Compton Club is open
Compton Club is back and open for business, on Thursday and Friday evenings, 5pm to 10pm. The bar will be open, while snooker, pool and darts will be available. There may be last minute changes to opening times so the best way to keep updated is to join the Whatsapp group: https://tinyurl.com/The-Compton-Club or scan the QR code. To keep costs low, the Club will be run by volunteers, so we ask members to help out where they can and to keep the place tidy overall. The Club will be cashless and membership cards are required for purchases. Any visitors will need to be signed in by members as before. Paid members from 2023 will have their membership extended until Monday 30 September 2024. An AGM will be held soon. New members are welcome to join, just pop in to the Club on a Thursday/Friday evening. Please do support what could be a fantastic community facility! Thank you for your support and patience. We look forward to seeing you back in the club! Ian, Tim, Humphrey and Will (CC Committee)
The Compton Village pre-Fete Family Fun Day will be held on Friday 19 April, from 5pm, at the Compton Club. The fun includes: • Compton Fete Poster colouring competition. All entries will be exhibited at Watts Gallery’s Old Kiln from Friday 10 to Friday 17 May. Winners receive unlimited bounces on the bouncy castle on Fete day. • ‘Please Recycle’ posters designed by children to be used around the Fete. • Teddy Bear activities! Kids will also have the chance to decorate the new Teddy Bear Adoption Centre for unwanted Teddies. • Opportunity to buy Grand Draw tickets and sign up for our exciting Silent Auction! • Drop off point for donations for the Fete stalls. • Friendly faces eagerly anticipating your offer of help to volunteer for the Fete. • More exciting things to be announced very soon: www.facebook.com.ComptonVillageFete
Compton Village Association Subscriptions
SUBSCRIPTIONS REMINDER
Following last month’s reminder, 2024 SUBSCRIPTIONS to Compton Village Association have been received from 138 households, fewer than half the households receiving the NEWS. At £4 per family / £2 for individuals and Senior Citizen couples, a year, the sub is well within most budgets. When buying your Grand Draw raffle tickets, why not also pay the subscription (see below). While the village publications, including the NEWS, and the website, rely on people volunteering their time (in terms of content, production and distribution) the subscriptions do not just cover the printing and web costs. They also enable the CVA to raise funds to support village projects. In the main these must be a Compton Parish Council initiative but there is scope to use funds to support other events (for example the Coronation Picnic), enabling the printing of a forthcoming book on Compton and supporting the Compton Club by granting it a £5,000 loan facility should they require it. Here’s how the CVA subscriptions support and enable the various publications and services that are so unique to Compton: Village Website — Village Projects in conjunction with the Parish Council — Village Fete — Managing the minibus, Compo, in accordance with the joint venture agreement with the Watts Gallery — Welcome Pack for newcomers to the village — Guide to Useful Organisations (updated Guide enclosed with this NEWS) — Compton NEWS.
Payment methods - Bank transfer to the Compton Village Association account at Lloyds Bank: Sort Code 30-93-49, Account No. 00115047. Business account. Please use the reference 2024 Sub. - Post your subscription to the Treasurer, David Hunt, at Poplar Cottage, The Common, Compton, Guildford GU3 1JF. Cheques payable to Compton Village Association.
Harrow Pub Development
LOCAL PLANNING DEVELOPMEMT UPDATES - The planning proposal for new homes on the site of The Harrow Pub, on The Street, has been refused, due to the scale of the proposed housing, constituting inappropriate development. A new and revised application and/or an appeal against Guildford Borough Council’s decision is anticipated. The Parish Council will respond to either or both as required. - Save Historic Binscombe thanks everyone who attended the Waverley Borough Council planning committee meeting on the evening of Wednesday 7 February and to those, including Compton Parish Council, who took the time to object to the proposed development on the field between Copse Side and Binscombe. Though the application amassed over 500 objections and hundreds of petition signatories, the local councillors decided to waive through the proposals for 27 new affordable dwellings plus 50+ parking spaces on the three-acre field, metres from the Binscombe conservation area — not an insignificant development considering Binscombe consists of 40 houses. Despite a previous application with fewer dwellings having been overturned, at the 7 February meeting the councillors agreed the need for affordable new homes outweighed the previous conclusions by an independent government inspector in 2019 on the “harmful effect on the significance of the heritage asset”. Guildford Dragon ran a piece on the recent decision: https://guildford-dragon.com/waverley-planning-approval-for-green-field-site-a-decision-residents-were-dreading/.
Compton Phone Box
Compton Phone Box’s festive inspiration is “Food Glorious Food”, with pudding, mince pies, turkey drumsticks and sprouts. It runs until 6 January and is in aid of Crisis at Christmas. To donate, visit justgiving.com/page/c-sharples-1702038646881. Thanks to Hans Christmas Andersen for trees, All for Love London for decorations and Sarah Louise Dix Upholstery in Farncombe for the fabric and materials to make the giant mince pies.
After the decommissioning of the telephone box by BT, Compton residents wondered what to do with it. It was agreed that it should remain where it was as it was part of the village scene, but sadly it was rusty and the glass was either broken or replaced by plastic.
An anonymous benefactor assisted the Parish Council in covering the costs of repairing the box and Cllr Chris Sharples and another anonymous helper went about restoring the box.
Its central position made it a great place to advertise the village's support for the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. This was followed by Armistice Day when it stood as a prominent act of remembrance.
Later it sported a gold cup for the World Cup and latterly it bore a kilt and matching headwear for Burns Night and beautiful Chinese Lanterns for the Chinese New Year.
Spring saw a beautiful array of purple both inside and outside the box to raise awareness of The Meath and the common, but often stigmatised problem of epilepsy. This was followed by a nod to our Dutch neighbours and friends, one of whom provided initial funding and motivation to cheer up the phone box when it was looking rather derelict.
Compton residents love the various incarnations and Cllr Chris Sharples will hopefully go onto surprise us with future transformations, which not only entertain residents, but also bring a smile to the users of the B3000.
