Post 71 – 06/06/24 – Arrival Details & Councillors That Care & Prize Giving – Further Details About Saturday 8th June (5 Minute Read)
This is the last of our mid-week posts designed to provide a bit more information about this Saturday’s event . This post is about Arriving At RHUL & The Councillors That Care Reception.
So the start time for the series of mini-events is at 12:30. The rendez-vous point is outside the main entrance to Royal Holloway on Egham Hill.
There are a number of entrances so I have added a pin on Google Maps below to denote which one. Street View is pretty good to get your bearings but I have also added a photo below to assist too.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/tHmQ4QMbjFGpsJ877
Many of us will not be travelling far so the best way to get there is, I imagine, by foot. If you live at the other side of the village or Egham you may want to try and get a bit closer by car. The best places to park for free are on Harvest Road or South Road. Ironically, most of the students will have left now and so there should be plenty of spaces. (Guests for the Open Day should be parking in the campus car parks). The walk from Harvest Road/ South Road using the footbridge should only be 5 to 10 minutes.
We don’t want to hang around for too long at the gates: we will get set up for a couple of pictures to be taken at 12:45. Rob will then start up his pipes and will pipe us to the Social Hall over the footbridge and down Harvest Road. It is about 400m. He is mindful of his puff but I said we would go easy on him.
At the Social Hall, we will distribute a couple prizes for those that have gone the extra mile with regard to placards and fancy dress! We will then introduce the Social Hall events starting with the Q & A session. This will then lead into the Councillors that Care reception. (FYI, we have flipped these 2 events in the schedule.)
We think we have a full contingent from the Englefield Green councillors: Abby, Andrea, Eliza, Paul & Trevor will all be attending. Amanda from EGVRA will also be there. May we take this opportunity to thank EGVRA for their support and help promoting this event. From Egham we have received apologies from Sam and Isabel: Geeta though has advised that she should be able to make it. Unfortunately Willy from the ERA is unable to make it but is preparing a few words to read out in his absence.
So that’s it. We look forward to meeting you all on Saturday and do hope that you can make it. It should be a good gig. The gathering at the college gates is arguably the most important part: we want to send a clear message that we are concerned about the effects that Royal Holloway’s expansion is having on our communities and that the university’s behaviour in ignoring these is not acceptable.
If you, too, are concerned about any of these effects then please join us:
- increased car parking and congestion,
- overflowing bins,
- the proliferation of ‘to-let’ boards,
- poorly maintained student HMOs with unkempt gardens and yards,
- the displacement of local families by a transient student population,
- the exclusion of local families and low-income individuals and households from the local housing market,
- litter and fly tipping,
- the marginalisation and polarisation of local families,
- the gradual closure of local crèches, nurseries, schools and other community facilities,
- the loss of family-oriented public and private services,
- higher levels of burglary and crime (including ASB),
- the formation of a new sense of place and a different type of ambience in the neighbourhood,
- room arrangements in HMOs and a lifestyle which can exacerbate noise nuisance (e.g. parties, higher occupancy levels in HMO),
- conflicts between the everyday living routines (e.g. timing of work, play and sleep) of established residents and many students,
I will conclude by saying again that turn out is the key here. Many of you will remember that, years ago, Royal Holloway hosted meetings with the community where residents had an opportunity to express their concerns about the expansion of the university but the university stopped those meetings and ignored those concerns. This, then, is the first opportunity since those meetings that we have been able to collectively express our concerns again.
Please don’t leave it to others to do it for you – grab your partner, kids, neighbours & friends and come along and show that you care about the issues that directly affect you.
Look forward to seeing you on Saturday!
Best wishes,
We Need To Talk About Royal Holloway
Notices:
- Saturday 8th June: Event Details.
https://weneedtotalkaboutroyalholloway.com/event/ - For the benefit of people that have recently joined this group:
https://weneedtotalkaboutroyalholloway.com/timeline/ - Our Home Page that tells you more about us:
https://weneedtotalkaboutroyalholloway.com/ - To discuss the problems surrounding RHUL, consider joining the WNTT Forum Whatsapp group:
https://chat.whatsapp.com/BQmFKEHSa6gLsU55FU8QxN - Next Week’s Post. A Sorry Police Story.