Epsom Rotary Club and Ewell Rotary Club are working together with the borough council to stage a Fun Day on Saturday 29th September at Hook Road Arena to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Borough.
Following a public consultation exercise earlier in the year, a draft Development Brief has been prepared for the Upper High Street, Depot Road and Church Street development site. Comments are welcome until 5.00pm on Friday 13th July.
Surrey Police have now opened their new front counter in Epsom & Ewell Town Hall in The Parade. Their "Neighbourhood Policing" team for Epsom & Ewell are now also based there.
Epsom & Ewell's Energy Forum has arranged to collect unwanted tools on 12th May, between 2pm and 4pm, in the Town Hall car park. If you have any unwanted tools (saws, screwdrivers, planes, hammers, wrenches etc but not gardening or electric tools), now is the chance to look them out and give them a new lease of life for this very good cause.
On Friday we lost one of the borough's most famous and widely respected citizens. Well known everywhere not only as an outspoken Labour MP and as a tireless campaigner for the rights of the disabled and the least fortunate in society, Jack Ashley was also prominent locally as President of Epsom Hospital's League of Friends.
That's the question being posed by Liberal Democrat councillors to a meeting of the full Council on Tuesday 24th April.
Liberal Democrat county councillors in Surrey have expressed their concern over the removal of any mention of Cross Rail 2 from the Conservative manifesto in the forthcoming General Election, casting doubt over their commitment to the project. The proposed Crossrail 2 plans would connect north London to Surrey, with interchanges at rail routes through to Shepperton and Epsom, as well as linking up with Crossrail 1 stations in central London.
New rules that prevent councillors from funding street lighting, grit bins and highway schemes from their own local allocation budgets have been heavily criticised by Liberal Democrat County Councillors in Surrey. The rules, which were introduced by the Conservative-administration at the Annual General Meeting of the County Council held on 23rd May, prompted one Tory county councillor to speak out against their own Leader and several more abstained on a Liberal Democrat motion to drop the proposed change.
Liberal Democrat county councillors in Surrey have welcomed the news that the Conservative-administration at County Hall has finally agreed to scrap the 4 Cabinet Associate posts which have so far cost the tax payer nearly two hundred thousand pounds since they were introduced. Liberal Democrats have consistently called for these posts to be scrapped and for the money saved to be used on front line services, rather than on excessive allowances for Conservative county councillors. The roles that will end are:
Conservative councillor for Walton South, Christine Elmer leaves the Conservative Party and switches her allegiance to the Liberal Democrats Having spent 11 years working for the Conservatives, Walton South councillor Christine Elmer, has joined the Liberal Democrats party today. She announced her departure on Twitter saying:
Liberal Democrat county councillors have expressed their dismay at the news that Sajid Javid MP, the Conservative Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government, has delayed the pilot scheme that would have allowed Surrey County Council to retain 100% of its business rates next year. The Government had previously agreed to allow Surrey County Council to apply to become a pilot for the scheme in 2018/19 but the sudden announcement of a general election has meant that the parliamentary process to confirm this has been interrupted and the pilot scheme delayed.
Liberal Democrat councillors have welcomed the decision by Conservative-run Surrey County Council to cease the publication of its unpopular "Surrey Matters" magazine. The magazine, which has cost council tax payers over £1.2m since 2011, was axed following a meeting of the County Council's Cabinet at the end of March. The last edition was published in January 2017 and the cancellation will save the County Council approximately £250K a year.
