Thank you to all who voted for her, and for the army of volunteers who put so much effort in.
The work starts now.
You can watch her gracious acceptance speech via this link.
It had been hoped that the controversial planning application to develop part of Priest Hill for housing might be considered at the next meeting of the Planning Committee on 9 March, but this has had to be deferred until the Planners receive all the information they require.
The Developers have now submitted their revised application and the plans should now be available for inspection on request at the Town Hall and at Bourne Hall. The revised application number is 05/01263/FUL.
This weekend the Epsom & Ewell Liberal Democrats have announced that Julie Morris will be their candidate for the Town ward by-election. The date of this by-election is not yet known, but is expected to be in late March. Lindsey Fisk, the retiring councillor, said: "I'd like to introduce our excellent candidate to you: Julie Morris was a councillor for nearly six years until she lost her seat by three votes in 2003. She is an experienced campaigner and utterly dedicated to the needs of local residents and to the well-being of our borough.Town ward will do no better than to elect Julie to serve alongside my colleagues Colin Taylor and Charles Wood."
A Community Services Task group has been set up to examine the work and development of Connexions. It is worrying that 40% of Surrey's resources for young people are already committed by the Tory administration to Connexions, yet another quango, and they are aiming for 80%. To make matters worse, we still do not know details of requirements for Connexions Centres, i.e. what is a Connexions Centre and how should it be planned? Also many operational issues are unresolved.
Surrey County Council's Conservative Executive has decided to press ahead with their cuts to bus services, contrary to the recommendation from the Council's own Transportation Select Committee and despite strong opposition from Surrey residents and the Liberal Democrats.
The Liberal Democrats are pressing for key worker housing initiatives to tackle the shortages of key workers such as teachers, social workers and youth workers, that adversely affect services to the public and increase costs to the Council, for example by increasing spending on agency staff. The shortages of key workers are worsened by the high property prices in the County.
Years of Conservative cuts have hollowed out the legal aid system, leaving millions without access to timely legal advice. Our new policy will legal aid a guaranteed right, ensure no one is left without help.
![New Homes [Image: Tim Prater]](/fileadmin/_processed_/0/a/csm_newhomes_23c101933f.jpg)
Millions of people are still trapped in England’s broken leasehold system. Our plan will end the leasehold rip-off, strengthen building safety, and give residents the control, fairness, and dignity they deserve in their own homes.
Hong Kongers living in the UK, and across the world, face an increasingly robust and alarming campaign of transnational repression from Beijing. Our new policy will protect pro-democracy activists and ensure this intimidation has no place in the UK.
