Epsom & Ewell Liberal Democrats are bringing the "Hands off our Back Gardens" campaign to Epsom High Street on 17th and 18th March. Members of the public will be invited to sign a petition which will back the Lib Dem's Bill in Parliament. They will also be given a "Hands off our Back Gardens" poster to display at home.
Liberal Democrats take issue with Cllr Natalie Rogers' recent statement that there is a "successful, multi-party, Epsom Hospital Campaign group".
Leader of the opposition on Epsom & Ewell Borough Council, Liberal Democrat Cllr Jonathan Lees, attacked the budget presented by the ruling Residents' Party at a council meeting on Tuesday 20th February.
The Conservatives are distributing leaflets which blame the Lib Dems and the Residents' Party for the state of the borough's roads.
Epsom Liberal Democrats are campaigning to stop waste from other boroughs being brought to the transfer station in Blenheim Road. They have asked SITA (the waste company employed by Surrey County Council) to find a different route for the huge Britaniacrest lorries to use instead of Hook Road and Epsom town centre.
When Liberal Democrat councillors proposed that local residents should be permitted to ask questions at meetings of the whole council, they were voted down.
"The Adult and Community Care Committee kept hearing about poor service caused by staffing problems," explains County Councillor Diana Smith. "So it set up a task group to look at recruitment and retention. Proper statistics were hard to come by. We eventually got figures for the reported high vacancy rates in 'front line' teams, from 18% among the essential home based care staff to 31% of highly-skilled occupational therapists. We heard of one team of occupational therapists entirely consisting of stand-ins.
Surrey County Council is planning authority for minerals and waste, and it is disposal authority for waste too. Quite confusing! In the old days Surrey would have plans for these topics. The final stage in plan preparation was the deposit draft, which would be examined in public by an Inspector. The Inspector's recommendations would be considered by the Council, who would adopt the final plan to come into force.
The Conservative administration has recently decided that potholes with a depth of less than 4 centimetres will not be treated as a high priority to be repaired within 24 hours. This latest decision is an admission that the Conservative administration cannot cope with the necessary road repairs.
At a recent County Council meeting, the Conservative majority on the County opposed the proposal by the Liberal Democrats that Surrey County Council youth centres should be more fully used to provide safe places for young people to meet.
Bus services in Surrey are so poor under the current Tory administration at Surrey County Council, that last year 2 out of every 3 residents were unhappy with the their record, according to a recent survey.
Attempts by Surrey Tories to undermine the defence of the Green Belt have been blocked, in part by some of their own party who voted with Lib Dems and Environmentalists to strengthen opposition to Green Belt development in the South East Region.
