Plastic Recycling is Coming to Oxted and Hurst Green

I am happy to announce that it looks like one of the pledges I made in my election address is shortly to be fulfilled. The Community Services committee is due to meet next Thursday to endorse the decision to extend the weekly recycling scheme, which has been operating in Warlingham and Lingfield (including for plastics) over the past two years to Hurst Green and Oxted.

In parts of the District where weekly recycling already occurs the proportion of households participating has risen from 55% to 75% and so this is a major step forward. This decision will make it even easier for Oxted South residents to reduce the amount of their waste going to landfill.

Telehone Mast To Go Ahead

Despite representations from my fellow war member Liz Parker and myself, the Councillors sitting on the Development Control committee could not be persuaded that siting another mast on Greenhurst Lane was sufficiently detrimental to the local area for them to object to the permitted development. This will now go ahead.

I think this is a great shame as it shows a lack of willingness among the mobile phone operators to mast share in order to minimise the impact of their admittedly necessary developments on local communities. I only hope we have more success in future.

Education & Crime

The Times reported today that the Government's £3 billion series of policies designed to boost the achievements of pre-school children has had no effect on the development levels of those entering primary school. Although there have been big changes in early years education, children’s vocabulary and their ability to count and to recognise letters, shapes and rhymes are no different now than they were six years ago.

I was particularly sad to note that this included the Sure Start Scheme, which is aimed at increasing the educational achievements of those in deprived areas. The tragic murder of Rhys Jones, shows just how important it is to improve the achievements and aspirations of young people living in deprived inner city areas. As a country we need to be tough on crime, tough on criminals, and be tough on its causes - poor educational achievement, indiscipline in schools, family breakdown, welfare dependency & gang culture. And to do this we need to take a long term approach and be honest that it may take a generation to fix.

Carton Recycling

More good news on the recycling front: TDC have annouced a new drinks carton recycling to give residents the opportunity to recycle even more of their household rubbish. While the cartons are at present excluded from the Green Box scheme they can now be dropped off at a special bin in Ellice Road Car Park

Each year, UK beverage carton manufacturers produce approximately 55,000 tonnes of paper-based cartons for milk, juice, sauces and other liquid foods/drinks. This equates to around 2.3kg of cartons per household which could be recycled instead of thrown in the rubbish bin. In response, Tandridge District Council is working with Tetra Pak and the Alliance for Beverage Carton and the Environment (ACE UK) to establish carton collection points. Once collected they are taken away to be baled and then transported to a recycling mill. They are recycled into a number of different products, ranging from plasterboard liner to high-strength paper bags and envelopes.

Leisure Centre Update - Pool to reopen by end of August

Tandridge Leisure have annouced that they are aiming to reopen the pool at the end of this week following the completion of all temporary repair work. Permanent repair work on the pool will be undertaken over the next 2-3 months and this is expected to cause very little disruption to service as it can be done overnight, however we are anticipating a very short closure period prior to completion of works. For full details see their website.

Scandal of Adoption Targets

I blogged last month about two children being forcibly adopted when parents were wrongly suspected of abuse. As a father, that case made my blood run cold.

Today's Times carry's an even more worrying report alleging that there are more than 100 of these 'wrongful adoption' cases every month and it appears that Government targets are to blame. Each year some 1,300 babies under a month old are placed in care before adoption, compared with 500 when the Government came to power.

The worst thing about all this is that the Courts will not reverse cases where children are wrongfully adopted, even when social services admit they have made a mistake. This should just not happen in a civilised society. Government needs to act to change this.

NHS madness

The recent debate about which Hospitals may or may not be under threat has drawn attention away from the issue. That is that while creating regional centres of excellence may make sense for the treatment of ailments that do not require an emergency response, but to do the same for Accident and Emergency and Maternity services is madness.

In Oxted, we used to have a local district hospital but now, in common with vast swathes of East Surrey and Mid Sussex, the nearest A&E is in Redhill. Now if traffic is fine (ie no problem on the nearby M25) then the journey will take around 20-25 minutes, but when problems flare up (which they do frequently) then the journey will take much much longer. In a life threatening situation where every minute counts, this is just too far and when combined with the withdrawal of locally based out of hours GP cover then it really does increase the risk that residents will not receive vital treatment in time.

What we need is a return to locally based care. As a first step the Government could at least reassure us that existing provision (like Worthing Hospital, which was recently rebuilt at a huge cost) will not be closed in some bureaucratically dictated move to centralise 'care'.

August Police Neighbourhood Panel Meeting

Last Thursday I attended the bi-monthly Surrey Police Neighbourhood Panel in Hurst Green. Luckily crime rates in Surrey are low but some localised anti-social behaviour by a small minority can make life a misery for some. The Police response to some incidents on Pollards Oak Road were discussed and the Neighbourhood Policing team committed to keep an eye on gatherings of sometimes large groups of teenagers on Holland and Hurst Green Roads.

However perhaps the topic that most concerned those present was one which isn't really the responsibility of the Police, that of the increasing number of very large continental European HGV lorries using Woodhurst lane to access the Fairview industrial estate on Holland Road. Quite often this results in blockages on the road and dangerous debris being knocked off the overhanging trees, which residents are having to remove from the road to prevent an accident occurring. According to some of those present there used to be signage on the A25 instructing lorries to use Wolfs Hill as the appropriate access Hurst Green and those at the meeting felt it would be beneficial if these were restored.

All these points will be followed up and the Police will report back at the next Panel Meeting in October.

Startling Facts about Quangos

Did you know that there are 883 executive agencies, monitoring bodies and advisory groups funded by central government? 200 of these have been created in the last two years. Now for the staggering fact - they cost £168bn a year to run (up from a 'mere' £24bn in 1998 - £30bn in 2007 money) and £127bn of that comes directly from tax revenues.

While I am sure most are beneficial to society, it is questionable whether the likes of the Milk Development Council, the Tote or Design Council etc need to be funded at all by the taxpayer (or if they do to such an extent).

If Government were to only half the amount spent (to £84bn - which would still be more than 2 1/2 times spent when they came to office) they could abolish VAT and still have some left over for inheritance tax!

Ajax Update

Regular readers may remember I blogged some months ago about the fire at the former Ajax Factory in Hurst Green.

While Police investigations into the fire continue, the new owners of the site have submitted a planning application to redevelop it. Instead of another factory, a mixed development is proposed with a Nursing Home, medical (dental of veterinary) facility, offices and some small light industry/warehouse units being planned. The developers also plan to re-site the access road to make it easier for lorries to access without blocking the whole of Holland Road.

My first reaction is that this is a positive development for Hurst Green as it will hopefully provide employment opportunities without a step increase in heavy goods vehicle using the Woodhurst Lane/Hurst Green Road/Holland Road route. However I would be interested in views from local residents. To view the plans see Tandridge District Council's Planning Interactive website. The application number is 2007/1142.

Mobile Mast Madness

T mobile have applied for a mobile phone mast on Hurstlands, on the bridge by Hurst Green Station. Now I don't dispute that coverage for that network needs to be improved, or that from a technical perspective that Hurstlands is a good site. But there are already three mobile phone masts (plus a Network Rail mast) on that same site.

Government policy is for mobile operators to mast share where that is practical. In this case T mobile claim it is not, but this to me shows a lack of imagination. A fourth mast will start to make that area look very congested.

Oxted South residents have until 30 August to make their views know to the Council's Planning department.

BBC Bias

I have always regarded stories that the BBC is biased with a large pinch of salt, but I think the corporations behaviour over the past few days does demonstrate a subconscious tendency to be hostile to 'right wing' political positions. For the BBC right wing appears to be a term of abuse, at best an uncaring attitude to society, with at worst imagery of neo nazis brought to mind. They never however seem to equate left wing with the equally abhorrent extremes, such as Zimbabwe's current government or China's poor human rights record.

The idea that an in depth study taking a couple of years should be headlined a way which the story is seen purely through the prism of a Government Ministers groundless attack that the Conservative party has lurched to the right and then illustrated with a 14 year old picture of a politician's most embarrassing public moment indicates where some news editors affiliations lie.

And for a Blue Peter presenter to share a podium with Ken Livingstone also shows a lack of judgement (albeit on her part and not the BBC management's).

Update on Tandridge Leisure Centre

It looks like the Leisure Centre (excluding the pool) will be back open tomorrow, as two temporary generators have now been put in place, with the Pool reopening in the near future once some essential repairs have taken place. For full details - see the Tandridge Leisure website.

Yes to Scottish Vote on Independence.

As a good Conservative and Unionist I am a strong supporter of the United Kingdom, however as a localist I support local people making decisions on local issues.

Therefore I think it is fully right and proper if the Scots want to have a referendum on independence that they should have one, albeit one I would hope that results in a vote for a continued UK. I am also very open to the Scots being given even more power to decide on domestic issues, with one rather large caveat, that the same powers be given to English voters.

The current position is fundamentally undemocratic, with Scottish MPs being able to vote on English issues, but not vice versa. Devolution to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales opens up the possibility of moving to a much more federated structure, although there is no need to create even more elected posts. Similar powers in England should be given to the Cities and Counties where feasible and to English MPs where not.

End State Sponsored Childhood Obesity

Currently the growth charts used to plot how babies are developing are based upon bottle fed babies. Bottle fed babies tend to put on weight a lot quicker than their breast fed counterparts. Therefore the average baby should actually weighs less than the chart shows. However given it doesn't and given the natural urge amongst parents to have a 'normal' baby - whatever one of those is, then some mothers are pressured to give up breast feeding and those who are bottle feeding may try to feed their baby up.

Clearly being overweight from the word go isn't going to help prevent obesity as the children get older. Therefore it is encouraging that new WHO charts have been backed in a report by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. I hope the government takes this on board and an early switch to these new charts occurs.

Tandridge Leisure Centre Update

While some of the centre may be open again by early next week it looks like the swimming pool may be out of action for some time. For more details see the Tandridge Leisure website.

Its at least some comfort that the de Stafford pool in Caterham has recently reopened, but the timing of this closure in the middle of the school holidays couldn't be worse.

Breaking News - Tandridge Leisure Centre

I've been informed that Tandridge Leisure Centre is closed and coordoned off this morning. I will update this Blog when I know more as to why and when it will reopen.

10am Update: There has been a small electrical fire in the plant room at Tandridge Leisure Centre in Oxted which has been extinguished and no-one was hurt. As a result all the electrics are down, so the centre is closed today. Tandridge Leisure are hoping to provide more information following a meeting at 12pm today.

Popes Lane

A number of residents have contacted me about the poor state of Popes Lane road surface. This problem has been rumbling on for some time but my fellow ward councillors (as well as local County Councillors) have been keeping up pressure on the County Council and their contractor Carrillion. They have committed to making it good, we are now waiting for it to happen, though two deadlines have now been missed due to the poor weather in July.

In response to a question from a County Councillor Surrey Council Officers have given this explanation:

'Popes Lane and Fairchildes Road (which is suffering from a smiliar problem) are relatively lightly trafficked rural roads that had poor road profile and SCC considered them ideal for the retread process which has been used successfully in Surrey and across the country generally. The roads were 'retreaded' during March 2006, within the right weather conditions but quickly it became apparent that "fat" excess bitumen binder was present on the finished surface. This was creating a slippery surface for road users. SCC asked for a dressing of stone chips to absorb the excess binder and create a good surface for vehicle to break safely.
However, in the last few months it is clear that the issue has re-occurred and that the 'retread' process has not worked at these two sites. A new brief is currently being prepared for the sites. Alongside this we are going to commission an independent review to understand what has happened to date and what we need to learn for the future. Staff are also reviewing the need for any potential road closures and what can be done to minimise the problems in the short term'.

Where's our Referendum

William Hague has today published a plain english guide to the new EU treaty which shows that it is just a reworked version of the constitution going under another name. Its worth a quick look, to do so click here.

Labour promised a referendum in their 2005 manifesto. Why won't they let us have one now?

House Price Boom?

This morning's press were reporting analysis carried out on behalf of the National Housing Federation (a social housing pressure group) that unless the government's promised 70,000 new social homes are built a year prices could rise by 40% by 2012, (the average home would cost £393,000) in Southern England.

Now, I strongly support the idea we need new social housing, but where it is needed and I do not think that central Government is best placed to tell us where. One key fact that often appears to be overlooked in this debate is that we are not looking at one housing market, but many - one bedroom flats are not likely to be appropriate in rural farmland, nor 5 bed houses in city centres.

Not all homes are the same and not all areas need the same mix of homes. But the effect of the Government's central planning (of the type the Soviet Union used to employ) has been to define targets for local areas. This is a a highly bureaucratic and undemocratic process. Please Mr Brown give power to local people to determine what is needed in their communities.

While on the housing topic, as of last Wednesday HIPS, are now mandatory for four bedroom houses. I doubt there can be many more over engineered, expensive, ineffective and bureaucratic solutions than this.

They
1 will not tackle gazumping
2 will destabilise the housing market
3 are not comprehensive enough to be trusted by buyers
4 are gold plating an EU regulation
5 are avoidable by clever marketing ( claiming you have 3 bedrooms plus a study/spare room)
6 are a way for Government to revalue Council Tax liability by stealth.

Summer is here

At least for the next day or so. Having packed the car full of waterproofs for the journey to the Lake District it was great not to have to make much use of them, so I have returned after a relaxing and spiritually refreshing time (or as relaxing a time you can have with a two year old and a two month old) in Keswick, including a slightly sporadic attendance at the Keswick Convention .

However, it is worrying to see that the threat of Foot and Mouth has returned to Surrey. Hopefully the authorities have caught it in time to stop it spreading; but it is sure to come as yet another blow for livestock farmers following the problems caused by BSE in the 1990s and Foot and Mouth in 2001.