Summary
The current proposal is to place Bisley and Send into Woking constituency and remove Byfleet to Runnymede and Weybridge.
Woking Conservative Association opposes these changes and instead submits an alternative that would make changes in Surrey a great deal simpler with the effect of resolving the question of constituency sizes.
Context
Byfleet has been a part of Woking since 1933, with a small further part of the village moved into the Woking Urban District Council in 1936. At that time, Woking had applied for a Mayoral Charter and the lack of homogeneity with the Byfleets had been given as reasons for refusal.
In 1950, the Woking Constituency was created and included Byfleet. This has not changed in the 66 years since that time. In 1974, Woking Borough Council was created, with the grant of a Borough Charter recognising that all parts of the Woking district were now sufficiently well integrated to merit this.
Although parts Woking constituency have been removed in the intervening years – most recently Ash and Ash Vale in 1997 – this was only reflective of Woking’s growing size and nothing has ever been removed from the constituency to be replaced with another ward. As a result, the constituency, despite its crossover into Guildford Borough, retains a strong sense of homogeny and community cohesion.
Removal of Byfleet
The removal of Byfleet would be a blow to Woking constituency – marking the first instance of anything from the old Woking Urban District being transferred out of the constituency. It would reverse the process of greater homogeny with the east of the Borough that Woking has been working on for the past 80 years and leave a false boundary of the M25 that was not even built when the constituency was first formed and rejected as a boundary in the reviews of 1974, 1983 and 1997.
The A245 is a major transport route that connects Byfleet with West Byfleet and Woking to the west. People living in Byfleet have out-of-town shopping at the Brooklands site that lies just within Runnymede and Weybridge but for the most part feel affinity to their own shops in the village and those in West Byfleet. To the east, the A245 connects mostly with the A3 – leading to nowhere in particular – and then onto to Cobham and Stoke D’Abernon, small towns with little modern connection with Byfleet.
The schooling within Byfleet at primary level is almost entirely self-contained at Byfleet Primary School and while pupils may go on to Fullbrook School in Addlestone, it is not unusual for catchment areas to take children living on the border of one constituency into another.
The relationship between Byfleet, West Byfleet and Pyrford is also important to consider. Not only do they share part of their name but various organisations work across both exclusively. These include The Byfleet United Charity, which works in Byfleet Parish but has accommodation in West Byfleet and the Byfleet and Pyrford Children’s Centre. In addition, Byfleet, West Byfleet and Pyrford share a Residents’ Association and Neighbourhood Forum that make for strong links between the three villages that would be damaged Byfleet moving out of Woking constituency.
Woking, West Byfleet and Byfleet and New Haw railway stations are all on the South West line into London Waterloo; by contrast the one bus service that serves Byfleet regularly into Chertsey and Weybridge is due to be changed dramatically from 31 December 2016. Byfleet will become more reliant on train and car travel and community transport of the type provided to it by Woking Borough Council.
In addition, the removal of Byfleet would mean that one Guildford BC ward and one Surrey Heath BC ward would move into Woking constituency, turning a constituency with broad homogeny with its own borough council (notwithstanding a small and longstanding crossover into Guildford BC) into a three-district constituency with a substantial discontinuity to its district.
In terms of the M25, this artificial boundary exists and cannot be denied. But there is no access onto the M25 at Byfleet – it is simply a bridge over the motorway as if no boundary existed. The distances between Bisley and Knaphill and Send and Old Woking are comparable to that between Byfleet and West Byfleet and nothing is gained in terms of geographic cohesion by this proposal.
Furthermore, the people of Byfleet have overwhelmingly told our organisation that they wish to remain within Woking and to keep the current MP, who has served them very well. They recognise the benefit of their district representatives working with an MP who has involvement in the rest of Woking’s issues.
Addition of Send
Send is an ancient postal village that has historic links with Old Woking but sits in Guildford Borough Council. It has been in Mole Valley constituency since 1997 and was previously in Dorking since that constituency’s creation in 1950.
It has village amenities and is linked to Woking by the A247. However, it is not on any major road link into Woking and has easier access to the A3 at Ripley, where people from Send also go to shop for everyday goods. Already a ward that is not contiguous with its district, moving it into Woking would not address this point and only make Woking less contiguous with its district.
Send has its own schools and community structures that are not shared with Woking. Some Send secondary school pupils may attend Woking secondary schools but this situation is not unusual. Send’s nearest railway station at West Clandon is on a different mainline route into London.
Furthermore, issues of Green Belt and development currently being faced by people in Send are common with those being facing in the Horsleys, Clandons and Effingham, which are similarly part of Mole Valley constituency and Guildford Borough.
Addition of Bisley
Bisley is geographically close to Knaphill and part of Surrey Heath district and constituency. While it shares road links towards the M3 and M4 as well as some community organisations such as a British Legion branch, it has not been part of Woking since the 1974 reorganisation that saw Woking become a Borough. In addition, Knaphill has its own residents and traders’ association and strong tie to areas of Woking such as St John’s and Goldsworth Park through political structures and shared services.
There are no direct roads into the greater Woking area from Bisley – instead the main links by car are towards Guildford in one direction and Lightwater and Bracknell in the other. Although a case on geographical proximity to Knaphill is capable of being made, the reality is that Bisley is a separate village from Knaphill that people tend to pass through on their way to the M3/4 or Camberley rather than an area that shares community links with Woking constituency.
Alternative proposal
The transfer of Hersham South ward from Esher & Walton to Runnymede & Weybridge, being already contiguous with two of those four wards, would be a relatively small and manageable change to the existing situation whilst rectifying much of the numerical anomaly in two of the three non-compliant constituencies.
This would negate the need for any change in the Woking constituency.
