Over 4,000 pairs of Warlingham Walks leaflets were distributed to every household round the village in early September. Following this, an event at Warlingham Village Hall was held on Saturday September 17th in order to formally declare the walks open. The Warlingham Flute Band played outside, the chairman of the Parish Council gave a formal welcome, and the winner of the design competition cut a ribbon to symbolise the opening of the walks. Inside the hall, some of the groups who had assisted with the project (Surrey Wildlife Trust, Blanchmans Farm Local Nature Reserve, Downlands Trust, and East Surrey Ramblers) had displays. Total attendance was estimated at over 100, many of whom took advantage of the walks that were led at 15 minute intervals to groups of up to 20. Tea and cake were supplied to the walkers on their return.

A competition aimed at younger walkers consisting of questions to be answered while walking round the Village Walks was made available, and a couple of vouchers were donated by a local shop as the prizes. The winners were Grace Redington (Walk 1) and Elise Wood (walk 2).

On the second day, 25 people joined a walk around one of the two longer routes. St Mary's Church, Farleigh hosted a tea and cake stop, which proved very popular.

Download walks leaflets here.

On Saturday 17^th September 2011 two new walks leaflets will be launched. The two new leaflets, Warlingham Village Walks and Warlingham Countryside Walks are currently being delivered to every house and flat in Warlingham.

A special Launch Event will be held at the Village Hall at 14:30 on Saturday 17^th September with the following timetable:

14:20    Warlingham Flute Band plays

14:40    Welcome by Parish Council Chairman

14:45    Walks declared open

14:50    The Walks Exhibition opens in the Village Hall

15:00    Guided walks around the two Village routes begin

15:30    Tea and cake will be served

17:00    Hall closes

All are welcome.

On Sunday 18^th September there will be a chance to join a group to be led around one of the longer routes, leaving the Village Hall at 14:00 with a stop for tea at St Mary’s Church, Farleigh (free for the first 20 who take part!).

In 2007 the Government gave eligible councils something called “the Power of Well Being. This enables a council to“do anything which it considers likely to achieve the promotion or improvement of the economic, social, or environmental well-being of their area.”

Normally the council can spend money only on matters specifically described in an Act of Parliament. (This is in contrast to individuals, who can legally do whatever they like, unless an Act of Parliament says they cannot.) For example, the council can provide litter bins only because this power was granted in the Litter Act 1983. Having the Power of Well Being gives a little more freedom to the council in its scope.

There are several requirements a council must meet in order to obtain the Power of Well Being. Specifically, the council must have:

• a qualified clerk
• a minimum of two-thirds of vacancies on the council filled at the last ordinary  elections
• eighty per cent of councillors trained in the use of the well-being power; and
• a published statement of intent as to community engagement

Warlingham Parish Council met all these eligibility criteria bar one: it needed to publish its statement of intent as to community engagement. This describes the way the council communicates with the rest of the community. The Council did so at its April meeting  and so it now has the Power of Well-Being.

 "At its meeting on Wednesday March 2^nd, Warlingham Parish Council considered the proposals by Surrey County Council to introduce charges for parking in the 31 places around Warlingham Green. The Parish Council is most concerned at the potential impact on the economic vitality of the businesses around The Green. It is unaware of any surveys of current parking behaviour and in particular it has seen no evidence to support the claim that the current one hour limit is being flouted.
 Accordingly Warlingham Parish Council agreed to record its opposition to the proposals and to call on Surrey County Council to abandon their current plans."

 Surrey County Council has since sent a reply which includes the following:

 "The only decision that has been made so far is to carry out a formal consultation and advertise our intention to consider introducing charging, which is the start, rather than the end, of the process.  The proposals for each area will be formally advertised in turn and we will look carefully at all the comments we receive as a result and recommend any changes that are considered necessary or appropriate."