Thursday night saw the meeting of the Annual Parish Assembly to review life in Oxted (North and South) over the previous 12 months.
In attendance, at the new Oxted Community Hall, were the leaders of Tandridge and Surrey County Councils, the Vice Chairman of TDC, all 6 ward Councillors, 11 of the 12 Parish Councillors and even a couple of members of the public!
The keynote speeches were given by Bob Evans, Director of Planning at TDC and Lesley Robinson, Manager of the Oxted CAB.
The conclusion was that apart from a lack of long-term parking in Oxted residents were broadly happy with life. The contribution from Mrs Robinson was the most concerning. She stated that debt is the biggest issue the CAB faces with an increasing number of cases, including very worryingly amongst Pensioners, going to bankruptcy. A lot of their other issues (divorce, unemplyment, illness) relate in some way to debt. Apparently the situation is now as bad as the early 1990s. More evidence that tough times could be on their way.
