"We Will NEVER Consult Residents" says RA chairman

"We Will NEVER Consult Residents ..." - so said an RA committee chairman at a borough council meeting in response to a question from the Liberal Democrats about the government-backed "Over 60s Swimming" scheme which had not been taken up in Epsom & Ewell, unlike some other neighbouring boroughs.

The scheme would have cost £41,000 and with contributions from developers running into £000s in the bank, could have been supported by the council if the political will had been there. Cllr Colin Taylor had been concerned that neither residents nor most councillors had been consulted about "the council's" decision not to support the scheme.

A Lib Dem colleague asked the chairman: "Can he foresee a day when residents are consulted on individual proposals for expenditure of this kind, so that a council decision can be informed by public opinion?"

The response was: "We will never consult residents about spending on individual proposals because they could then blame us for an increase in council tax" - with a very definite emphasis on the "never"!

Cllr Taylor said "this was a quite shocking example of Residents' Party politics, which are largely reactive and without decisions being informed by public opinion".