from your new RA County Councillor
Life is never dull. What with residents
concerns, major cost cutting and a deluge
of paper and e-mails I never realised how
much is going on. I also have to deal with
previous decisions that did not seem to be
the subject of consultation for example the
elimination of parking outside the Winters
Bridge shops.
The most important aspect of my work is dealing with residents' needs and concerns. Parking and the state of our roads are very high on most people's list. The majority of phone calls and letters are about these.
Parking
More and more commuter cars are parked in our streets, a result of high parking fees at Surbiton Station and the restrictions in Hinchley Wood, Hampton Court, Surbiton and Esher. In addition there is the problem of Esher College whose students park in Weston Green Road. These parked cars cause traffic problems particularly during the periods when school children are being dropped off and collected. I have held site meetings with Surrey transportation staff to discuss problems and our concerns are being looked at. Surrey have agreed to undertake a parking survey to establish the scale of the problem and to put forward proposals for consultation.
Whatever the outcome we don't want to move parking problems to the next road. A good example of this affects residents of Long Ditton. The result of changed parking arrangements in Surbiton has moved parking to Long Ditton. It is not only those who work in Surbiton who are clogging up roads but commuters are now prepared to park in St Mary's Road and walk to the Station through the Recreation Ground. Some commuters have been seen to take bicycles out of cars and cycle to the station. It would seem that they are prepared to walk some way to a station so introducing parking restrictions around Thames Ditton Station without a fully thought-out scheme would simply move cars to other roads. At Long Ditton a scheme has been devised and is being put forward for consultation.
The new bus stop layout at Winters Bridge has caused problems to the traders and their customers. There are some "loading bays'' which need to be changed to parking bays to allow shoppers to stop. I am assured that this will take place. The change to the bus stop went forward without consultation and with no input from my predecessor.
Roads
The condition of roads in all of Surrey is not particularly good and of all the identified repairs and improvements needed only about 8% can be done in any one year due to financial restraints. We have to fight to get roads onto the "Rolling Programme'' list. I have managed to have two muddy paths improved, one outside Jubilee Villas in Weston Green and the other from Ash Path to Mercer Close.
Health
I am a member of the Health Scrutiny Committee whose role is to review and scrutinise the operation of the health service in Surrey. The NHS is in a dire state financially, the deficit in our Strategic Health Authority (Surrey and Sussex) is £83m. Our local East Elmbridge & Mid Surrey Primary Care Trust is not only in deficit but has been rated "Zero Stars" down from "Two Stars". In addition, major organisational changes are taking place in an attempt to reduce costs and allegedly to have "better care closer to home". This change will be continuous and relentless and whatever happens patients' safety must not be compromised. In Surrey we are already suffering from closures of community hospitals (Guildford and Waverley PCT has "temporarily" closed 51 community hospital beds, a third of the total). In the opinion of thc Committee patients' safety is being compromised and we have referred the closures to the Minister of Health. Whilst we await an answer we need to keep a close watch on our Thames Ditton hospital beds as they are still under threat.
Other news
Surrey is seeking to reduce costs by £50 million and whilst a study is being undertaken there is a ban on recruitment and employing new agency staff. The outcome of the investigations could be a substantial reduction in staffing levels. The twin aim of the study is to improve services and ensure a sound medium term financial position for the council.
Finally a word about council tax. Surrey's government grant is steadily being taken away and money is being sent north. We receive £95.87 per head of population whereas Durham receives £294.29. The new government formula for calculating the grant is well below that figure so the pressure is on to find savings. Basically the Government does not believe Surrey has a problem with finance!
For up to date news the Surrey County Council website is very useful.
Peter Hickman