**TWO LETTERS FOR JAN 9. ONE PIC IF NEEDED TO GO WITH SECOND LETTER. SECOND LETTER HAS RESPONSE ATTACHED BUT IS EFFECTIVELY ONE LETTER**

Have your say on

Woking Debates

We hope you had a great Christmas and are looking forward to 2025.

We have been wondering what to do about the Woking Debates. We have been going since January 2013 and had a lot of support and interest during that time and we really thank you for attending and participating. They could not exist without you.

Yet since Covid attendance has declined and the number of us organising them has shrunk.

The Woking Debates have been an opportunity to explore ideas to create a more peaceful and fairer world starting here in Woking. We have had some great debates and inspiring speakers and we thank them all for their time and enthusiasm offered freely.

We have avoided taking votes or pushing one direction hoping and believing that providing an opportunity to hear differing viewpoints can open each of us to a new vision and hope for the future and change us all.

Nevertheless there has been interest expressed in having a more visible outcome from our meetings.

Accordingly we are offering you the chance to participate in a meeting where we will explore changing the format of the Debates.

We are going to consider the idea of setting up a citizen's assembly, people’s assembly or citizens’ jury who consider a topic in depth and make proposals for change.

Each of these has a slightly different format. We would also like you to help choose the topic we will consider and which format to go with.

Accordingly we are arranging two meetings in January to explore this idea. One will be in person only and one on Zoom only.

The main meeting will be at the Woking United Reformed Church (White Rose Lane) on Saturday 18 January from 11am to 12.30pm followed by a Zoom meeting on the 25 January to go over the same issues at the same time for those who cannot get there in person.

We hope you can attend.

If you would like to be involved in arranging these meetings please contact me at [email protected]

Keith Scott

Chair

Woking Debates

Cladding review

Letter also to Councillor Ann-Marie Barker and Woking MP Will Forster

Independent Technical Report into Hilton Facade

As leader of the council and MP for Woking you will be fully aware of the debacle of the Hilton Hotel cladding.

Sir Robert McAlpine (SRM), its designers and sub-contractors have now installed the original rainscreen system, which has been removed, reinstalled and failed again due either to inadequate design, workmanship or materials.

Woking council and the residents of Woking need to be assured that the installed rainscreen cladding once further remediated will perform as required to provide a serviceable and safe cladding system.

To provide this assurance to the council and residents of Woking, a specialist façade consultant should be commissioned , at the cost to Sir Robert McAlpine, to undertake an audit of the cladding system and confirm , or otherwise, the sufficiency of the installed system or identify any inadequacies of the system.

The report must be published with full technical details and also in a manner that the general public can understand.

Martin Marshall CEng MICE

Barrack Path

Response from Councillor Barker

Dear Mr Marshall

Thank you for contacting me.

Victoria Square Woking Ltd, owners of the Victoria Square development which includes the hotel, are working directly with Sir Robert McAlpine to put the cladding right.

They will be requiring independent review as you suggest.

Cllr Ann-Marie Barker

Leader of Woking Borough Council

Councillor for Goldsworth Park