Tories Under Attack
Epsom's Tory councillors were subjected to attack from all sides at a council meeting held on 28th April.
30 Apr 2009
News
Epsom and Ewell News
Key Council Plan gets only Luke-Warm Support
A key council strategy document, outlining the future vision and direction for a Sustainable Community in Epsom & Ewell failed to gain the support of no less than 15 members of the Borough Council at a meeting on 28th April.
30 Apr 2009
Lib Dems slam Government's Gurkha decision
The Liberal Democrats have slammed the Government's decision on Gurkha settlement rights is as another huge betrayal of the Gurkhas who have served our country. Gurkha campaigners are sickened by the Government's new policy of extending automatic citizenship rights to those who served 20 years. The normal period of service for the majority of Gurkhas was 15 years.
26 Apr 2009
Allotments Agreement Declared "Work in Progress"
After scores of complaints about the new tenancy agreement for allotments, the borough council has officially apologised for the mix up and agreed that the new agreement doesn't need to be signed for 2009.
25 Apr 2009
Council Postpones Public Meeting
At the eleventh hour and for no specific reason, the council has decided to postpone the Public Meeting arranged for 29th April. Lib Dem councillors did not agree with the decision.
25 Apr 2009
Public Meeting on Horton Chapel and Water Tower
When Horton Chapel and Horton Water Tower were saved from demolition during the building of the Livingstone Park estate in Epsom, local residents were consulted about its future. That first meeting was held five years ago!
11 Apr 2009
Surrey County Council News
Liberal Democrats Oppose County Council Cuts in Services
Liberal Democrat County Councillors have voiced their strong opposition to cuts in services by the Conservative administration. The Conservative run Cabinet has this Autumn decided to terminate all Pegasus school bus services in July 2010, to reduce the ordinary public bus services and reduce the number of roads to be gritted in winter in advance of ice and snow.
15 Dec 2009
Liberal Democrats welcome Tory U-turn on Incineration
For many years the Liberal Democrats have been arguing that there are better and safer modern green alternatives to mass burn incineration. The announcement by the Tories that they will abandon "energy from waste" (mass burn incineration) has finally recognised that the Lib Dem position has been correct all long. Apart from the environmental impact, mass burn incineration is known to discourage councils from recycling waste.
15 Dec 2009
Surrey County Council Rated "Adequate" by Audit Commission
The Audit Commission has today published a report rating Surrey County Council's performance as merely "adequate". The Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) rated the performance of the organisation with scores from 1 to 4 for managing performance, use of resources, managing finances, governing the business and managing resources. The County Council only achieved a score of 2 out of 4 which means that it meets only minimum requirements and only performs adequately.
9 Dec 2009
Surrey County Council fails again
The Care Quality Commission, the government agency in charge of assessing the quality of care available to vulnerable people, has rated the care services provided by Surrey County Council as "adequate" - the lowest rating awarded to Adult Services this year, shared only by another seven Councils in the country. According to their report, Surrey is still in need of special measures and the Council will be closely monitored by the Government to make sure services improve.
4 Dec 2009
Streetlighting Repairs
Surrey Highways are currently not repairing street lights except in the most urgent cases. A new PFI street lighting contract is expected to start early next year, which will involve replacing 80% of the existing lamp columns, so they are not spending money on repairing columns that will be replaced.
7 Nov 2009
Tories refuse to reconsider Pegasus School Buses
The Conservative Cabinet at County Hall have refused to reconsider their decision to axe the Pegasus school buses as from July 2010. The Tory administration is reneging on a decision made only last December 2008 to continue the service for at least two more years until July 2011. The Conservatives do one thing before the election and another thing after.
3 Nov 2009