Cllr Paul Kennedy, Liberal Democrat Candidate for Surrey's Police and Crime Commissioner, is urging residents to respond to the latest proposal by incumbent David Munro for a 5.54% increase in the police element of council tax, and is calling for better value for money for taxpayers.
This has been a Liberal Democrat project from day one
In our last Sunbury Common Focus - and in our web article - Liberal DemocratCouncillors Richard Dunn and Bernie Spoor reported that the Kenyngton Manor play area was no longer fit for purpose. This was after being contacted by residents who had formed a group to get this play area upgraded. They contacted Spelthorne Borough Council and obtained support from Neighbourhood Services to look at the area and obtain quotes to get the job done.
We can now report that work has started on the refurbishment and as the picture shows good progress is being made and once completed will give the local children another place to go and enjoy themselves in these very difficult times.
The Tory Leader of Spelthorne Borough Council has put out a press release about next year's Council Tax without any discussion with councillors. Despite being a minority group with only 16 out of 39 councillors, the Conservative Leader has announced what the new tax rate will be with no opportunity for scrutiny or consultation.
After the Tories split in June 2020, the new Leader promised that there would be cross-party working and a move away from the old regime, where no discussion at all was allowed. This was a recognition of the changed circumstances, but it appears that any attempt to follow through on the promise has now been abandoned.
The announcement was made the day before the Overview and Scrutiny Committee was due to consider opinions for the draft budget and thereby making the meeting a waste of time.
Cllr Lawrence Nichols, Chair of the Audit Committee said "It is really disappointing that the Conservatives see no value in proper scrutiny and are not prepared to listen to alternative opinions on the budget. This absolutely reinforces the need for the Council to move away from the Cabinet system to Committees where members will have a real say and this type of dictatorial behaviour will not be possible."
When Cllr. Richard Dunn learnt that developers had applied to add an extra two storeys & 28 flats to Oakhall Court in Oakhall Drive, he worked closely with local Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator, Alan Mockford, and immediately wrote to warn residents. His street letter was delivered to 250 local households in Oakhall Court, Oakhall Drive, Kinross Drive, Kinross Close, Cumbernauld Gardens, Groveley Road & King George's Close to advise them of how they might write to Spelthorne Council to register any comments and the legitimate grounds for objection. These included the lack of any off-street parking, loss of light & privacy and a building which would be totally out of keeping with neighbouring properties and a hundred letters of objection were subsequently received by the council.
Most importantly, concerned residents established that Oakhall Court had been built before 1948 and was therefore not exempt from planning application laws as the developer had falsely claimed.
Cllr. Dunn is delighted that the application has now been refused as records were found to support the claim that it was built before 1948. However, the developers could still apply again, with another planning application, so we must not drop our guard.
At the recent combined Runnymede and Spelthorne AGM, the motion to separate into two separate parties - Runnymede and Spelthorne - was passed. Subsequently, officers were elected for the Spelthorne Liberal Democrats as follows:
Email from Councillor Chris Bateson to Julie Iles OBE, Surrey County Council, Cabinet Member for All-Age Learning
Date: 3 January 2020
Subject:Surrey Schools return
Good afternoon
I am writing in a similar vein to my fellow councillor Tom Fidler from Sunbury, concerning the imminent return to school of schoolchildren tomorrow. Whilst the situation is of immense concern in Sunbury, similar circumstances prevail here in Ashford and Staines.
When we celebrated Christmas and New Year in 2019, we could not have predicated what was to come in 2020. This year has been very challenging for everyone and for Spelthorne Liberal Democrats Covid-19 has meant a different way of working, not only amongst your local Councillors, but also in May when a split in the local Tory party meant a new Leader was appointed to run the Council.
The many Opposition groups now outnumber the remaining Conservatives and local democracy has now become very different but with the possibility of making changes to policies. We also have a member of our own group - Lawrence Nichols - as Chairman of Audit and we are working to ensure that transparency and scrutiny takes place on issues that in the past we had no control over.
We have continued to remain active in the wards that we represent, whilst observing the restrictions that exist and our residents have kept us very busy with many problems which they have wanted us to resolve.
Want to walk off some of the Christmas excesses? We have Focus Newsletters that need delivering between Christmas and New Year and we'd be delighted if you can help at a time to suit you, although this is subject to any changes/clarification of Covid regulations
If interested, please call Chris Bateson on 07958 654204 to find out the latest
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In November at our AGM, a vote took place to separate Spelthorne and Runnymede local parties and we are now two groups. We will be keeping in close contact with our fellow Councillors in Runnymede and will continue to join forces to help one another out at election time. This meant the appointment of a new Chair for Spelthorne Liberal Democrats and we welcomed John Turner to take on this role which he will be starting in January 2021.
Elections in 2021
We look forward to welcoming in 2021 and the start of a New Year which will include campaigning for the upcoming Surrey County Council Elections in May. If you would like to get involved, in any capacity, we would be delighted to have your help.
Please contact either me, Sandra Dunn (01932 787854, councillordunn@aol.com) or our parliamentary spokesperson - David Campanale (07873 625396, redcampo@sky.com).
Best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year.
Keep safe.
Sandra Dunn Group Leader Spelthorne Liberal Democrats
The swimming pools at Sunbury Centre were closed earlier this year when a problem was identified with some of the pool tiles. The Council had to wait for the results of a full structural report to identify the cause of the problem but is now in the process of appointing contractors to carry out remedial work to safeguard this popular facility for many more years. The work is expected to be completed in the spring of next year and residents will be kept up to date with its progress.
