Community Grants

As an elected member of Surrey County Council, I am privileged to be able to allocate £11,000 per year of Council Tax Money towards schemes and good causes in the division that I represent, Ashford. In the past four years I have been able to allocate funding towards groups such as the Scouts and Cubs, Age Concern, and Older peoples leisure schemes, environmental schemes, and highways safety schemes, to name but a few. Sometimes I have part funded schemes with other members in Spelthorne, where a scheme covers the whole of the borough. If you would like further details of how this money has been allocated, or if you know of a scheme or group that would benefit from a grant, please do contact me.

Job Clubs

Get Britain Working Job Clubs
Conservative candidates and MPs are setting up Job Clubs to help people back into work.
Job Clubs act as support groups for those looking for work, and provide practical assistance in the form of interview practice, CV workshops, career talks and advice on job-hunting.
We know that finding a job can be difficult, especially in these tough economic times – and our Job Clubs give people the motivation and support they need to get back to work.
Read about the Job Clubs set up by Tony Baldry in Banbury, Maggie Throup in Solihull and Chris Skidmore in Kingswood.
Look out for more details soon about a job club in this area.

Additional funding for Rights of Way maintenance

Due to an error by the Department of Communities and Local Government in failing to pay the full amount of the planning delivery grant in 2008/9, £78k will now be paid in 2009/10. This will support the development control function within planning, but it is considered that as a result, up to £30k could be spent on Rights of Way. This is in response to concerns from the Environment and Economy Committee members that the level of funding was inadequate to maintain the network, and also to concerns of Surrey residents. One only wonders what other errors government departments have made with our funding grants. A question that I will be putting to the council.

May Surgery

My next surgery will be on Saturday 2nd May in Ashford Library, from 11am to 12 noon. Over the past four years, I have seen, and been able to help, many Ashford residents through their visits to me at my surgery in the Library. However, I am always looking for ways to make it easier for residents to contact me, and would welcome your suggestions for additional times or venues that would make it easier for you to see me, for example, evenings or midweek. Please do contact me with your suggestions, and I will look into setting up extra surgeries if there is the demand for it.

New Opening hours for Community Recycling Centres

At its meeting last Thursday, the Environment and Economy Committee of Surrey County Council, of which I have been the Vice Chairman for the last year, agreed to recommend that the Executive of Surrey County Council consider extending the opening hours of all of the county's community recycling centres. The proposed new summer opening hours would be from 8am to 7.30pm, and is in response to complaints about queuing and congestion, and fly tipping. An executive decision would be expected in July-September 2009, and then it would have to go to the County Planning committee. The new hours, if agreed, would then be implemented in April 2010. If you have any comments on this proposal, I would be happy to hear them.

Petition - Help for Savers and Pensioners

I will be in Ashford this Saturday, 18th April, to collect signatures for a petition asking for the following proposals to be included in the Budget:

• abolishing income tax and savings for basic rate taxpayers: and
• raising the pensioner's personal allowance by £2,000 to £11,490

Please do come and sign the petition, I will be by the Abbey National from 10.30 Saturday morning.

Post Office Consultation

The Post Office are proposing to re-open the Ashford Branch in new premises at 72 Church Road, Ashford, TW15 2TW, a distance of 350 yards from the previous location.
Customer would benefit from the following facilities at the new service:

• A brand new, modern, purpose built serving counter.
• Flat level entry to the branch for ease of access, beneficial to customers with mobility constraints

The post office would like to invite you to contact them, in writing, at the address detailed below. They welcome all comments and feedback, however, they would particularly like your views on the following questions:

• Do you have any comments about access and facilities at the new location?
• Are there any local issues specific to the Ashford area you would like us to consider?

Alternatively, you can contact me with your comments, and I will forward them to the Post Office.

Please contact the Post Office by 21 May, the closing date for all enquires.

At the end of the consultation period, if the decision is taken to proceed with the proposal, the new service is expected to open during June 2009.

Post Office Limited, c/o National Consultation Team, PO Box 2060, WATFORD, WD18 8ZW

Consultation - Community Payback

Surrey Probation Service are keen to support Spelthorne with suitable initiatives around the Borough. The ethos behind Community Payback is that the community themselves have an opportunity to influence what work is carried out. Councillors who regularly consult with and listen to the concerns of our constituents are ideally placed to propose appropriate tasks for offenders on community payback schemes.
Main activities covered by Community Payback include litter-picks, graffiti removal, gardening, repairing items in charity shops,and painting & decorating. This is an excellent opportunity for residents to influence the decision making process and the benefits of which can be seen in a highly visible and productive way. Further, the community will also be able to see that through use of Community Payback, Spelthorne is active and serious in the fight against crime and disorder and thus give greater confidence to the community about that commitment.
Please do contact me if you have any suggestions for schemes for Ashford.