December 2025 update from Helyn Clack, Buckland’s County Councillor

Update provided by Helyn Clack, Surrey County Councillor for Dorking Rural, that includes the villages of Betchworth, Brockham, Buckland, Capel & Beare Green, Charlwood & Hookwood, Ockley, Leigh, Newdigate and Ockley.

Highways – Before we transfer responsibility to the new unitary authority, I will continue to focus on roads in my division in need of major maintenance.  One of my priorities in Buckland is to lobby for more attention to drainage and footway issues as well as addressing potholes quickly and effectively. You can report highways defaults on line at Roads and transport – Surrey County Council on the Surrey County Council (SCC) website

Deputy Cabinet Member – Children Families and Lifelong Learning – Surrey’s Children’s Services  Last month, I inquired into Surrey’s Looked After Children – these young people come into the council’s care through a number of routes, including the family courts, for a variety of reasons including family break down, abuse and neglect. Children’s services work hard to return children to their parents or extended families when it is safe for them to do so. When a child needs to remain in the council’s care, the majority live with foster families, and a smaller group often older children will live in a children’s home. 

All elected members (SCC councillors) take on the role of Corporate Parents for children in Surrey’s care;  we receive regular training to understand the importance of our roles as councillors. We are asked to consider ‘would this be good enough for my child’. The council has a Corporate Parenting Board with elected members, senior staff and care leavers which meets bi-monthly to consider the needs of the children as they come into the service and grow up and reach independence with a home of their own and ongoing support, after all we all know that parenting does not stop at 18.  Surrey has some excellent and committed foster carers, and we are very grateful for all they do. However, the council is always seeking more – if you are  interested in finding out more about Fostering please click on Fostering – Surrey County Council or go to the SCC website and search Fostering.

Local Government Reform – Now that the government (HMG) has made its preferences clear for Surrey, there will be a Joint Committee for both new unitaries to oversee the transfer of responsibilities to, in our case, East Surrey Council.  I have been asked to join this as one of the five county councillors to work with the district and boroughs and their respective councillor representatives.  I have also joined a pilot, as directed by HMG, of a Neighbourhood Area Committee (NAC) for Dorking and the Villages, which includes representatives from health, community safety, voluntary and faith sectors and parish councils.

Gatwick – The Gatwick Areas Conservation Committee (GACC) organised a well-attended meeting in Charlwood to highlight the challenges facing the protection of our rural villages and way of life.   I think going on holiday to somewhere warm and relaxing is important for families needing a break and Gatwick is a great airport for family holiday destinations. But another runway will affect our villages, more noise and traffic – not just an increase in passengers but for all the services and suppliers. Traffic already comes through our villages to avoid the main roads and congestion on the motorways, but we get no funding from either the airport or the government to mitigate this.  So I support the GACC and I encourage you all to do so as well. 

If you think I can help with a Surrey County Council issue please let me know and may I also wish residents and businesses across my division of Dorking Rural a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Helyn