Early December Review

December was one very busy month.  An endless round of council meetings were squeezed into the time before the Christmas break, there were school events, social events and village events and I was unwell for two short periods.  Looking back the lack of blog updates tell the tale.  I thought I would post some short reviews of December  to get back up to date.  This post covers the early part of December.

Horsell Christmas Fair and Christmas Tree Festival
Sadly illness meant I missed the curtain raiser to the Christmas season, the Horsell Christmas Fair on Friday 6 December.  I was really disappointed not to get along to this great event but pleased to hear it was just as successful as last year.  Thankfully I was able to make it to the accompanying Christmas Tree Festival and do my stint on a stall on the Saturday.  The display of trees was just as fantastic as in previous years and I loved looking around at all the ingenious ideas.

Full Council

On 5 December I took part in the final full council meeting of 2013.  I asked questions about the "green gunge" that has infested the Basingstoke canal since the summer and the possibility that Woking Council, working with the Police and Crime Commissioner will put council staff involved in 'enforcement' into uniform.  The good news on the canal is that the Basingstoke Canal Authority has some new equipment and hopes to clear the gunge, a particular type of duckweed, early in the new year.  It seems there could be plans to put council staff in uniform but nothing will happen until pilot projects elsewhere in Surrey are completed.  I was reasssured that the decision will at least go before the Council's Executive, if not the full Council. 

I was pleased to support a motion from my colleague Cllr Howard which instructed Woking Council to write to Fairoaks Airport requesting that the council be kept updated on the airport's future development plans.   The airport has capacity for many more flights than it currently makes  and its owners made a submission with suggestion for future developments to the recent Airports Commission Long Term Options Review.  This is very long term but it is important our local Council is kept informed about what is planned at this site which has an impact on Horsell and other parts of Woking.

Cllr Howard also proposed at the meeting that Woking Council work more closely with Keep Britain Tidy to keep our town clean.  The portfolio holder seemed a little puzzled by the proposal which seemed to be a logical way to use existing available resource to improve litter and cleanliness in Woking.  What was even more puzzling was that just 4 days later Surrey County Council announced a litter crackdown in partnership with borough councils.  

This is the Council meeting at which cost increases for council services in the coming year are set.  Most start in April but this year the Conservative-run council decided to hike all-day parking charges by £1 to £10, but delayed the increase until October.  I voted against both this increase, which represents as 25% increase in the daily parking charge over 18 months and charges to park at Woking Park.

I supported the council going ahead with joint working on waste collection, which should save a lot of residents money across Surrey, but pointed out that the initial saving to Woking will be just 76p per household in the first year.

New standards for licensed taxis were due in January and the council's Licensing Committee reviewed these plans earlier in 2013.  At the eleventh hour, and as a result of pressure from drivers, concessions were made for drivers resident in Woking and in receipt of certain types of benefit.  This move angered those drivers who had put themselves out of pocket to move to vehicles to meet the new standard.

Plans to re-build Goldwater Lodge, after an arson attack last December, were deferred at this Council meeting but thankfully amended plans were passed a week later by the Executive.