Your monthly update from your local LibDem councillors - covering October 2022

Dear friends, welcome to our latest update on local (and some wider) news covering October 2022.

We also want to share with you the news that we have selected a wonderful candidate in Helen Maguire to fight the next General Election against Failing Grayling. We don't think Gina Miller's candidature will really come to much. You can read our Press Release about Helen here.

Council & Borough updates:

• There is continued failure to make meaningful progress with our Climate Change action plan, and to hold those responsible to account. We still don't have benchmark figures on our emissions to track progress. More hot air seems to be spent debating process and protocol rather than getting on with actions to reduce our emissions.
• At a recent Planning Committee, approval was given for a Care Home on the old Organ Inn site (London Road/Kingston Road junction opposite the Honda garage), while decisions around Hobbledown Children's Farm were deferred pending more information on flood risk.
• The Council has received "offers" from local landowners on what sites could be put forward for development as part of the forthcoming Local Plan. We have said that the future of the Chalk Pit needs to be considered as part of that Plan. Public consultation on the potential sites is planned to start during November.
• ALDI are coming back to try and develop on the old diary site on Alexandra Road. Nothing public just yet but the previous application was rejected even after appeal in 2017, details We will keep you updated but worth reading the Inspector's previous reasons for refusal here.
• Good Company, the charity that runs the local Foodbank and Your Pantry, is looking for new Trustees. They are particularly interested in those that have: Lived experience of poverty, Legal sector experience, HR experience or Charity development experience. If you are interested contact Jonathan Lees, Managing Director & Founder on 07878 378946
• Liberal Democrat-run Eastleigh Council has just won 'Council of the Year' in the Association for Public Service Excellence's 2022 awards. If you want to help Epsom & Ewell achieve that standard, we need more LibDem councillors to win at the next elections in May 2023 - contact Julie or David for more information and to see how you can "make a difference".

County and other local news:

• The Conservative run Surrey County Council (SCC) has unilaterally decided to scrap the "Local Committees" which were forums for residents and Borough Councillors to raise issues directly with SCC officers about highways and schools (which are SCC responsibilities).
• SCC will launch a public consultation on 3 November around reducing the bus service E9 and E10 - details should be on their website.

National issues:

• We had a fun Quiz evening this month. Julie is already collecting some questions for next year's event including "name all the Tory Chancellors during 2022" ! Naming all the Education Secretaries would be just too hard.
• Last month we mentioned the then Tory PM's plans to force through fracking. We doubt it was just due to our anti-fracking leafleting and petition outside Metro Bank on Saturday 22^nd, but the current Tory PM has now shelved those fracking plans.
• The Public Order Bill continues to make its horrific progress through Parliament. Even a Tory-lead Select Committee is concerned, saying: "This latest raft of measures is likely to have a chilling effect on the right to protest in England and Wales. They threaten the overall balance struck between respect for the right to protest and protecting other parts of the public from disruption. The Bill also risks damaging the UK's reputation and encouraging other nations who wish to crack down on peaceful protest."
• It is worth reminding everyone that the internal arguments in the Tory party, and many of our economic problems, can be traced back to the Brexit campaign and its consequences. Dogma has replaced sound analysis and as a result the UK's GDP is now only 70% that of Germany whereas it was 94% back in 2016 (Source: Mark Carney).
• But to end on a mildly positive note, in addition to changes in our behaviour, science has to play a key role in fighting climate change and environmental degradation so it was interesting to read this article about how some enzymes can be used to break down plastics.

Our monthly podcast recommendation:

During the farce that was the latest Tory leadership selection, and the their in-fighting that is still going on, David found The News Agents podcast with Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall a good listen.

Julie and David

Sunday 30^th October 2022

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