Christmas Lights have now gone up in Epsom's High Street. They are generally similar to those displayed last year. However the familiarity of the scene masks the efforts that have gone on so that shoppers in Epsom can enjoy the spectacle.
There was a good turn-out at the Public Meeting on Monday 30th November organised by Epsom's Lib Dems. Local residents were given an opportunity to exchange views on the redevelopment proposals for Epsom Station. The planning application still hasn't been registered by Epsom & Ewell Borough Council, who are understood to be calling for clearer drawings to be supplied.
Epsom & Ewell's Business Partnership Board (BPB) wants more input from local businesses, especially when it comes to recycling and planning issues.
Following the Public Meeting held at the Phoenix Club about Tesco's planning application to develop a new store in the Upper High Street, the meeting chairman Paul Linscott wrote to the Planning Department to pass on the main comments made at the meeting by members of the public. The text of his letter has now been posted on this website.
It has now been announced that the council will not after all be able to decide on Tesco's application to develop a new store in the Upper High Street at the December 10 meeting of the Planning Committee. Instead it will be decided at their meeting on 21 January 2010. It is understood that more time is needed because of the complexity of the application and to get replies from the other official bodies that the council needs to consult.
A formal planning application for redevelopment of the Epsom Station area has been received by the council and should be validated by Monday 30th November. Epsom & Ewell Lib Dems host a public meeting to discuss the proposals on the same day : meet at Phoenix Club (behind the Odeon Cinema) at 7.30 pm.
News that the use of rat poison by businesses and householders is to be protected in an EU regulation has been welcomed.
South-East England Lib Dem MEP Sharon Bowles participated in the Soroptimist International Conference on Human Trafficking, held recently in Leatherhead. The event was designed to raise awareness of trafficking and promote social justice.
Adding to her growing list of plaudits, local Lib Dem MEP Sharon Bowles has been named the most influential woman in world finance in the FCI's Top 500 list, published this month.
Next May there is a nationwide Referendum on changing the way we vote. Most people have little idea of how this voting system differs from the one we use at present which is called First-Past-The-Post.
Tributes have been paid to Sir Cyril Smith, former Lib Dem MP for Rochdale, who died on Friday. Party Leader Nick Clegg said "Cyril Smith was a larger-than-life character and one of the most recognisable and likeable politicians of his day. He was a true Liberal, dedicated to his constituency, always showing great passion and determination. Cyril was a colourful politician who kept the flame of Liberalism alive when the party was much smaller than it is today."
The Coalition Government has announced a Pupil Premium to target extra money at schools taking disadvantaged pupils. The proposed Pupil Premium would provide additional per pupil funding on top of the existing funding provided to schools. Schools will be free to spend the additional funding as they choose to raise the achievement of disadvantage pupils. This was a key manifesto commitment and one that Nick Clegg made clear was one of his absolute priorities.
