Lib Dems champion a Climate Change Fund
Lib Dem councillors Nigel Pavey and David Buxton have been successful in persuading the Borough Council to look at the benefits of putting money aside into a Climate Change Fund.
Lib Dem councillors Nigel Pavey and David Buxton have been successful in persuading the Borough Council to look at the benefits of putting money aside into a Climate Change Fund.
A meeting of the Borough Council's Environment Committee on 31st October agreed, in principle, to begin fortnightly collections of all recyclable materials and residual waste from spring 2009, but only after a Borough-wide consultation has taken place. The proposals will be further discussed at a meeting of the whole council in December.
Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council have called on the Council to respond much more quickly to enquiries and complaints.
Lib Dem councillors have asked the Local Committee to re-visit parking problems for local residents in and around Epsom town centre.
Lib Dem councillor Alison Kelly has written to all the haulage companies operating out of the Chalk Pit in College Road, asking them to observe speed limits and make sure their loads are secure early in the morning.
Several controversial planning applications were discussed at the Planning Committee meeting on 6th September.
Hazel Watson, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council, has called for the Council to reduce the level of mineral extraction in the County over the next decade. The County Council's Conservative Executive has determined that the level of minerals extraction should be set at 2.24 million tonnes annually. The Liberal Democrats believe that this is too high.
This white paper is not only flawed, it is also dangerous - dangerous to the health of our education system and dangerous to our children's education. An admissions "free for all" will cause widespread segregation and unequal educational opportunity. Please note our two Labour councillors - unequal educational opportunity! I think you will agree that these are not traditional Labour values - but there again this is New Labour isn't it?
The Government's new Education white paper is a massive document, with a great many proposals in. I guess only Paul Gray and the Executive member at this point could give an indication of the work that will go on to form a detailed response, and the length of time this will take. It's a paper that's full of ideas and ideology. There's a quite a way to go in terms of legislation and setting up the new systems, and a lot of decisions still to be made. In putting forward this motion, we have chosen to focus on three areas of concern, which - in educationspeak - will be particularly challenging to Surrey and may lead to undesirable outcomes.
At the Council Meeting Surrey's Lib Dem Councillors proposed a motion calling on the County Council to reject a number of key elements of the White Paper. Liberal Democrat Schools Spokeswoman, County Councillor Diana Smith said, "There are some very bad ideas in this white paper. Ideas that, if implemented, could do real damage to Surrey's schools."
County Councillor Hazel Watson, leader of the Lib Dem group, criticised the Conservative administration on Surrey County Council for not pursuing a cross party approach to increasing government funding for the County Council.
At today's County Council meeting, Surrey's Liberal Democrats urged the Council to amend its draft waste plan prior to public consultation. This is because it prioritises incineration over other technologies and identifies a preferred site for thermal treatment instead of treating all identified sites on an equal basis. Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Cllr Sarah Di Caprio highlighted the flaws in the document "The Surrey Waste Plan - The Preferred Plan 2005", which the Conservative-run Executive voted last month to send out for a six-week public consultation starting October 31st.