Watch out Mr Hitler!

The country's best-loved Home Guard platoon will be on parade at Chobham Club on April 20th for a Saturday night screening of "Dad's Army The Movie". The local link is that some of the film was shot on Chobham Common and this jolly community event - it's officially the Chobham Commoners Jamboree 2013 - is raising money for the Chobham Commons Preservation Committee.

Tickets, including a fish 'n' chip supper (with veggie options available) are £12 and are already selling like hot battered fishcakes.

Under 16s are £10 and family tickets are £40. Call Rob Searle at the Chobham Commons Preservation Committee to book.

Christmas communications at St Lawrence, Chobham’s Parish Church  are geared up for mobile technology.

A scan of a QR code will take you straight to the Christmas diary on the church website.

Chobham's Christingle Service in aid of the Children's Society is on Sunday December 2nd at St Lawrence Church.

This service, during which children are presented with candles made out of oranges, is popular with people of all ages. The religious symbolism behind the service, which is of Scandinavian origin, is that the orange represents the world, the red ribbon the love and blood of Christ, the dried fruits and sweets, God's creation, and the lit candle represents  Jesus as the light of the world.

In Chobham, the festivities begin in down to earth style with tea for children in the Church Hall at 4.30pm, followed by the service in the church at 5pm.

Local children should receive envelopes to collect money to bring to the service through their schools - with the usual request to collect only from friends and family, not by knocking on doors in the neighbourhood - but don't worry if you haven't got an envelope already, there will be a supply on the afternoon at the service.

Chobham Church website

THE SHEEP TRAIL is a new Christmas "event" this year. At the beginning of December, small knitted sheep will start appearing in shop windows and other places around the village.

Pick up a form from shops in the High Street, Windsor Road and Chertsey Road, find the names of all the sheep and return the form to the box at St Lawrence Church porch by December 15th.

The first 10 correct entries out of the box win a prize.

THE "KNITIVITY" is also new this year, thanks to the busy team of knitters. They have created a nativity set to travel around the village, adopting a Mexican custom that is becoming popular in the UK.

The nativity will start its travels after the Christingle on December 2, visiting schools and 20 homes, travelling from place to place each evening. A short prayer is said at each house, led by the family who hosted the "Knitivity" the night before.

If you would like to welcome the "Knitivity" to your home, please call Gill Balister on 01276 858224.

Information about Christmas services and events and the Christingle are all on the Chobham Church website.

A new planning application for homes and offices on part of the old Ministry of Defence "tank factory" at Longcross are now with Runnymede and Surrey Heath Borough Councils.

The plans are for just 40 hectares of the site, now owned by Defence Evaluation & Research Agency (DERA), lying to the north of the M3 motorway at Chobham Lane.

Ultimately Runnymede Council would like to see a much extensive area of the old tank design and development facility, currently used as a industrial-business estate, taken out of green belt and used for housing. This scale of development would create a whole new village on the edge of Chobham Common.

The current plans by Crest Nicholson and Aviva Investors are for 80,000 sq metres of office space and up to 200 new homes, including affordable homes. Artists' impressions show ultra modern office buildings with the residential areas using architecture in more traditional style.

The co-developers already have planning permission for a bigger office-only scheme on this part of the site but they say their reasons for revising their original plans are to better fulfil local employment and housing needs and also to open up large parts of previously inaccessible land for public use. Between 4,000 and 5,000 are the numbers put on new jobs at the complex, which would be served by a revitalised Longcross Station and a promised bus service to other local towns and villages.

Chris Tinker, Crest Nicholson Regeneration Chairman and Operational Board Director said he had been delighted to see so many people from the local community at a public exhibition of the scheme in June."We have sought to incorporate their suggestions into our proposals where possible," he said.

Plans in detail

There was a good turn out and a robust but courteous debate when the candidates for the role of Surrey's first Police and Crime Commissioner gathered at Chobham Village Hall for an event organised by local county councillor Lavinia Sealy. The election is on November 15th.

The commissioners' job will be to hold the Chief Constable and the police service to account on the public's behalf. Each commissioner will oversee how crime is tackled in their area and ensure the police are providing a good service. The Surrey commissioner's role will include: meeting the public regularly to listen to their views on policing, setting out police priorities, deciding how the budget will be spent, and appointing - and if such a situation arose dismissing - the Chief Constable.

The new elected commissioners will replace the existing police authorities who have comprised a mix of county councillors and independent members.

Surrey's candidates (in alphabetical order) are:

• Robert Evans, a former MEP and headteacher, standing for Labour
• Kevin Hurley, former policeman, ex borough commander for Fulham and Hammersmith, standing as an independent
• Julie Iles, IT specialist, magistrate, served as chair of the South East Surrey youth panel, standing for the Conservatives
• Nick O'Shea, businessman, former Mole Valley district councillor, standing for the Liberal Democrats
• Robert Shatwell, former Woking police beat officer and ex-army, standing for UKIP
• Peter Williams, chairman of current Police Authority, magistrate and chief executive in the oil industry, standing as an independent

More about the candidates

About voting

Surrey Police Authority

Home made cake and coffee, soup and ploughman’s lunches will sustain shoppers at the St Lawrence Club Annual Sale on Saturday, November 3rd, 10.30 am to 2pm. This regular fixture in the village calendar, usually the first of the procession of winter fairs and bazaars, is affectionately still known as the “Old Folks” sale, although the club dropped that particular description a while ago, as today's generation of over-70s tend not to think of themselves as "old folks".

This long established group for seniors continues to meet fortnightly, in winter for sociable afternoons at the Parish Pavilion, and in summer winter for outings. Saturday’s sale is a vital source of income to fund all these activities and is an excellent place to find cakes and savouries, high class bric a brac, gifts, toys, books and plants.

Visit the club web page for more details.

The Four Horseshoes pub at Burrow Hill Green is open again for business after two weeks closure between leaseholders.

Formerly leased by Marstons from Scottish & Newcastle, the pub is being run until the new year for the brewery by Tony Leslie and Sue Hoyle, experienced landlords who are tasked with boosting business over the next couple of months. Trade had dipped after rumours of longer term closure, including a suggestion that this Chobham landmark was set to become a branch of Sainsbury's, which proved to be complete fiction.

Update: More Tesco applications for the old Evitavonni shop at Station Road now approved at Surrey Heath. Councillors have given permission for changes including new shop front, more parking spaces, plant and equipment and lowering boundary fence.

Update: Co-op tell us that they expect to get handover of their new store in Bagshot Road on 29th October with a target launch on Wednesday 12th December...although this is after the Chobham Christmas Festivities on the 7th they say they will be there on the night with mince pies and other nibbles!
According to Christopher Rowbotham in the News & Mail, the opening might be January rather than pre-Christmas. He'd been chatting to the manager Seamus Kearns.

Tesco has been granted an alcohol licence for its proposed new store in Station Road by Surrey Heath Borough Council's licensing sub-committee.

What Tesco said: 

Alcohol will be available Monday to Sunday, 6am to 11pm.
A member of management team will be on the premises whenever the store is open (their application said that "ordinarily" a manager would be on site all times - the sub committee asked for clarification on that fine point).

Chobham Rugby Club, Valley End Cricket First XI and paralympian Helen Turner, who lives in Chobham, were among winners of the Surrey Heath Sports Awards 2013, announced in October.

The Rugby crew were club of the year, the cricketers top team and basketball player Helen won in the disability category.