Following the public meeting held at the Phoenix Club on 2nd August, Tim Murphy who chaired the meeting, wrote to the Borough Planning Officer summarising the views expressed by residents. See the "Related Link" for a copy of his letter.
A public meeting on 2nd August was attended by upwards of 50 residents from the Lintons Lane area, concerned at development proposals for the Lintons Centre nearby.
Ward councillors have arranged a public meeting for Thursday 2nd August at 7.30 pm at the Phoenix Club: there was every indication that a planning officer and the planning applicants would attend.
A meeting of the Borough Council on Tuesday 24th July resulted in the first truly cross-party decision on the future of Epsom Hospital.
Residents' Party councillors voted themselves a huge increase in their allowances from August this year despite a move from the Lib Dem Opposition to limit the rise to inflation.
College Ward Councillor Julie Morris took nearly 1000 signatures from Epsom residents to Minister Hazel Blears's office on a wet and windy day recently. Local residents had signed Cllr Anna Jones' petition supporting the national Lib Dem "Hands off our Back Gardens" campaign, which seeks to reclassify back gardens as "green". Currently they are treated as brownfield sites and therefore available for redevelopment!
County Councillor Hazel Watson, leader of the Lib Dem group, criticised the Conservative administration on Surrey County Council for not pursuing a cross party approach to increasing government funding for the County Council.
At today's County Council meeting, Surrey's Liberal Democrats urged the Council to amend its draft waste plan prior to public consultation. This is because it prioritises incineration over other technologies and identifies a preferred site for thermal treatment instead of treating all identified sites on an equal basis. Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Cllr Sarah Di Caprio highlighted the flaws in the document "The Surrey Waste Plan - The Preferred Plan 2005", which the Conservative-run Executive voted last month to send out for a six-week public consultation starting October 31st.
Surrey's Liberal Democrat County Councillors have reacted strongly to the suggestion by Surrey County Council's Executive that the Clockhouse Brickworks in Capel be the preferred site for a large-scale waste treatment plant.
The Conservative administration at County Hall has announced that they will be hiring Consultants to carry out a financial review - less than one year after the Council completed the last review. The Liberal Democrat councillors on Surrey County Council are pressing the Conservative Administration to make savings in administrative costs, to make the County Council more efficient and to cut wasted spending.
At the meeting of Surrey County Council today, the Liberal Democrats put forward proposals to give Surrey's Local Committees control of youth services in their areas. This would have committed the Council to act on the recommendation from the Local Committees that there should be joint working with Boroughs and Districts on youth provision.
Liberal Democrat County Councillors tried at today's council meeting to ensure that priorities important to Surrey residents are included in the Council's formal list of priorities for the next four years. Hazel Watson, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on the County Council, said: "The Conservative administration's plans need to be clearer and more specific. Important priorities are missing from the Conservatives' plans."