Category: Waverley Borough Council

There are 81 divisions in ‘Your Surrey’ and the Tories are back in control but the county elections have not followed the national trend.

The biggest shock in the County came in true blue Farnham – which decisively threw out its Conservative Candidates – some of whom had served the market town for  many years.

Farnham Central – Defrosted!

 Farnham  Residents have put a very real stamp on the local political scene – with veteran Tory Pat Frost losing her seat to Farnham Residents’ Andy MacLeod who polled 1,754 votes to Mrs Frost’s 1,057 She was beaten into third place by Jo Aylwin Liberal Democrat – 1085.

The turnout was higher than average at 41%

Farnham North

Denise Le-Gal’s (pictured below) former SCC seat contested by her Conservative colleague Mike Hodge was snatched by Stephen Spence  also of the Farnham Residents’ underlining the dissatisfaction Farnham folk now have  with their  Tory masters.

Farnham South

John Ward – Farnham Residents   narrowly missed a landslide when    he narrowly lost his fight to gain another  seat  for Farnham Residents’ by losing by just 63 votes – 1,463 to the sitting Conservative Wyatt Ramsdale Conservative – 1526.

Godalming North

Penny Rivers took the seat for the Liberal Democrats -1895 from Conservative Steve Cosser (1656).

Cranleigh & Ewhurst

Andrew Povey, Conservative – 2094,  Richard Cole Liberal Democrat 1098.

Guildford North

Angela Marie Goodwin, Liberal Democrat  polling 1564

Guildford South-West 

Liberal Democrats David Goodwin 1,975 ousting Bob Hughes the Chairman of the Guildford Conservative Association (1128)

Guildford West

Saw Fiona Jean White – Liberal Democrat bucking the national trend winning the seat with 955 votes.

Stanwell and Stanwell Moor

Labour’s Robert Evans  took the seat with 1294

The Dittons 

Went to another Residents’ Association Candidate Nick Darby of the  Weston Green Residents Association. Polling 2,515 votes to his nearest opponent Bruce Finch Conservative (1001).

West Ewell

Went to Jan Mason – Residents’ Association and Independent with asm overwhelming majority of 1,592 from her nearest rival 729.

West Molesey

Ernest Mallett – The Molesey Residents’ Association – 1763 from his nearest rival Conservative’s Steve Bax 1,201.

Ashstead

Chris Townsend Ashstead Independent/Ashstead Residents’ 2,763 Chris Hunt Conservative (1,777).

Caterham Valley

David John Lee -Liberal Democrat 1,589; Michal Cooper, Conservative (1,343)

Caterham Hill

ChrisBotton  Liberal Democrat 1738

 

Dorking Halls

Hazel Watson Liberal Democrat – 2906, Conservative David `Mir Conservative, 1675.

Dorking South and the Holmwoods.

Stephen Cooksey Liberal Democrats – 2261, Roger Jones, Conservative -1,466

Ewell –

The Residents Association of Epsom & Ewell polled a huge majority of 2,579 a mile in front of its nearest opponent – Conservative with 732 votes.

Nork & Tattenhams

Nik Harrison – Residents’ Association/Independent 2,470 – Alex Clarke, Conservative 971.

Redhill  East

Jonathan Christopher St Aubin Essex, Green Party 1,849 Frank Kelly – conservative – 879.

Woking South

Will Forster – Liberal Democrat – 2271, Paul Saper Conservative – 1423.

Tally Conservatives – 61. Liberal Democrats- 9. Residents’ Associations –  5; Labour Party 1 and Greens 1.

This is a blog we published on the Waverley Web ten days ago following a meeting of “your Waverley’s” Full Council meeting. The following day the thorn in ‘YW’s side suffered a major heart attack and under went emergency surgery at Frimely Park Hospital, in Camberley.

Thankfully Jerry Hyman,  who has proved imself to be a  stalwart of the ‘Farnham Residents  Group representing the people of Farnham is now recovering  at home.

Hang your heads in shame Waverley Borough Council!

You are everything The former Prime Minister Theresa May said about Conservatives being – ‘The Nasty Party.’

Enough said!

Read it here… please… 

Local democracy is dead – long live local democracy – ‘Your Waverley’s’ way.

But before you trot off to the Polls Read this., or perhaps read it when you return?

Hugo’s SCC leaflet

Over there in the East Cranleigh & Ewhurst Conservatives remain troubled and divided following an acrimonious selection process of their county council candidate. Some Tories have resigned from the local branch – others say they are boycotting  Thursday’s poll – some for the first time in their lives.

In Farnham, Godalming & Haslemere there is considerable disquiet among Tory voters for the way the Local Plan has been handled/delayed. Voters are asking why the floodgates have been opened to developers so early in the LP process accusing  ‘Your Waverley” of saying: ‘come on in.’ 

The deselection of Cllr Alan Young, who has served as the county councillor for Cranleigh and Ewhurst since May 2011, has proved unpopular with many Conservative party members of their Cranleigh and Ewhurst branches. Some say they will be voting for other parties, and not for Tory Andrew Povey. Others will stay away.

You can read what happened here: Pre – Election Stress Disorder hits Ewhurst and Cranleigh.

Young, who beat Guildford councillor Matt Furniss to the role of Guildford Conservative Association (GCA) chairman in March 2013 was forced out of the GCA chairmanship in the summer 2014 following a motion of no confidence that was shrouded in secrecy.

But few expected the nomination of his replacement as a county council candidate to be the former leader of Surrey County Council, Dr Andrew Povey who  resigned as SCC leader in 2011 after falling out  with his colleagues including his deputy. His  deputy, David Hodge, the current leader went on to succeeded him.

Following his resignation Povey controversially tweeted: “Surrey County Council new cabinet; Still 6 men, 4 women. One known gay. No Ph D’s.”

But the deselected Cllr Young, doesn’t  enjoy universal support in the Cranleigh and Ewhurst division. He led his borough council colleagues  into numerous secret meetings with developers relating to unpopular new developments. Planning permission has been granted for over 1,300 homes around Cranleigh, many of which are now under construction. Along with his borough councillor colleagues he is proud of creating – ‘Cranleigh New Town.’

However, Young has his fans, and  there have been numerous complaints from party members over the way his deselection and Povey’s selection was handled. 

 Local branch members claim they were  excluded from the  selection process and that a hearing of Young’s appeal against his deselection, organised by the Guildford Conservative Association, was held at their offices in Loseley Park, on a day on which it was known Alan Young would be unable to attend.

Angry supporters  of Mr Young in Ewhurst, say they were disgusted by the decision not to select their chosen candidate and some have resigned. Others say they will not be voting,

A bid by the local branch to put forward, a completely new contender, Phillip Townsend,  a local man recommended by the influential Cranleigh Civic Society, failed and the GCA opted for the ‘ experienced’ candidate. There were calls locally for Mr Townsend to stand as an Independent, so the disenchanted Tories could get behind him. Many voters want to take Politics with a Big P out of local government.

Andrew Povey says in his election literature he is “opposing over-development in Cranleigh & Ewhurst” and is particularly concerned about traffic congestion in both villages. He is also understood to be an opponent of any development at Dunsfold airfield.

Party members who have contacted the Waverley Web said they had never experienced such an acrimonious selection and could not believe that such a discredited individual as Dr Povey had been chosen to represent Cranleigh & Ewhurst.

WW expects that David Hodge will be delighted to be working with Councillor Povey again when he returns to County Hall shortly  – after all we have said it before...

The GCSA says: In Andrew Povey we have an experienced candidate who enjoys the confidence of the Party and he will receive our full support.

But John Beckwith-Smith, deputy chairman (fund-raising) of the GCA and Cranleigh and vice chair of the Conservative’s Ewhurst branch, said: “I am unhappy with the selection of Andrew Povey as our Surrey County Council candidate. He has been deselected by GCA against the wishes of the local branch members.

“This process was carried out in a clandestine and underhand way by GCA and the process was in breach of numerous rules of the Conservative Party Constitution.

“Alan Young has been a very pro-active county councillor and has been very effective in representing his constituents at county level. I and the vast majority of Cranleigh and Ewhurst local Conservative branch members wanted to see Alan Young stand and represent us again.

“GCA decided that Alan should not be allowed to stand again without giving any reasons why. We have attempted numerous times to challenge this process.

“As we live in an area which is usually Conservative at all levels of government, selection of our candidates is the only semblance of democracy on offer to us. It is extremely disappointing and frustrating to have this process ripped out of our hands by our party.

“Our recent experience with the Conservative Party and GCA would not be unusual in Russia or China but is very disturbing in “democratic” Britain.”

 

 

The  Protect our Little Corner of Waverley and Dunsfold Airfield in particular couldn’t have stumbled upon another mistake by ‘YOUR WAVERLEY’  – a BIG MISTAKE…

The Waverley Webbers have trawled through a sheaf of pages containing the Constitution that ‘Your Waverley” lives and breathes by. 

And there … hidden in its depths are these rules by which councillors must abide when they cannot attend particular council meetings, and substitutes are appointed in their place.

The POW group is seeking a Judicial Review into the decision made by the council’s  Joint Planning Committee to permit 1,800 homes on the airfield on the Surrey/Sussex border.

Separately a 12-day  public inquiry is to take place on July 18 before a Government Inspector after it was called in by the Secretary of State after being persuaded  to do so by Guildford MP Anne Milton.

‘Your Waverley’ has also  included a total of 2,300 homes at Dunsfold Park in its Local Plan which was adopted before the Dunsfold decision was made.

The silly Summer season will become a very serious Summer season, when  the Local Plan is examined in public on June 27  the Dunsfold Inquiry takes place on July 18 , and Thakeham Homes application for over 465 homes in Alfold goes before Waverley Planners, and a Government Inspector at Appeal during the same period.

This rule on substitution of members has been taken from the Council’s Constitution.

P.S. We have also trawled through the minutes of meetings for the past two/three years and cannot find any decision made by the Full Council which changes this Substitution protocol. Could this possible mistake affect many hundreds of decisions… surely not?

No doubt – “Your Waverley” will explain?