Woking Conservatives announce Mount Hermon candidates for 2016 council election
I’m delighted to have been formally adopted to stand for re-election as the Conservative candidate for the combined ward of Mount Hermon at the Woking Borough Council elections to be held on Thursday 5th May. The election will be the first under the new boundaries, which have seen the separate seats of Mount Hermon East and Mount Hermon West abolished and replaced with a single three member ward. The boundary review was part of a plan by the Conservative administration to reduce the cost of local government and is expected to save taxpayers around £60,000 per year.
It’s been immensely rewarding to have represented Mount Hermon East for the last six years. Whether it’s been helping to secure better parking enforcement around the station, working with Surrey County Council to deliver traffic calming measures in areas like Park Road and Old Woking Road, working to protect the character of areas like White Rose Lane or the Hockering, or using my position as Chairman of the Licensing Committee to steer through a tougher stance on shops and licensed premises promoting anti-social behaviour, I feel I’ve made a positive impact during my time as a councillor.
Looking ahead, there are a number of important decisions coming up and I would like to continue my good work ensuring that residents’ interests are well represented. I hope to be able to see through improvements and footpath access at the White Rose Lane Nature Reserve, an issue I have been campaigning on for some time. I have also pressed the council and Network Rail to smarten Victoria Arch and am pleased that after years of pressure there is now progress to report. There are further works in the pipeline to improve Woking town centre through the Victoria Square project, and a planned redesign of Woking station to facilitate more frequent commuter services in and out of London. There will also be contentious debates about the level of affordable housing we need in the borough, about how the new Hoe Valley School is to be funded, and whether to go ahead with the redevelopment of Sheerwater.
Under the Conservatives, Woking has been transformed, with new shops, restaurants, job opportunities and school provision. It would be an honour if Mount Hermon residents felt able to reward this record and my own hard work by allowing me the privilege of continuing to represent them on the council.
Licensing Committee review of Every Day shop on Maybury Hill
Earlier today I chaired a meeting of Woking Borough Council’s licensing sub-committee, which was called at the request of Surrey Police to review the premises license for the Every Day shop on Maybury Hill. Both the police and trading standards have expressed concern about a number of incidents at the shop, including the sale of alcohol to underage customers, selling alcohol to people who were already drunk, and selling bottles of spirits that were found to have been stolen from nearby supermarkets.
During the course of the hearing it became apparent that there was little, if any, training or record keeping at the store. The police also presented substantial evidence of criminal activity taking place at the shop, such as handling stolen goods. It was made very clear to the committee that the standards of behaviour at this premises fell far short of what we would expect from any license holder in the borough. We were also concerned that the shop owner did not inform the court upon his conviction that he was a license holder, as he was required to do, nor did he bring his conviction to the council’s attention.
Under these circumstances, it was felt we had no option but to agree with the police’s recommendation that Every Day should have its license revoked. This will hopefully send a strong signal that the council is determined to keep residents safe and that evidence of illegal activity or a serious breach in the licensing standards will be dealt with quickly and firmly.
Dangerous Dogs
As well as my questions about electoral fraud, footpath access at White Rose Lane and parking at Woking station, I also pressed the council last Thursday to do more about the problem of dangerous dogs. While most dog owners are responsible, there is a small minority who walk dangerous and aggressive breeds, such as Staffordshire bull terriers, off a lead. These dogs are temperamental and unpredictable, and have the ability to maim and kill.
A number of residents who use Woking’s amenities for cycling, jogging, playing with children or walking other dogs have complained that people walking their staffies off a lead leaves them feeling threatened and intimidated, and that it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured. There have been some worrying cases of people being attacked by staffies elsewhere in Surrey. Last October, two schoolchildren were taken to hospital with bite wounds after being attacked by a staffie in Caterham. In November, three people were bitten by an out of control staffie in Pewley Down Park in Guildford. Staffies have also been responsible for attacks on people and pets in Kingston and Sutton Green.
Sadly, too many staffie owners do not appreciate the danger that their breed poses to the public and are often blasé or unconcerned about the potential for their dogs to go out of control. I therefore asked Woking Borough Council to investigate whether it might be willing to use Public Space Protection Orders and introduce greater restrictions on staffies being walked without a lead in areas close to schools, children’s play areas or on green spaces such as Woking Park. In raising this question, I cited action taken by several other local authorities, such as Surrey Heath, Stoke on Trent and Cambridge.
Unfortunately, the council is not minded to take action on this issue for the moment. According to the answer given to me by Cllr Beryl Hunwicks, the council’s Portfolio Holder for Environment & Sustainability, the council believes that the number of reported dog attacks is relatively small, while the time and resources required to introduce Public Space Protection Orders would be disproportionate to the risk and scale of the problem. The council thinks that current measures, including promotion and education, talking to resident groups and regular patrols by the Animal Warden, are effective measures in helping to reduce incidents.
I disagree with the council’s approach for several reasons. First, while the number of reported attacks may be relatively small, these figures do not record the menace or unease that people feel when confronted by a staffie off a lead. Secondly, I do not believe that we should wait for a serious attack or tragic incident before taking introducing tighter restrictions. Finally, the amount of resources that would need to be devoted to introduce Public Space Protection Orders would in my view, and contrary to the answer given by Cllr Hunwicks, be relatively small.
However, I am encouraged by Cllr Hunwick’s comment that the council is willing to reconsider its position if it receives more complaints or information about particular trouble spots. I would therefore encourage any resident who has felt intimidated by someone walking their staffie off a lead to contact their councillor and let them know, even if they are not directly attacked. I will also continue to raise this issue if I am re-elected to the council after this May’s local elections.
Footpath access at White Rose Lane
My campaign for better footpath access at White Rose Lane took a step forward last week as Woking Borough Council confirmed to me that they are now prepared to consider the feasibility of improving pedestrian access around the White Rose Lane Nature Reserve.
In response to a question I asked last week at Full Council about whether the council would be willing to include plans for better footpath access at White Rose Lane as part of the planned flood alleviation work for the Hoe Stream and River Wey, Cllr Beryl Hunwicks confirmed that the council would look at this as part of a package of broader improvements around the Nature Reserve. A report is due to be presented to the Executive next month, and should the further design work be supported then it may be possible to include a footpath as part of this work.
This is still all very uncertain, and nothing has been promised other than an agreement to look again at the matter. However, I was grateful for Cllr Hunwick’s kind offer to meet and talk through this issue in more detail, and I have been in touch with residents to arrange such a meeting. I will also continue to keep residents updated on my discussions through this website.