I have been a Councillor since 2002 and it seemed worthwhile to put down a few thoughts so readers of Thames Ditton Today can understand a little better what their Councillors actually do. When I was "volunteered" I was probably like most of the local electorate; I knew a bit about the Residents' Association and much of the valuable work it undertakes on behalf of all residents but I did not fully appreciate the split in responsibilities between Elmbridge Council and Surrey County Council and the resulting "battles" which are necessary to get even fairly mundane tasks undertaken.
However, since "taking up office" I have been amazed at the range of Elmbridge's responsibilities, along with the sheer dedication of the Council staff and huge number of volunteers who work to deliver the myriad of services across the Borough. So there was a steep learning curve to learn the ropes and start to make a modest contribution.
Planning
I was quite familiar with planning and took on responsibilities from the outset, becoming the TD Councillor on the planning committees and immersing myself in the intricacies of planning policy, the Elmbridge Local Plan, the Residential Design Guide and much else. Although not exactly a baptism of fire, attention to detail and to sorting the wheat from the chaff are all necessary skills in the planning armoury and have to be rapidly "honed". Above all, planning is a people activity with most of one's time spent attempting to get applicants, their neighbours, Council Officers and fellow committee members to see eye to eye and thrash out any differences.
The nature of planning is that it should be non political in the main but one does become aware that the Tories tend to be more supportive of big developers and the Lib Dems are more willing to sacrifice chunks of the Green Belt than the Residents' Group ever would.
Holding Councillors to Account
All members of the Council are also involved in the Overview and Scrutiny Committees which review and hold to account the activities and performance of the various Departments and their Cabinet portfolio holders. Unfortunately, they have become increasingly politicised as the Tories and Lib Dems who chair committees have flexed their muscles and some of their value has been lost amidst political point scoring. However, they are worthwhile and I have served on all three - Environmental, Corporate Affairs and Community Services.
The New Leisure Centre, CCTV, Electronic Government.....
Among the most valuable aspects of O&S are the Working Groups which evaluate and report back on key initiatives and policy setting. I have served on several, the first covering the Replacement Leisure Centre and Swimming Pool which formulated the requirement, oversaw the contract letting and is now reviewing its construction. Similarly, I have been on groups covering the CCTV scheme, performance management, and the voluntary sector. Over the last year I have chaired three Working Groups on Diversity and Equality, the replacement Public Address system and the Implementing Electronic-Government project.
Residents' Councillors and Party Politics
Finally, there are the full Council meetings which are good for general political banter and knockabout but are used far too much by some of the party political councillors as a mouthpiece for individual prejudices and self interest, with recorded votes also being a bit of pantomime. Maybe it was ever thus....
Away from the public gaze, Residents' Group Councillors meet regularly to thrash out policy and review current and upcoming issues. Attempts to get these meetings to start and finish on time have proved fruitless and with the vocal disagreements which are an absolute feature, one often wonders why we need an opposition... - we could defeat ourselves every time! However, this debate is healthy, and we do invariably arrive at a workable consensus.
A side of life which is more visible are the regular open meetings of the TD&WGRA and the management meetings which support them. And just to keep myself amused I am also a Governor at Thames Ditton Infants School and Chairman of the Management Committee of the Vera Fletcher Hall. So where do I find the time to do the important family, home / garden and travel things?.....
David Lowe