When this blog was founded, it concentrated on revealing what we here at the Waverley Web believed you might want to know about the inner workings of Waverley Borough Council. Not Guildford Borough Council.
Over the years, we have done our best to identify the issues that concern most of us who live or work here. Major housing developments are among them, but so are the political changes and changes in the administration of our borough council due to its collaboration with Guildford Borough Council.
2023 saw change arrive with a capital C. First, there was a political change with the Lib Dems under the leadership of Paul Follows, taking control and diminishing Tory’s influence. However, there is a healthy balance of Residents’ Groups, as in Farnham Residents,’ Greens, Independent and Labour.
Forty-eight borough councillors are members of a political party registered with the Electoral Commission; two are Independents.
They are currently divided as follows: Conservative 10; Farnham Residents 13; Liberal Democrats 22; Green Pary 1; Labour 2; and Independents 2.
Since the recent collaboration with Guildford Borough Council, Tom Horwood has been the CEO. He resigned in October and leaves in February. The Surrey Hills are alive with the sound of… resignations!
Controversially, for some, Pedro Worbel was appointed as the new Joint CEO shortly before Christmas. Some Waverley councillors were miffed that the salary offered for the job of £158,000 morphed into £165,000 after he was appointed, some claiming with “indecent haste.”
Mr Worbel was described as,
“bouncy, exciting and energetic.”
With Guildford Borough Council in severe debt and fighting off bankruptcy, those attributes will be most definitely needed. However, Pedro won’t be starting until the Spring (When in the Spring WW is not sure as no mention of dates had been given), but, as he says, he is raring to go from Westminster City Council, where he is currently Executive Director for Innovation and Change.
Pedro Pete faces a burgeoning in-tray when he finally rocks up – at the proposed joint Guildford & Waverley offices, we know not where. Governance problems with an investigation into the housing maintenance department, staff suspension, contracts terminated, and possible fraud accompany the little matter of a debt crisis at Guildford! Thanks be to the Courts for seeing off a legal challenge in December which could have dumped Waverley’s Local Plan Part 2 housing blueprint into heavy-duty dog doo! At least Pedro won’t have to face a rewrite.
However, he, Waverley and Guildford will have to face the NIGHTMARE ON THAMES WATER STREETS. The year ended as it had begun water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink unless it came out of a bottle – if you could find one!
We stood under our shower on Boxing Day, and not a drop fell on our sweaty bodies after our Christmas Day frivolities. Oh dear! `Her indoors was fuming. The air was blue, dirty dishes were everywhere after last night’s party, and guests were coming for lunch.
And, after all those public meetings with MPs and Thames Water’s plumply salaried executive thick on the ground – apologising for the 2023 fiascos in Waverley and Guildford, which forced shops and businesses to close and thousands of TW customers to go dry!
Could Our Jeremy be in hot water, not cold, in 2024?
Oh dear! What do they say: Everything changes, and everything stays the same? Or will it?
Q Will The Waverley Web remain when Waverley & Guildford Finally merge?
You won’t be missed.
I Loath it when people write comments like this but don’t have the Cojons to use their real name… If you don’t like the WW then don’t read it ….SIMPLES!
I have often disagreed with them and like all of us that Care about our Borough, I shout rather too loudly – But I hope that sometimes I have something worthwhile to say as do THEY and they hold our Elected Members to account on many occasions.
So for that I wish all the W-Webbers a very HAPPY NEW Year and long may you keep us informed
Much like yourself, you do irony so well! I definitely won’t miss their oh so biased ‘reporting’.
I sincerely hope the WW will remain it is a very valuable asset with regard to what’s actually happening within Waverley BC never mind the potential upcoming by election and change of Leader At Waverley should Paul Follows successfully win the GE at some point in the next 12 months. Personally I have not made a final decision on who to vote for but information within the WW will assist in making that decision for local benefit
When you listed the members of Waverley Council you missed out the Labour Councillors. In error?
So very sorry. Correcting
Happy New Year to Waverley Webb and all its readers.
The clue is in the words that are used. The Oxford Dictionary explains:
Collaboration: “the act of working with another person or group of people to create or produce something”
Merger: “the act of joining two or more organisations or businesses into one”
The democratically elected councils at each authority have ONLY agreed to collaborate (not to merge – now or in the future)
However, will the dire financial predicaments that ALL local authorities in Surrey face, mean that Unitary Council/s will be on the agenda in the not too distant future?
Unitary Councils of the right size are no bad thing – and certainly better that the ridiculous three-tier system we have at the moment.
Nice to see a balanced post from WW following another failure of Paul Follows in getting his residents problems solved and questions answered to those TW executives responsible for lack of water supply. Probably due to creditability issues or could it be point scoring self interest?
We here at the Waverley Web didn’t realise that you believed that `Paul Follows held such power that he could sort out the areas water problems. Obviously you believe he can walk on water? However, there is a man who can, or believes he can, because he has the CEO of Thames Water on speed dial. The strange thing is – the eastern villages of Waverley have been suffering water issues for a decades. The residents of Alfold have had sewage pumping up in their gardens for years. The residents of the Cranleigh area have had many hundreds of burst pipes, homes flooded and which have given Insurance Companies a real drubbing! But now Mr Hunt he is standing for the parliamentary seat in that area he suddenly wakes up and smells the sewage! Cynical or what Mr Edwards?