Bob McCalden

Residents of Pyrford have voted in favour of creating a Parish Council. In Woking Borough Council’s (WBC’s) recent consultation 68% of respondents supported the proposal.  A total of 446 responses were received, which is 11% of electors. Thank you to everyone who participated!

At the WBC’s Full Council meeting on 11 December, councillors reviewed the responses and approved the recommendation to create a Parish Council. The proposal is for

      •  A Parish Council called Pyrford Parish Council,

      •  covering the Pyrford Neighbourhood Area

      •  with 10 parish councillors

      •  and no wards.

We were delighted to see so many residents at the Pyrford Neighbourhood Forum Extraordinary General Meeting on 7 May 2025. Members voted to support the Forum in requesting Woking Borough Council to conduct a Community Governance Review, with the aim of creating a Pyrford Parish Council for the Pyrford Forum area.

Last month the Pyrford Forum Committee discussed whether to use one of its powers to ask Woking Borough Council to trigger a Community Governance Review. The Committee decided by 6 to 1 to recommend that such a request should be made and to seek the members’ support for that at an EGM.

See EGM for more detail and the answers to FAQs.

On Saturday 12 April 25 intrepid litter pickers met to once again scour the Pyrford area for litter. Another huge pile of bags was filled, to be collected by Woking Borough Council. Here are pictures of most of the volunteers (apologies if I didn’t manage to get a picture of you when you returned with your haul).

Our next litter pick is on Sunday 13 July, the morning after the Village Show. We look forward to seeing you again then!

Come and support your village Forum and have a great day out with Walk on the Wild Side-Part 4,Saturday April 26th 2025, 1-5pm at the Old house, Pyrford Road, GU22 8UE.

Before the tour of the grounds and ancient woodlands, (recommend you wear wellingtons or walking shoes), join your hosts Joy and Akeel and your Forum committee for a welcoming drink. For those who were on a previous tour you can hear about the progress that has been made over the last year or so.

The wild life continues to enjoy the peace and tranquillity of The Old House grounds, woodlands and ponds, with many species continuing to visit, several of which have now become resident.

After your walking tour of the grounds, it’s back to the house patio area to enjoy a well earned cup of tea, a traditional cream tea and homemade cakes, Joy will be telling you about the history of The Old House, the current issues and the ongoing restoration programme including plans for the future.

The Pyrford Neighbourhood Forums heritage DVD will be on sale at a special reduced price of £10.00, the video is over eleven minutes long and shows much of the beautiful area in which we live   from the air and from the ground.

A further initiative for this year and to help toward the forum running costs, is the sale of bird, bat and hedgehog boxes, a great way to help and encourage our local wild life, each box comes with an advice leaflet on the best location in your garden.

Tickets are limited and are now on sale at £20.00 per person; proceeds are towards the running costs of your Pyrford Neighbourhood Forum, to reserve your place and purchase tickets just select SHOP from the menu above.   

We look forward to seeing you on the day!