Abelea Green – Battle lines set

The enforced closure of the walking route to St Joseph's school from the Abelea Green estate, via the church car park, has led to increased congestion in White Horse Drive and chronic traffic problems in West Street and Rosebank.

To reduce these problems, the school's governors have proposed a "park and stride" scheme. A petition will be considered on Monday by SCC's local committee for Epsom & Ewell, asking for the parking restrictions in the Abelea Green estate to be relaxed to facilitate this.

Some residents fought for many years to block direct access to the school. Their rival petition countering the governors' proposal has been followed by an unprecedented number of questions being tabled for the meeting, some from supporters and some from opponents.

Following the publicity given to the meeting by both camps, the authorities have felt it necessary to warn that space in the public gallery will be strictly limited.

A Podcast of the meeting via Zcast can be accessed via the Local Committee's Twitter account @EpsomLC or via the ModGov app for phones and tablets.

Note: See also "Exclusive estate bars access to RC school".