Town Ward Councillor slams Spending on Alleyway

Cllr Alison Kelly has criticised plans to spend £450,000 on an alleyway leading from the Town Hall car park to Epsom High Street.

In a letter to the press she exposed the "sledgehammer to crack a nut" policy of the ruling Residents' Party, who plan to spend near half a million pounds on an alleyway, when what's needed is new lighting and fencing, a drain unblocked and re-surfacing.

Cllr Kelly says that whilst the absence of lighting, the damaged fencing and poor surfacing in this alleyway is of great concern and most certainly needs dealing with, this alley like many others in the town has been subject to numerous requests to remove graffiti and pick litter. Some parts of the fence have been replaced recently leaving just four panels in a state of poor repair. She and her Liberal Democrat colleagues do not consider spending such a high proportion of the council's available capital (the borough council's capital budget is about £2.5 million annually) on one alleyway is sound financial management, particularly when the Audit Commission has stressed that the coming years will be financially challenging for the borough council.

When the time comes to agree the proposed budget for this alleyway the Lib Dem council group, with Cllr Kelly as spokesperson, is unlikely to consider that anything other than the necessary lighting, fencing and surfacing is justified.