having to follow a party line. This has served us well over the years and we take this policy on into the future. Gemma Adamson is always happy to discuss any resident’s problems that fall under the remit of the Council and her contact details are below as well as in Nork Quarterly and on our website. I commend her to you as your Councillor.
Bob Ferris
Chairman Nork Residents’ Association