Demolition gets under way
Demolition of the derelict Sefton Arms public house on the Longmead estate is due to get under way within days and will take about four weeks.
21 Mar 2009
News
Epsom and Ewell News
Upper High Street Development Site on the Agenda Again
Tesco, the owners, have applied to renew a planning permission which is due to expire shortly. It will be debated at the 16th April meeting of the Planning Committee.
12 Mar 2009
Epsom Hospital meeting disappoints
Anyone who attended the recent Town Hall meeting about Epsom Hospital, hoping to hear a clear statement about its future, came away disappointed. There was very little hard news - but at least none of it was bad.
8 Mar 2009
In praise of our council
It's not often that we, as the official opposition, commend our borough council, but in the case of the recent snow, the staff from Epsom & Ewell's Operational Services Department were positively heroic!
3 Mar 2009
Results of Court and Ruxley by-elections
The vacant seat in Ruxley ward was taken by the Conservatives with a margin of 201 over the RA. Labour took the seat in Court ward with a margin of 34 over the Lib Dems.
26 Feb 2009
Conservation Matters on the Hospital Cluster Sites
Next week an exhibition begins to appraise and consider management plans for the five hospital cluster Conservation Areas. These areas were created when three former hospitals were developed for residential housing, with two more due for development in the coming years.
23 Feb 2009
Surrey County Council News
At last - justice for Gurkhas
Reacting to the Government's announcement that all Gurkha veterans with four years' service would be allowed to move to the UK, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said he was "absolutely thrilled". The announcement follows a key House of Commons vote led by the Liberal Democrats that the Government lost. It outlined rules that will allow Gurkhas who retired before 1997 with four years service to settle here with their immediate families.
22 May 2009
Government confirms capping of Surrey Police
It has been announced that, subject to the approval of parliament, the Surrey Police Authority (SPA) will be capped. They will have to refund £1.6 million (about £3 on average per council tax payer) at a cost of a further £1.2 million for re-billing. The news broke just hours after the SPA had met in public last Tuesday, when the chairman Mr Peter Williams had said they were still awaiting the government's decision following representations made to ministers by the SPA.
18 May 2009
Pension Costs Increase as Deficit Deepens
The cost of the county council's pension fund to Surrey residents looks set to rise steeply. Last year it represented almost 5% of our council tax payments, but due to the fund's worsened deficit (almost 50%) this is likely to rise to over 8% by next year, according to figures obtained recently by Cllr Colin Taylor.
16 May 2009
County Hall Face-lift cost over £3 million
Figures obtained recently by Cllr David Goodwin show that the recent refurbishment of County Hall in Kingston, which also involved the costs of moving staff from one office to another, will total £3.123 million spread over 3 years.
15 May 2009
Children's Services - 'Not out of the woods yet'
Last year, Conservative dreams of seeing Surrey declared an 'excellent' County Council were shattered by Ofsted's shocking findings in the Joint Area Review. Vulnerable children were not safe in Surrey. By the Autumn the Secretary of State had given Surrey notice that it must carry out a demanding two-year improvement programme, meeting a rigorous series of targets, or risk having its services taken over.
14 May 2009
Bus service cuts coming
In this year's budget the Tories included bus service cuts as one of the ways of paying for a lower council tax increase than in previous years. More than 10% of the subsidy will be cut next year.
8 May 2009