If only it wasn’t so serious, it would be a fun week of shenanigans in the borough.
It’s over, so let it go.
- We began with the Community Infrastructure Levy debacle – during which the Tory opposition attempted to rip shreds out of the ruling Rainbow Coalition, only to discover that the council’s Tories had made the policy in the first place.
- Setting the record straight on CIL
W W highlighted Emperor Oliver’s jubilation that Aunty Angela Rayner had stopped the May elections. This gives the revolution over devolution the go-ahead. To add insult to injury, he revealed the council was squillions in debt and the council tax increase would be at the maximum allowed.
Surrey’s May Council elections cancelled
- Good news came from ‘Your Waverley’ when it announced it had achieved a balanced budget.
Ouch!
- However, the euphoria was soon quashed after it revealed that its 5-year housing land supply had slid down the scale to 1.28 years, and the Government’s housing target for the borough is 1,998 homes per year, for the next five years. Ouch!
Waverley’s housing land supply going down… and down.
- Tory Cllr Barker-Lomax made herself look pretty stupid, not for the first time, when she challenged WBC’s Car Park Working Group to recommend increasing Godalming car parking charges for one hour and reducing charges for several hours. The working group Chairman, Cllr Fairclough, reminded Cllr Barker-Lomax, that had she turned up for the group meetings she could have highlighted her concerns, and all agenda’s and minutes had been sent to her! She responded, ‘You shouldn’t hold meetings in the day when working people can’t attend!” She was promtly supported by Cllr Jane Austin, who said busy mothers did all their shopping and errands in an hour.
Full marks to Cllr Austin for running her errands so quickly while still carrying ~Jeremy Hunt’s bags.
- WW reported some good news for the village dubbed “Poor old Alfold” when villagers heard that an application for nine homes was refused near the Alfold Craft Centre. However, their jubilation was short-lived!! Oh Dear!
Just days later, an Alfold farmer- yes, presumably another one who needs a little help from his friends to pay his inheritance tax bill, put in an application for 80 homes on his farm, followed moments later by another one from an Alfold Seaman’s Charity through Thakeham Homes for another 400! All during a week when the poo continued to rise and spill over Alfold’s lavatories
Is that the sound we hear of Landmark Chambers Barristers sharpening their briefs?
Alfold villagers sobbing into their tea!
Devolution my Aunt Fannie
Sucking up the power from our 2-tier councils to Mayors who will be even closer to Government. Locally based democracy goes out the window. Poor old Town Councils (Farnham and others) don’t even get a mention in the Government White Paper.
Come on those who are shaping the new Unitary Council proposals – lets have some real Devolution.
So what happens to all that filthy CIL which has so ill-begottenly gained?
12 squillon unallocated at last fawning…..
… can I have it back please, unemployed WBC ?
Brilliant, it’s all soooooooooooooo true!
What a Cr*p Time we are going through WW … It beggars belief – – Can I cancel my Council tax? Why should I be paying for MPs/ Local Councillors etc after May that I have not Voted for? They do not have a mandate anymore from then on, therefore do they have the right to take my Money?
I would be happy to pay a proportion for Social Services for the Young & Old- for Waste etc…Not sure about the Polce as I hardly every see them..But maybe.
Everyone knows Alfold is Stuffed.. there is nothing Waverley can do as they have failed to provide other sites for development in the rest of the Borough because Dunfold Park was a Huge White Elephant and they all put their eggs in that Smelly little Basket and I don’t care what you say or who you blame for that – It is a FACT!
Maybe one day Trinity will see a Useful purpose for the site – But I doubt very much it will be Housing – If they have any sense it will be Data-Centers, Business Hubs, IT & Science/AI that will move in. Maybe even an Amazon Hub – But why would they even contemplate Housing when just down the road there is a little Village called Alfold that now has nearly 1000 New Homes potentially granted?
Build a Reservoir there … so we have a supply of Water for the future, or a Nature Reserve to protect what little we have left.. I know LA LA Land!
WBC should have realised years ago it wasn’t going to Happen any time soon… But they stuck with it despite Appeal Losses due to it…. Talk about HEADS IN SAND. I was posting on this site years ago that it was not going to happen and why.. Waverely and our Local Councillors continued to report to Residents on their Monthly Updates on Dunsfold Park that there were “NO FURTHER UPDATES..” – It was not Rocket Science was it? Some were just glad locally it wasn’t Happening – But WBC Knew and did nothing about it – Why?
The rest of the Borough hide behind GREEN (belt) / Expensive/ Pretty!!! and we quite obviously are NOT – so why not Build in Alfold? most remote/Easterly Village in the Borough – Bordering on W Sussex… only a few Residents so hardly going to make too much noise… Eh Who will notice…? it is just along the A281 easy access to Guildford?
I hope more than anything that this will drive our Village into SHOUTING and not whispering about how unfair it is… We have been Shafted and those in Power know it… They just haven’t got the BOLLOCKS to admit it – SHAME on them all
REALLY ANGRY of Alfold
Denise
You are correct about not having a mandate beyond 1 May 2025 (that’s why the government intend to lay legislation before parliament to make it legit)
But it’s the County Elections that are being cancelled not the Borough Elections. These are not due until 2027, by which time WBC will not exist anyway.
So in the meantime WBC does have a mandate which includes collecting council tax (but they only keep 9% anyway) so our bins will be emptied, which is what most residents don’t even think about – until they’re not.
One of the major benefits of Unitarisation is bringing Planning, Roads, Schools and other infrastructure under one roof, to be dealt with holistically (unusual for councils to do I admit)
But this could mean planning will lose it’s “local touch” unless some planning functions are devolved to Town and Parish Councils (such as householder applications) That all sounds good until you realise the County of Surrey is not fully parished. WBC has many Town and Parish councils, but other Borough haven’t. (no wonder creating Unitaries takes years and years)
I am genuinely concerned about the finances. Ringfenced income will be given away across other areas, so the pain the local WBC have endured, will have had no gain locally. WBC is pretty ineffectual, whether by accident or design, but all the money being redistributed is not right, but you know it will happen.
You are correct. One of the reasons the new government are in such a rush to create more Unitaries across England is to amortise the debt of the profligate councils across the more prudent ones like Waverley. We could also see asset sales (the family silver) to wipe out debt as well. Not to mention raids on reserves.
With £2billion of debt, Woking is the problem child, and I don’t see any other Council in Surrey wanting anything to do with them.
Hopefully, when Council Leaders across Surrey work out their Unitary proposals, they will insist some financial accommodation is made by Central Government to clear some or all of their debts, but I suspect residents may have to shoulder some of the burden.