A History of the SRA

The Sandhurst Ratepayers and Residents Association was first formed in April 1959, mainly on the initiative of two men Peter Page and Bert Parham. Its aims were to foster and encourage community spirit in Sandhurst. It was to be non-political and solely communal in nature. A group of like-minded people got together and a committee was formed which included W.J.Condick, R.H Kibby and S.J.Laven. One of its first actions was to protest against the policies of the then Parish Council who were sanctioning wholesale development and destroying wooded areas of Sandhurst.

The character of Sandhurst was changing and the SRA felt it could be more effective in working on behalf of Sandhurst if it had members on the Parish Council and the Easthampstead Rural District Council. All the candidates put up were elected and Ken Harris became Chairman of Planninq and Peter Cross went on to be a County Councillor.

As well as involvement with council issues the SRA began the Magazine, the Carnival and the Firework display.

The Magazine began as a stencilled, hand stapled publication. Subsequent issues were professionally printed. Funded by advertising revenue the magazine continues to this day and is now being delivered to some 8,000 houses. Previous editors have included Sid Laven, Charles Longlan, David Crew, Roy Dent and Jennie Ogden – sometimes with an editorial committee and sometimes without. It is edited at present by Derek Hartley.
Distribution is done solely by volunteers and without their efforts the magazine would not exist. The SRA has been, and always will be, grateful to its volunteer distributors both past and present. The Magazine is, after all, not the property of the Executive but of all the Residents.

After the first Carnival, a team led by Dennis Medhurst was set up to make all the stalls and sideshows. These were so good that they were even hired out. The Carnival with its procession proved very popular for many years. It featured a Carnival Queen and Princesses and a Carnival Ball. Sadly, the procession can no longer take place because the stringent conditions required by Thames Valley Police to close the roads need more helpers than we have. In 2000 there was no Carnival and whether it ever returns will depend on more helpers coming forward to become involved.

The Firework display began because it was thought that a public display would be safer than the back garden ones that could be dangerous. Nightingale Farm, owned by two other founder members of the SRA, Mr & Mrs Soden, was used and about 300 people attended. In 1977, Tubby Clayton’s field off Thibet Road was the venue. Later, the display was moved to a superb location in the Memorial Park round the Balancing Pond. The displays were organised by SRA members, mainly by Colin Homewood, who qualified in pyrotechnics management to be able to do the job, and Steve Cox. Since 2003, the SRA has joined with the East Berkshire Scouts as co-sponsors of the displays which are attended by several thousand viewers.

The production of the Town Guide has also been undertaken by the SRA and David Worrell and his maps. Production costs were met in part by Sandhurst Town Council and in recent years by a local estate agent. The estate agent got involved because the guide was and is used to direct prospective house buyers to Sandhurst’s roads. The most recent edition of the Guide is 2001 and features an up-to-date map constructed by resident John Pedlar.

In the early days the SRA got involved in some strange things like filling sandbags when areas of Goughs Meadow were flooded. For a while we ran a football lottery.
Over the years the SRA has taken up many causes on behalf of individual residents and the town as a whole. When major issues arise the town is asked by means of a survey how residents want the SRA to proceed. The magazine has proved very useful to promote the survey, state the options, publish the result and show to our local councils the strength of public feeling to the proposals. One such survey asked for opinions on a housing application and Bracknell Forest Borough Council was surprised to be flooded with replies.

In the past the SRA has commented on many things as are illustrated in old copies of the magazine.
o In April 1967 there was a campaign for a village hall (this was first mentioned as long ago as 1907).
o We protested against nationalisation of public transport.
o We asked for a made-up road at the ford in Swan Lane. (How many people now living in Sandhurst even know that there was a ford in Swan Lane?)
o We wanted a post office that could issue road fund licences: we still haven’t got that 70 years later. The plea goes on.
o We wanted a Berkshire address, after all that is where we live – not in Camberley, Surrey.
o We appealed for a children’s play area in College Town.
o We said we'd like one telephone directory instead of the three we had and still have. This is ongoing with the Sandhurst Town Council taking the initiative.
o We saw a scheme to join us to Camberley and another to join us to Wokingham. Thirty years on we are well and truly attached to Bracknell despite feelings that we are so far away that "they don’t know we are here”.
o We battled for a pedestrian crossing near Broadway house.
o We monitored the views of residents on the positioning of both the war memorial and the Broadmoor siren and passed those views on to the Town Council.
o We provided evidence to Berkshire County Council for the provision of a pedestrian crossing on Crowthorne Road.
o 1964 saw two major planning applications: residents’ answers to the questionnaire made local planners aware of the feelings against these developments.
o The route of the by-pass has caused much discussion. Our first survey results were passed on to the planning officer at County: residents were then asked which route they favoured. (Whether we got the best route is still under discussion - what we have seems to give Crowthorne a bypass and cuts Sandhurst in half!
o Telephone numbers in the town continue to cause dissatisfaction while we don’t have our own exchange but a choice of three which can connect us to seven different police authorities from Hampshire, Surrey and Thames valley.
o Another subject that aroused strong feelings was the lack of parking in Sandhurst. There are no more spaces but there are a lot more cars.
o There were continual complaints about "the smell". First it was the Swan Lane sewage works then the mushroom farm over the Blackwater in Darby Green. The farm shut down in 2003 leaving us to cope with just traffic and central heating pollution.
o The subjects of rates, poll tax and the community charge have all raised temperatures and residents have had their say in the magazine and the SRA have made representation with councils.
o In 2002/03, when the Town Council wanted to build on part of Brookside Meadow and breach the protective Covenant we co-ordinated protest from the whole Town which persuaded Councillors to change their minds and confirm that the Covenant will endure for the foreseeable future.
o We campaigned with the Borough for improvements to Swan Lane Bridge. The traffic light system, installed in 2003, has produced a safer pathway for pedestrians and greater protection for the brickwork from high-sided lorries.
o When, in 2004, the Borough Planners seemed to favour building flats on the car park between the Library and Broadway House we added our voice to the clamour of protest from the residents which resulted in withdrawal of the planning application.

There are many names that have played a large part in the association’s history. To name a few:
John Kember-Smith Peter Page Pam Huges Gordon Davis
Ted Marshall Robert Robinson Norman Ellis Iris Gough
Gordon Carruthers Ted Fenn Colin and Jill Homewood

Sincere apologies to those missed out.
For the Future, local issues will always be of great interest to us all. The SRA will continue to voice comments both on the issues that are seen to be in the best interests of Sandhurst – and on those that are not.

October 2004