On 18th February, Mr. David Baker called another meeting to discuss the problems associated with the level crossing at the Ashtead Station. It was attended by your Independent Councillors, Chris Hunt, Patricia Wiltshire, and Andy Smith as well as the ex-Chairman (Peter Westgarth), Acting Chairman (Alan Bradley), and President (David Hawksworth), of the Ashtead Residents Association.
Representatives of Network Rail, the Police, the NHS, and the Fire Service attended along with a member of the City of London (Ashtead Common)management team who kindly hosted the meeting. Our MP also attended with some staff. The aim of the meeting was to put some protocol in place in case of the level crossing gates being closed and some emergency happening north of those gates. There is certainly a good understanding of the worrying possibility of the gates being closed in an emergency, particularly a medical one, or in the case of fire.
Your local councillors suggested the use of local Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) money to provide ‘real time’ electronic boards that would give residents updated information when the gates get stuck. We also suggested that the possibility of keeping hoses on the common side of the railway for potential emergencies and the Fire Service Officer thought this was a good idea. He is also looking to organise training for the public on how to deal with actual fire breakouts as well as ways of preventing them happening in the first place.
This is simply to assure residents that Ashtead Residents Association and your Independent Councillors are trying hard to make life safer and easier for people living north of the railway line.
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