Why I left London

There was never any doubt in my mind that when I had a family I wanted my children to grow up outside of London. I didn't grow up in the Capital, I moved there after university and while an exciting place to live in my twenties I knew I wanted something safer, greener and cleaner in the next stage of my life. And in a big way I have not left the city behind as I commute there every day but when I get back to Hurst Green station I can walk home across the green.

Today's Evening Standard headline reminds me why I left. It is not particularly unusual but that is the point. Tragedies clearly happen everywhere but when I read that a 14 year old boy was stabbed to death for a dirty look it is clear to me that moving out of London was the right thing to do. Its not that any of us can guarantee that this will never happen in Oxted, but that it would be so unlikely as to be shocking. In London it is just another knife crime - tomorrow it will be forgotten - except of course by the friends and relatives of the victim. My prayers this evening are for his parents.

Another U Turn?

First in a desperate attempt it was the 10p tax, will it now be tax on fuel and cars?

I don't see how Gordon Brown can afford either politically or financially to give in this time - but at what cost? Politically if Brown can't stand up to the protesters then what chance will he have in getting the 42 day detention law through and if that also goes, then what credibility this government has left must surely follow. Financially after the £2.7bn attempt to buy votes in Crewe the Treasury cannot afford to lose even a penny more. However not giving in will surely hurt Brown's popularity even more. Whatever will the PM do?

All Quiet

While the national political scene is still coming to terms with the reality of Thursday night's by-election result in Crewe and what that means for a future general election result - merely a mid-term blip for Labour or the first win in a Tory landslide (in my opinion somewhere between the two) - life in Oxted and Hurst Green appears fairly quiet. Certainly my email inbox and postbag appear rather empty at the moment.

With the retirement of Dick Allen, our deputy leader, at the election the Tory Group now has a new deputy (current Council chairman Tony Elias). We also have some new chairmen of Committees, which are now all slightly smaller in size. Hopefully these changes will herald new ideas and more innovation as we all seek to make Tandridge an even more desirable place to live.

Annual Council

Annual Council last night went smoothly.

Cllr Tony Elias was elected as Chairman for the year and Cllr Glynis Whittle as Vice-Chair.

Although the number of Committees remain unchanged, their size was reduced in order to see whether smaller committees make for better decision making. I remain on the Planning and Environment Committee but have left Housing and and instead will be sitting on the Resources Committee.

Gordon Keymer, in his annual policy statement, suggested that after 8 yeears of Conservative control we were now shifting our focus. We have achived a well run and efficient council that has managed to keep frontline services intact despite the Government's poor funding settlement. It is now necessary to build on that and deliver even better front line services. Given the renewed resident interest in these areas, Planning and Waste Management will be particularly important in the comming year.

Ban the Bendy Bus

I saw with my own eyes yesterday evening, why Boris's policy to replace Bendy Buses with a new Routemaster is so necessary. While walking over London Bridge to get the train back to Oxted I saw that a Route 521 buss had managed to get a motor cycle wedged underneath its back wheels. There was no sign of the rider, but I hope he or she were OK.

These giant vehicles are just too large for London's narrow and congested streets. The sooner they are gone the better.

Crewe

We won and we won big.



The BBC this morning report that the 'Tories snatch Crewe'. I muct say I think that underplays the magnitude of the win. Turning a Labour Majority of 7000 into a Conserative one of nearly 8000 signals a clear change in the political tide. This is not just mid-term blues for Labour.

Holiday & Annual Council

Sorry for the lack of posts over the past 11 days- I have been away. A much needed post election break.

Still catching up with whats gone on locally, but Oxted and Hurst Green seems very much unchanged!

We have Annual Council on Thursday, which is mostly a formality involving the election of the Chairman and Vice Chairman for the year. However it also involves the adoption of a committee structure and the election of committee members for the forthcoming year and the appointment of Councillors to outside bodies on which the Council is represented - I for instance currently sit on the Executive Committee of the Hurst Green Community Association in addition to TDC's Housing and Planning and Environment Committees.

Most importantly, it includes the Annual Policy Statement - a sort of State of the Union Address by the Leader - and the Liberal Democrat leader's response. These speeches can set the tone for the forthcoming year.

Loss of Footpath between Hurst Green Station and Railway Footbridge

Hurst Green residents should be aware that Raven Housing trust have applied for permission to build 8 homes on what is now the Council owned garage and recycling area behind the parade of shops on Pollards Oak Road. It will also involve the loss of the green play area beside the Community Association Centre.

TDC does not have much spare land, so it makes sense to maximise the space available and balance the needs of residents. Therefore the loss of this facility, while inconveniencing some residents would, given the benefits, be acceptable but for one detail. Unfortunately the plan involves the blocking off an 'informal' footpath that runs between the the Station and the footbridge over to Nunappleton way. This access, I believe has existed for many years and a number of longstanding residents have told me it has been there ever since station was moved to its current location and is very well used.

Its loss will impact many many residents who will have to take a significant diversion to join the formal footpath. And blocking it off

I support fully the principle of building of social housing to meet the shortage in the district. I also support it on this site (and after voicing concerns over the detail voted as such in Housing Committee), but I do not support it as currently proposed.

I would like the Raven Housing Trust to reconsider blocking access to the footpath. If they do not I hope that either the Planning Officers or my colleagues on the Council's Development Control do not allow it in its current form.

Concerned residents should make their views known to TDC as soon as possible and by the 29th of May at the latest. I would also appreciate any feedback from local residents.

Surrey's Waste

Earlier this week Surrey County Council adoped a new Waste Plan to deal with all aspects of the 600,00 tonnes of municipal waste produced each year in Surrey.

Currently around 400,00 tonnes of this waste currently goes to landfill. The County hopes that by adopting the Waste Plan this figure will be much reduced and that by 2025 60% of all waste will be recycled. While in the long term it would be good to get the figure of waste recycled higher (or find some alternative to landfill) this looks to be an excellent start by the County.

To read the plan in full follow this link

What a 48 Hours

Boris as Mayor, Nationally a 44% share of the vote, 20% higher than Labour's disasterous showing and in Tandridge and another Conservative landslide.

A lot of commentators are now comparing Brown's position now to that of John Major in 1995 and I am inclined to agree. It is not clear how he could turn public opinion around to win in 2010 - 11 years of New Labour is enough, the country is ready for a change. Equally unless Labour implode in the next few weeks, Brown is unlikely to go (or be pushed) before 2010, so I think we are in for 2 years of a slowly dying government, without a mandate and without a vision for the country. It is a depressing prospect.

But for residents in Tandridge, London, North Tyneside, Bury and Vale of Glamorgan can draw some comfort that they have local Conservative administrations working hard to make the best of the situation and make up for a lack of national vision

Oxted South Election Result

Marjory Broughton - Labour - 237
Michaela O'Brien - Green - 94
LIZ PARKER - Conservative - 1196 ELECTED
Tony Stone - UKIP - 203
Robert Wingate - Lib Dem - 420

Majority 776 (up from my 249 last year)

Overall Labour have been smashed in Tandridge, coming third (with around a 1/3rd of last years vote) in Oxted South, and 4th place in Valley.

4 Seats changed hands in Tandridge with 2 net gains for the Conservative Party

Valley - where Peter Longhurst (Ind, formerly Lab) lost to a Conservative
Queens Park - a Lib Dem seat went Tory
Warlingham East - Jeremy Pursehouse (lib Dem) Lost to a Tory
Westway - Tory seat went Lib Dem

Council is now 33 Conservative, 8 Lib Dem & 1 Independent.

And now off to bed...

Vote Conservative, Vote Parker, Vote Boris!

The campaigning is nearly over as decision time is upon us.

I would vote all voters wherever they are in the UK to vote Conservative for a Greener, Cleaner and Safer local authorities.

I will report the results from Oxted South later tonight/tomorrow morning, but I beleive we will have to wait until Friday evening to hear whether Boris has done it.