On Tuesday 23rd November there will be a community liaison group meeting hosted on Microsoft Teams from 6pm – 7pm.

Agenda Programme 

1. Welcome
2. Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 7th September 2021
3. Green Swathe update
4. Church refurbishment update
5. Summary of 2021
6. Work Programme for 2022
7. Construction newsletters
8. Community activity
i. Christmas activities programme
9. Any other business
10. Date of Next Meeting

On Thursday 28th October, the Surrey Heath Planning Committee approved Skanska’s application to fully discharge Condition 9 with an agreed affordable housing requirement for Mindenhurst.

The agreement of 20% site-wide provision will deliver 234 new, much-needed affordable homes for the Borough. 234 homes will be provided regardless of whether the maximum permitted 1,200 homes is achieved.

This followed five years of viability discussions to determine what could be delivered and was in full accordance with the conclusions of an independent viability review.

Mindenhurst held a community bake sale on Friday 24th September to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Support.

The event was held outside of Skanska’s site office with a wonderful spread of sweet treats on offer for local residents and staff. The sale was a big success with a total of £136 raised for MacMillan.

The event was held as part of Macmillan’s Coffee Morning, which sees community organisations all over the UK holding events to raise money for people living with cancer.

Niki Dufour, Mindenhurst’s Community Relations Manager said:

“It was great to see so many people attend our community bake sale and every penny we raised will help MacMillan to support even more people living with cancer.”

Each year Skanska employees receive additional paid leave to support local community organisations based in the areas Skanska operate in. This year, Skanska’s Mindenhurst team has partnered with the Hope Hub and Basingstoke Canal Society.

The Hope Hub is a registered charity working to prevent and end homelessness in Surrey Heath Borough and surrounding areas. Skanska’s Mindenhurst team volunteered with The Hope Hub to sort through donations and prepare food parcels for homeless residents and other vulnerable people.

The Basingstoke Canal Society promotes and campaigns for the sustainable future of the Canal as a navigation and public amenity. Skanska’s Mindenhurst volunteers worked with Society volunteers to remove floating pennywort, which causes significant damage to existing plant life and makes it difficult to navigate the canal.

Leisliane Garcia, Skanska Development Director said:

“Lend-a-Hand Week is a fantastic opportunity for our teams to help give something back to the local communities we operate within. This year our volunteers were able to help vulnerable people access food parcels and help maintain a key natural asset in the area. Skanska is committed to helping to improve our local communities.”

You may have been lucky enough to spot bats flying at sunset. One species of bats that live in Mindenhurst is the Common Pipistrelle. This is the smallest of the UK bats and are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. They have dark, golden-brown fur with a paler underside and a dark mask around the face.

They live in tree holes, bat boxes and sometimes roof spaces of houses, mainly feeding on flies and using echolocation to locate their prey. You will see them until October when they go into hibernation. Trees on site will be assessed from the ground by an ecologist to identify if there are any features on the tree that make it suitable to host a bat roost. Trees that are assessed as having suitability for a bat roost will have dusk and dawn surveys carried out on them to further assess if they contain a bat roost.

Sometimes when trees are tall, it is hard to assess the features from the ground. By climbing trees which are harder to assess from the ground, the ecologists can rule out trees that need to have further surveys carried out. From climbing a few trees, they are able to have a vantage point to assess other trees in the area.