29th July 2025

This site was created to promote an independent view to maintain the current status of Shere Parish Council, (SPC) with Peaslake as part of it, forever.
The website is independent of SPC, and does not represent SPC, or any councillor, in any way.
Also not represented are the views of the Peaslake "Community Council" (PCC) which is not a council, but an open forum for local discussion.

DECISION TIME : Decided at the Guildford Council Meeting, Tuesday 29th July, 7.00 pm, Millmead

RESULT: It's a WIN for common sense! The proposal has been VOTED DOWN!

This campaign. to keep SPC intact has been a success, and we can now hopefully lay this one to rest, permanently. It was never viable, and let's hope the proposers and supporters for the change can accept this decision now, reconcile, and re-consider their position. But there is a risk too that they may bring the proposal back, with little or no foundation to do so, but given time, they ma try again, although the mechanism for this is as yet unclear, untested, and is probably not even possible. Let's hope so . Next year the Unitary County Council will be in place, ( in fact 2 or even 3 Unitary councils, if you can work that out!) making it even more difficult for this to be re-visited.
The 'Take - away ' is this: The message is clear. Residents of Shere Parish want to stay with SPC as it is! Now and going forward. Thank you to all who have written in, spoken up, taken a degree of abuse, and helped to kick this ridiculous proposal into history. But we need still to be vigilant, and not allow this divisive and destructive idea to re-emerge. It's time now to rebuild a cohesive community. .

Here is the text of the item as voted on:

11. COMMUNITY GOVERNANCE REVIEW OF THE PARISH OF SHERE (Pages 157 - 298) of the Council agenda) (15 MINUTES)
The Leader of the Council, Councillor Julia McShane to propose, and Councillor Danielle Newson to second the adoption of the following motion:
“That, taking into account the response received following the consultation in respect of the proposals contained in the community governance petition, no further action be taken in respect of the Community Governance Review and that no changes in community governance arrangements be made in the parish of Shere.” Reason: To ensure that community governance in the parish of Shere is reflective of the identities and of the community in that area and is effective and convenient. Comments: Councillor Bob Hughes

Other councillors did comment, inci Cllr Newson, and 2 others - all agreed with the motion as above.

• History:
• Officers report with options, to be voted on by GBC: HERE
• Online responses to initial consultation: HERE
• Written Responses to initial consultation: HERE ( large file, be patient!)

Thank you to all who wrote in and made their views known to GBC. We thank all those who wrote in, or e mailed in. The responses on both sides make for very interesting reading!
On a personal note, I am deeply saddened that it has come to this, with only 2 Peaslake councillors driving this idea for no perceptible or valid reason, to the detriment of the whole parish. It has caused division, bitterness, anguish, and irritation in the extreme. But on the bright side, It may have the effect of re-juvenating the real community council, where some of this will play out, so please, everyone, make an effort to attend these meetings and support the 'community council' going forward, and make sure these divisions are healed, and we do not end up in this miasma again.
Here on this site we stand by Cllrs Taylor-Cotter, and Weston, for their positive and constructive support throughout, and the very many residents who have expressed support to remain with SPC.
Also, in the July issue of the Parish mag, the leader article written by the Rev Tim Heaney, is interesting: Unity and cohesion is the message! See the July issue of the magazine.

New Logo for Shere Parish council: SPC, as if by divine intervention, have just published the new logo- Peaslake is very clearly there, occupying a quadrant, equal in size to the other 3 quadrants: Maybe a portent of the upcoming decision? Surely this means we really are all one parish, just as we say here.

Editors Ramblings, pt 1

Editors Ramblings, pt 2

Editors Ramblings, pt 3

Point of interest: Costs wasted so far in the initial consultation, as accumulated by both SPC, and GBC: This comes our of all our pockets, in the form of precept wasted, and not counting ancillary costs, ie time wasted, envelopes, paper, ink. So far, this stands at £6315 of cost that cannot be spent this year, in the parish. Did we really need this? What a total waste of resource. And should this change take place, it will cost Peaslake a further £5000 to stage and hold an election plus further GBC costs in the report, the consultation on that report etc. Total then possibly £11,000 plus. We do not know in reality where this will end.

Stop the Proposal for a new Parish Council for Peaslake only. What this was all about!

Note: Reason for this site to exist: A request was made to the Peaslake community 'council' to ask if they could publish a 'balance' document stating the case to stay with the current arrangement i.e. to keep Shere Parish Council as it has been for 131 years, so as to provide a balance to their published case for leaving SPC: but they have declined permission to do so. So it leaves little choice but to publish the 'remain' case, here. The lack of 'democracy' is sign of what could happen, should this small group get voted in. New Details and comments to be added, here, daily.

Background:

The 'governance /boundary review' as it is called, is to allow Guildford Borough Council to consider, after a public consultation, the idea to split the parish council, leaving Shere with 2 wards, and to separate Peaslake ward allowing the formation of a new Parish Council to serve Peaslake only, separate from Shere Parish Council. Please note this was brought about by lodging a petition with GBC, driven by a small minority of Peaslake residents, and 2 local parish councillors. Most residents did not want this. This consultation is now under way, with a closing date for public comments on the 7th July, 2025, at 5 pm. So if you do not want this to happen, act soon, please! Please wait for the letter from Shere Parish council, however, which should be with you during the 1st week of June. Many reasons to oppose the idea and details on how to register your view are listed in the sidebar, on the left.

All residents of Shere Parish should have received a consultation letter, inviting comments from the public. This is for ALL residents of Shere Parish, not just residents of Peaslake.

While there may be some reasons for this proposal, there are many more reasons too why it might not be a good idea: The idea of this site is to provide details and points to counter the pressure being brought about to do this, driven by 2 local ward councillors and a minority Peaslake 'community council', despite the latter not being a representative organization within the village. Not even all of the current serving Parish ward councillors support this, and the majority of residents of Peaslake have not publicly expressed any views, as yet, which is the purpose of the current consultation letter sent out by GBC.

The site offers points in favour of the 'status quo'.

The navigation sidebar allows links to various pages, where these details on how to register your view, what its all about, what is entailed. Your comments if you want them known, can be published there too, using the e mail link below.

Please indicate if you want your name published, and give permission to do so. Please note that this site not a public forum, much the same as the 'community council' site is not: the editor reserves the right to moderate or exclude any comments deemed offensive, or not relevant.

Peaslake: A Village in the Surrey Hills

Site Originally created May 2012 ( for the benefit of the village.)

For contact, click HERE