Council lends its support to Fairtrade campaign
At a full Council meeting on Tuesday 11 December, Members agreed to back the Fairtrade campaign and meet set requirements laid down by the national Fairtrade Foundation.
27 Dec 2007
News
Epsom and Ewell News
Upper High Street Appeal Withdrawn
The long-running saga of the proposed supermarket in the Upper High Street appears to be drawing to a close. Until this week the appeal by the developers against the council's refusal of planning permission was expected to be heard in February. However they have apparently decided to withdraw their appeal.
23 Nov 2007
Councillor Surgery moves Closer to Home
Court Ward's new Lib Dem councillors are bringing their advice surgeries to the Longmead Centre in Sefton Road. The first surgery will be held on Saturday 8th December between 10.00 am and midday. The surgery is free and no appointment is necessary. The December surgery provides an opportunity for local residents to talk about the Hollymoor Lane redevelopment for which the borough council has now received a formal planning application.
19 Nov 2007
Young People are a Priority
Epsom & Ewell Borough Council has agreed that providing facilities for young people, specifically 11 - 19 year olds, should be a priority over the next few years in local recreation grounds. The proposal, put forward by the Lib Dems at October's meeting of the Leisure Committee, will be taken forward by the council.
8 Nov 2007
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.
1 Nov 2007
Epsom & Ewell proposes Fortnightly Rubbish Collections (but it's not bad news!)
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.
1 Nov 2007
Surrey County Council News
Tories plan to close six libraries
As part of the BDR review ordered by SCC's Tory executive - and endorsed at a council meeting with only the Lib Dems voting against - there are plans to close six libraries in order to ensure that SCC hits government CPA targets for the ones that will remain open.The libraries that are proposed for closure are:
2 Feb 2006
Liberal Democrats Oppose Cuts in Services
At the County Council meeting today the Liberal Democrats opposed proposals to cut services. The proposals were made in a report prepared by consultants for the Business Delivery Review commissioned by the Conservative administration to find £50 million of savings in County Council expenditure. Councillor Hazel Watson, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Surrey County Council said: "This Review was supposed to identify savings without cutting frontline services. Unfortunately it has failed. The proposals include closing 15 youth centres and 6 libraries as well as cutting bus services. On top of this, the proposals drastically reduce the number of highways staff, which is likely to worsen the ability of highways to deal with problems promptly.
24 Jan 2006
Executive decides not to proceed with new County Hall
Surrey County Council's Executive have decided not to proceed with its PFI contract plans to build a new County Hall in Brewery Road, Woking. They announced this last week, but without revealing which other alternative they want to pursue instead. As a result of questions by County Councillor John Doran (Woking, Horsell) at this week's Council meeting it emerged that the Executive have not yet agreed how best to proceed and an announcement about the future should not be expected for some time.
24 Jan 2006
Liberal Democrats call for limit to Minerals Extraction
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.
6 Dec 2005
The education white paper - not only flawed, but dangerous.
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?
CCEO
29 Nov 2005
The Education White Paper: Higher standards - yes! Better Schools for All - great! But - (There always has to be a but …)
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.
CCDS
29 Nov 2005