Covers the whole of Stoneleigh Ward and Auriol Ward which lie on either side of the railway line from Waterloo, with the Stoneleigh Broadway shopping centre at its heart.
Stoneleigh and Auriol Residents' Association(SARA)
Stoneleigh and Auriol Residents' Association (SARA) covers Stoneleigh Ward and Auriol Ward. It is the largest Association in the Borough of Epsom & Ewell and, having been in existence for almost 75 years, is one of the oldest. Through a network of Zone Representatives, who collect subscriptions and deliver the Association's quarterly magazine, 'The Resident', members are kept fully and regularly informed on ward, borough and county matters.For full information about Stoneleigh and Auriol Residents' Association (SARA) please go to our website: www.stoneleighandauriol.co.uk
The following article is reproduced from their website by kind permission of Stoneleigh and Auriol Residents' Association (SARA)
Nonsuch Park and the Mansion House
Following the decision by Surrey County Council’s Executive Committee to grant a lease on Nonsuch Park and Nonsuch Mansion House, Bill Slaughter, the Chairman of SARA, issued a Press Statement of which the following is an extract:“The unanimous decision by Surrey County Council’s Executive to grant a 125-year lease of Nonsuch Park and Nonsuch Mansion House jointly to Epsom & Ewell Borough Council and the London Borough of Sutton brings to a successful conclusion the fourteen-month long campaign by Stoneleigh and Auriol Residents’ Association (SARA) to save the Grade II*-listed Nonsuch Mansion House from being sold off for commercial development by the Conservative-controlled county council.
In December 2006, Surrey County Council’s actions caused huge concern to thousands of people who care passionately about Nonsuch Park and the Mansion House when it arbitrarily seized operational control and management of Nonsuch Park and the Mansion House from the widely-respected and trusted Nonsuch Park Joint Management Committee. Those fears were expressed in a petition organized by SARA and signed by almost five thousand people, who called upon the Executive to grant a 125-year lease of Nonsuch Park and the Mansion House to the two local boroughs as soon as possible.
In 2007, the Executive spent in excess of £100,000 commissioning a secret report from a firm of East Anglian estate agents who were briefed to provide the best possible sale options for the Mansion House, including selling the Mansion House and its 6-acre walled gardens to a private developer for conversion into luxury flats, a corporate head office, or luxury hotel at a net profit in excess of £1.25-1.75 million. No regard was paid to the inevitable and permanent loss of public access to this much-loved listed building and its beautiful grounds.
However, the strength of local feeling against these proposals was recognized by the leader of Surrey County Council and Chairman of the Executive, Councillor Nick Skellett, who received SARA’s petition containing 4,760 signatures from Residents’ Association Councillor Nigel Petrie MBE, the county councillor for Epsom and Ewell North East Division. Councillor Skellett paid tribute to SARA’s campaign and said that SARA’s petition was “impressive”, adding that the petition was, “one of the largest ever received by the County Council.”
SARA is tremendously grateful to everyone who has supported and assisted the campaign, especially all those who attended SARA’s public meeting in October 2007 and the near 5,000 people who signed SARA’s petition. Some people not only signed the petition themselves but even organised many additional signatures as well. It is a testament to just how deeply people care about safeguarding the future of Nonsuch Park and the Mansion House. They are the real heroes. Neither must we forget to thank another special hero - the high-ranking county council officer who leaked the secret report to SARA, at the personal risk of immediate dismissal.
SARA extends special thanks to Mr David Smith, Clerk to the Nonsuch Park Joint Management Committee and Chief Executive of Epsom & Ewell Borough Council. It was David Smith’s dogged determination to secure a just and satisfactory conclusion, combined with hours of skilled negotiation and attention to written detail, that eventually won the day in getting viable lease terms agreed and we have much to thank him for.
SARA gratefully acknowledges the fact that our local press provided sustained and factual coverage of the Mansion House issue throughout the campaign. Without such press coverage thousands of people would not have been aware of the County Council’s proposals and would have had no chance to register their objections to them.
There is no doubt whatsoever that without SARA’s campaign and the support it received from thousands of people who care about Nonsuch Park, the Mansion House would by now have been sold off by the County Council and converted into luxury flats, offices or a hotel, resulting in public access to the house and its walled gardens being lost forever.”
Officers
- Webmaster:
- Go to, www.stoneleighandauriol.co.uk
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