It’s a Bugs Life- and it could be on its way to Waverley?

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 Asian Hornet Sighting In Guildford – could it be that the Waverley Web has struck!

While it is smaller than our native European hornet, it can make very large nests and it also stings, so the public should be very cautious and not disturb the nests but report it straight away.

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by Hugh Coakley of the amazing Guildford Dragon.

As reported last year (Beekeeper’s Notes April ’17; Foreign Invaders from Europe), the fear of an invasion of the Asian hornet is one step closer with a sighting now in Slyfield, Guildford.

Beekeeper Mark Seabrook, who works in premises on the Slyfield Industrial Estate, was more than surprised to see a dead hornet on the floor and, on closer inspection, for it to be an Asian hornet.

Mark said: “It was not something that I expected to ever actually see in Guildford. I keep bees so I do look out for such things but to see it on my workshop floor was a shock.

“It is difficult to know where it came from, whether it is from a local nest or came in on a transporter from around the country or even in a parts container from abroad.”

Mark has reported the finding to the DEFRA Non Native Species secretariatand to the Guildford Beekeeper’s Association.

Marilynne Bainbridge, who chairs the Guildford branch of the National Beekeepers’ Association, said: “It is very worrying for bees and beekeepers. There have been quite a few sightings now with the closest being in the neighbouring county of Hampshire where four nests were destroyed very recently.

“Beekeepers and the public need to be on the alert for this destructive invader and to report it to alertnonnative@ceh.ac.uk immediately.”

The Pest Control News reported last year that there had been a confirmed sighting in North Devon.

 

 

 

Oh Dear! What can the matter be? Guildford Tories off to a depository?

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It launches a Gala for Government Minister but nobody wants to be there!

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Apparently the Guildford Conservative Group – which includes the wealthy East Waverley – has cancelled its Gala dinner due to poor ticket sales! And it is moving its Guildford HQ to… WOKING … the town Tory controlled Guildford Planners have told to … shove its unmet housing need where monkeys put their nuts!

MP Anne Milton’s buddy in the Education Ministry – Secretary of State Damian Hinds has now been given the night off – because only 50 people bought tickets. No doubt local Tories pi**ed off with Brexit, and the fact that local schools are putting out begging bowls for pens and toilet rolls,  boycotted the £60 a-head event? Though we heard that all the local fee-paying schools are all doing nicely by flogging off their playing fields so they can afford such necessities. 

TT’s were not even encouraged to attend after being told that – “Mr Hinds was at the forefront of planning for our country’s future and the skills needed to compete in a post-Brexit world.” The Group says scrapping the event, boasting such a high profile guest speaker reflected badly on the organisation.

Oh well! It’s an ill wind that blows no good at least he gets an evening in by the fire with the wife and kids? Not forgetting – we here at the WW get a refund?

OH! BUT THINGS GET WORSE!

The Guildford Association needs such fundraising jolly’s to fill local coffers with £10,000 in time for what it describes as  the forthcoming “all-out election campaign?” Which one is that?!

bobsmithDon’t worry, Chairman Bob Hughes has a plan in the face of such austerity! The Guildford Tory Hub is schlepping ten miles over to Chobham Road, to Woking’s Tory HQ leaving its’ comfortable offices on the Loseley Park Estate, home of the Lord Lieutenant Major More-Molyneux to downsize to a new bunker. Chairman Bob Hughes who runs the Guildford Tories from his business email at charity Sight for Surrey, says “we will have some limited storage space and a printer.” Saying, it will only cost £5,000 a year plus it may rent a small storage unit for an extra few hundred pounds a year.”

Oh – who is the President of Bob’s charity Sight for Surrey? None other than Michael More-Molyneux, Lord Lieutenant of Surrey and Torie’s former landlord. No difficulties there then?
He stressed the Tory Group must use its resources wisely saying “we are in the 21st Century, we don’t need separate offices in Guildford.”

MY, MY HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN? It’s austerity darling.

 

 

 

 

Your Waverley does the business on the borough’s heavy duty dog doo.

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In line with other local authorities, ‘Your Waverley’ is taking draconian steps to stop the menace of dog doo which is spoiling our towns, villages and… the countryside.

Ever wondered why there is so much of it about these days? Then ponder no longer.

 

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Is Mary our very own Gillian McKeith?
A Professor of Poo?
After all, You Are What You Eat -which applies to doggies-doo too!

 

This week Mary Foryszewski ‘YW’s’ dog doo guru  – and owner of the successful canine business – Pawfect Dog School gave her colleagues on the Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee – a little lesson in the subject of … dog poo.

She told colleagues, who however hard they tried, just couldn’t conceal their amusement,   there were now 9 million dogs in the UK – and why there was more poo.

Because dogs digestive systems are not designed to eat commercial dog food! If you put more rubbish in, more rubbish comes out. Many of you will remember years ago when you used to be able to be able to kick it {Poo} and it used to disintegrate because they ate bones, it doesn’t any more because they eat rubbish, she said!

Oh dear – it that that howling bark of commercial dog food manufacturers we hear enveloping  Waverley Towers? Thank goodness Councillor and Deputy Mayor Mary is covered by partial privilege? 

She continues, to say if you looked in her pocket it would hold two or three poo bags. To which her wisecracking neighbour, Councillor Peter Isherwood grinning from ear to ear, piped up – “empty I hope.”   Continuing undeterred,  she outlined why it was necessary for the council to introduce measures and subsequent fines across the borough. Measures that would affect many, due to the actions of a few dog owners who spoiled it for responsible owners. She also mentioned there had been more responses from the public on the subject of dog poo than there had been to the Local Plan.

That’s one thing we at the WW can say about the residents of Waverley they have their priorities in the right order – don’t they?

Officer Richard Homewood said policing the nuisance would be targetted to areas where most nuisances occurred, following complaints from the public, saying everyone recognised it was impossible to monitor everywhere. 

Several Councillors said they didn’t want to see – council employees – “lurking in the bushes.” However, Councillor Ross Welland saw absolutely no reason why dogs shouldn’t be let off the lead, in places like Blackheath in the Surrey Hills?

He is obviously unaware that the villagers there are now calling their once beautiful Area of Oustanding Natural Beauty – a dog sh*t toilet – for hundreds of dog walkers, some of whom are professional dog walkers taking out as many as eight dogs out at a time!

Councillor By-Pass Byham, who never By-Passes litter or dog poo on his Bramley patch – was just a bit concerned, that the council may not have “solid grounds” for imposing fines of up to £1,000 if owners’ didn’t have enough bags, hoping no-one would end up in jail? Officers assured him this was highly unlikely.

If the Executive, followed by Full Council agree, a blanket ban on dog fouling will be introduced across the borough in the next few weeks. 

https://youtu.be/1wIopEfSB-Q

HANG ON TO YOUR WIG YOUR HONOUR. WAVERLEY COUNCIL WILL BE BACK IN COURT TO FIGHT YET ANOTHER DAY TO SAVE ITS LOCAL PLAN.

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If you don’t at first succeed try, try, try, and try, again and again?  Protect our Waverley and the Campaign for the Preservation of Rural England hope to persuade yet another Judge in the Court of Appeal to grant them leave to appeal. Then no doubt next time .. to the Supreme Court, the Pope and then Th Almighty?!

‘The battle to stop the development of Dunsfold Aerodrome is over,’ claims POW. But, the war with Waverley is not over yet.

Says POW:

‘there is nothing further we can do to prevent this controversial housing development after losing our legal challenge in the High Court.’

Capt’n Bob Lies, Chairman of the motley crew, claims,

‘It will be a huge disappointment to residents in the Eastern villages and in Guildford and Godalming that the approval for the development of Dunsfold Aerodrome will proceed.’

Typical POW. Typical Capt’n Bob. Utterly graceless in defeat!

Having poured over the Alfold Parish Council’s accounts, one curious regular reader did a spot of maths and sent us the following:

At the last census, Waverley Borough had a population of circa 123,000 and, as we all know, POW likes to boast ad nauseum that it ‘represents a very large and continually growing number of concerned local residents.’

Like hell it does! According to Crystal Tipps Weddells’ cash books. She banked

99 donations…

for POW’s campaign during 2017/18.  If you discount a single, measly donation by POW themselves and nine contributions from the Parishes – which came from their Precepts, not the voting public – that goes down to…

just 89 donations from members of the Waverley public.

Now, correct us if we are wrong, but surely that means…

… a mere 0.07% of Waverley residents dipped into their pockets to support POW and its aims? 

So much for POW claiming to represent ‘a very large and continually growing number of concerned local residents’ … laugh, We nearly peed our pants when our readers’ calculator spewed out …

0.07%!!!

So having wasted shed-loads of Taxpayer funds on behalf of 0.07% of Waverley residents it doesn’t even have the humility to offer the other 99.3% of local residents an apology for the many hundreds of thousands of pounds it has cost them, at a time when local services are being cut to the bone.

Adding  insult to injury, these publically funded wastrels have the cheek to announce in the same breath that it will join the CPRE in seeking leave to appeal in the Court of Appeal against the High Court’s decision that Waverley’s housing requirement, as set out in its Local Plan Part 1 for 590 houses per annum should be maintained, including 83 to cover Woking’s perceived unmet need!

Screen Shot 2018-07-14 at 00.58.39Brace yourselves! Here comes another major legal challenge that, if given the go-ahead will cost the Waverley taxpayer (yes, that’s you!) another shed load of money!

Our suggestion for POW: pack it in and concentrate on an argument you stand a chance of winning: the erection of a bloody great hanger on a green field outside the Aerodrome you so detest.

Or better still,  for all our sakes sod off and give this borough a break.

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Why doesn’t Godalming Town Council have a planning committee?

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GTC__CBA.jpgAll the major towns in ‘Your Waverley’ have a dedicated planning committee – including here in Farnham – Haslemere and Cranleigh. Even the small rural villages have either dedicated planning committees or public meetings where planning applications are considered – in public?

So why not in Godalming?

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Our interest in the planning function of Godalming Town Council was sparked off by the letter featured on the link above.

Funny, we thought, funny …   a major town, which hosts Waverley Towers and where there is a huge amount of development presently underway and even more proposed in the future? But no planning committee?

Even more puzzling? This paragraph from GTC’s new boy Councillor Paul Follows’ letter where he tells his fellow councillors of his, and residents concerns over the proposal to build on land at Milford Golf Course. A development that will have implications for Godalming’s overloaded road network and its infrastructure.

Cllr. Denis Leigh (Waverley Borough Council, Milford Ward)
Cllr. Bob Upton (Waverley Borough Council, Milford Ward)
Cllr. Gillian McCalden (Witley Parish Council, Chair)
Cllr. Tony Sollars (Witley Parish Council, Planning Committee Chair)

 

“My intent is to have this application reviewed by Godalming Town Council (GTC) to record a formal opinion before it goes to the Waverley Joint Planning Committee – and it is my hope that you might support that endeavour by writing to the Chairman of the Godalming Town Council Policy and Management Committee (Cllr Stefen Reynolds) to that end.

We, unfortunately, have no dedicated planning committee at GTC and as such, I am an opposition councillor asking the majority party chair for this to be added to the town council agenda – as you can imagine there is no guarantee that will happen and as such your support would be greatly appreciated!”

We have just learned that astoundingly the Tories abolished the Planning committee because quite simply they couldn’t be bothered. Their reason was that because so many of them are twin hatted – ie Waverley Councillors as well – then they would take the decisions and make the case at the meeting that mattered, rather than holding a trivial town council meeting, in front of the voting fodder, and duplicating their efforts.
They then said they would add significant planning items to other agendas, at the request of members. And an application in a neighbouring parish may not interest most of the council, hence Paul Follows lobbying for support with other Conservatives.

Surely, any self-respecting council -at the grassroots of local democracy – would want to hear its residents’ views on a planning application which affect their lives? Even a minor extension, can have a huge impact. So why don’t they review each and every planning application – allowing residents to have their say?

So Godalming Tories win the WW award for most “Can’t Be Arsed” Council this year.

The temperatures rising.

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THE HEAT IS ON

The shadow’s high on the darker side
Behind the doors, it’s a wilder ride
You can make a break, you can win or lose
That’s a chance you take when the heat’s on you
When the heat is on

Oh-wo-ho, oh-wo-ho
Caught up in the action I’ve been looking out for you
Oh-wo-ho, oh-wo-ho
(Tell me can you feel it)
(Tell me can you feel it)
(Tell me can you feel it)

The heat is on (yeah) the heat is on, the heat is on
It’s on the street, the heat is on (I can feel the fire)
The heat is on (flames are burning higher)
The heat is on (baby can’t you feel it)
Yeah, it’s on the street
The heat is on (I can feel it in the fire)
The heat is on (flames are burning higher)

The heat was certainly on – cooking on gas, according to our followers  – at the last meeting of Alfold Parish Council, when concerned residents rocked up with the intention of getting to the bottom of the Parish Council’s new role as cash collectors for Waverley’s worried well-to-do?

Unfortunately, Clerk Crystal Tipps-Weddell – had been less than diligent in distributing the requested information, giving only a chosen few,  no time to plough through pages of donations. Fine, if you’re an accountant or someone familiar with analysing spreadsheets at a glance, but not so fine if you’re Joe Public whose only experience of columns of figures is pouring over your monthly bank statement from Lloyds – or, in the case of Waverley’s worried well-to-do, Messrs Coutts & Co! 

Concerned of Alfold hadn’t got to grips with the facts and figures but, no doubt, that was the whole point of the ruse orchestrated by Cash Collectors in-Chief Crystal Tipps and Nic Pigeon. Treat em mean and keep em keen –  telling residents if they want answers – “go back and read all the past minutes.”  Presumably, they want to stay shtumm about the affluent’s effluent?

What was absolutely staggering was the fact that between 20 April and 15 September 2017,  Alfold PC ********d  on POW’s behalf a staggering £246,073.45. In a mere five months! So they were averaging a cleanup rate of £49,214.69 per month! No wonder Crystal Tipps claimed £26.14 in parking fees and £40.04 in postage, she must have been running from bank to post office on a daily basis at the height of her money moving exploits!

Equally interestingly, Alfold PC banked 99 donations in total during that period, which made the average donation £2,485. However, as you might imagine, that was far from the case! Most of the donations were for considerably more, with the most popular sums donated by individuals being £500, £2,500 and £5,000. One or two high rollers (or do we mean developers?!) stumped up £20,050 and £10,000 respectively and there were several dups at circa £7,500 a poop – oops! We meant to say pop!

POW themselves contributed a measly £3,000! Talk about all mouth and no trousers – or, bearing Stacey Strumpette in mind, all fur coat and no knickers!

The ‘Dirty Dozen’ Parish Councils that stumped up for the Public Inquiry into Dunsfold Park, decreased to Ocean’s Seven (or, in this case, Little Britton’s Seven!) during this period, contributing £39,100 between them, as follows:

Alfold                  £10,000

Busbridge PC      £5,000
Chiddingfold PC £5,000
Dunsfold PC        £5,000
Hambledon PC   £6,000
Loxwood PC        £3,100
Shalford PC         £5,000
Wonersh PC       £10,000

The moral of this tale: If Capt’n Bob Lies and Little Britton persist in their delusion that a Planning Judge doesn’t understand planning law and decide to pop along to the Court of Appeal TO-DAY and plead poverty – again! – we strongly recommend that the Dunsfold Developer, the Secretary of State and Waverley Borough Council point the Judge to their quite remarkable money-raising powers. If this bunch of Bozos can raise on average £49,214.69 per month, there’s no reason on earth why they shouldn’t pick up the tab for the fights they pick, instead of leaving it to US, the Waverley Tax Payer to run along behind them poop-a-scooping their dirty little dump it all on the taxpayer habits!

Talking of Stacey Strumpette, rumour has it the Dunsfold resident may have attended the Parish Council meeting? 

Apparently,  Stacey was pouring over a copy of Alfold Parish Council’s Cash Book, trying to identify which initials were who – we’re told Crystal Tipps had, by a sleight of hand, failed to make a note of the names of donors, referring to them instead – much to Stacey’s chagrin – only by their initials, if at all! Our Stacey enquired, hopefully, into one particular donation of £12,100.00 that had caught her eye and looked terribly deflated when she was told this was just a lazy and inept (our words, not Crystal Tipps’ we hasten to add!) bulk donation posting, so could have been from any Tom, Dick or Harriette – not to mention one of any number of desperate developers keen to stop Dunsfold Park in its tracks.

For those of you who are wondering how Alfold Parish Council spent the dosh, wonder no more, just to give you a little flavour:

£85,592.49 on Barton Willmore Planning Consultants
£6,000.00 on ‘professional fees’ for Victoria Hutton of 39 Essex Chambers
£10,102.89 on Motion Consultants Transport Consultancy Services
£10,828.65 on David Huskisson Associates Landscape Expert Witnesses
£64,070.00 legal representation by 39 Essex Chambers

Rumour has it Dunsfold’s Stacey is now considering a change of profession – or, failing that, a change of stomping ground! Goodbye Dunsfold, Hello Inns of Court. Anything Victoria can do, Stacey reckons she can do too – with a little practice … or is it practise!!!

Oh, and in answer to the member of the public who attended and was told by Little Britton –“I am nothing whatsoever to do with POW!”

He was announced in his interview on BBC Surrey – as, yes, you guessed – the Deputy Chairman of POW. 

 

 

They’re off nice and early in Cranleigh? Campaigning for the 2019 local elections.

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It’s girl power – where are Cranleigh’s blokes?

Or… perhaps not. As these Tory ladies are calling canvassing  by a new name it’s now called ‘surveying residents.’  And there were silly old us, thinking that surveying was the practice carried out by developers before they start covering the countryside in concrete?

Wannabe Waverley borough and Cranleigh parish councillors are stomping around the streets as they rev up in readiness for next May’s borough and parish elections. 

No point waiting for the starters’ gun is there? Get out their girls, start mixing with the voting fodder. By the  sounds of it all is going well according to the very ambitious – Ewhurst’s Angie of I’m a Cranleigh parish councillor, then a borough councillor – and I’m on my way up the greasy Tory pole to Westminster – because I bag loads of  dosh for them all over the Guildford and the East – Tory patch so I can become Annie’s replacement? But first – I have my eye on keeping the Tories in power at Waverley?

Don’t they have enough CRANLEIGH people over there to speak up for the New Town? Let us hope here in Farnham we can manage to stump up a few true locals?

We’ve heard over here there is a groundswell of Independent, Residents’ Associations and Liberal Democrat candidates out there seeking to snatch some of those seats in a bid to change the face of Waverley’s Tory dominance. Go girls go.

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Cranleigh Parish Councillor Angela Richardson, Waverley Councillor and Parish Chairman Liz Townsend and Waverley’s Deputy Mayor Mary Foryszewski out pressing the flesh with Cranleigh’s voting fodder. 

 

 

The man the WW tipped to become Surrey County Council’s new Leader was first past the post.

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Former Lawyer and Member for Weybridge Set To Be New County Council Leader

Will he? Won’t he? Try and snatch his badge back?

Tim Oliver, the Conservative county councillor for Weybridge, and Leader of Elmbridge, the wealthiest borough in the county, will be the new leader of Surrey County Council. , replacing David Hodge. 

He replaces Mr David Hodge who steps down on December 11 (2018) when Cllr Oliver’s appointment as council leader will get the go-ahead. 

Cllr Oliver said: “I am delighted to have been elected leader of the Conservative Group for Surrey County Council and I would like to thank my fellow Conservative county councillors for providing me with this honour.

“I pay tribute to the excellent work my predecessor David Hodge has done during his leadership. My focus now is on representing the group and working to serve the residents of Surrey to the best of my abilities.”

The four-horse race was between Waverley’s Western Villages David Harmer, the present deputy leader; John Furey (Addlestone); Elmbridge council leader Cllr Oliver; and Graham Ellwood (Guildford East).

The result was overwhelmingly in favour of Cllr Oliver, the cabinet member with responsibility for health and wellbeing. 

Graham Ellwood’s unsuccessful bid may have in part been due to his slightly poorer attendance record than other candidates.

 As mentioned in WW’s previous post-Cranleigh & Eastern Villages Councillor Povey was expected to throw his hat into the ring. However, he pulled out of the race after he realised he had little, or no, support.

The new leader ’s career was as a lawyer in his company, The Parabis Group, which it is believed once employed more than 1,900 people across the UK, went into administration in 2015, “owing almost £50 million to more than 2,500 unsecured creditors”, according to the Law Gazette.

The Lawyer reported in 2016 that Mr Oliver received £16.9 million for his stake in the Parabis business when it was acquired by private equity firm Duke Street before its collapse.

It also added that Mr Oliver said: “… a ‘considerable sum’ was reinvested back into Parabis to fund acquisitions, but he preferred not to shed more light on precisely what that sum might be”.

Says WW: Perhaps it was reinvested in some of these?

 

Blightwell’s gets yet another bashing – but this time it comes from ‘The Yard’s’ very own developer – Crest Nicholson​.

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Do you think that now even Crest Nicholson is beginning to wish it had never heard of Farnham? And, that Wonersh resident and CN’s Chief Executive Patrick Bergin is hanging his head in shame at his company’s description of the Blightwells scheme!

What is happening to our towns and villages?

 

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Crest Nicholson said recently it expected profits before tax for the year to 31 October to be in the range of £170m/£190m, below its estimate of £204m, which was already below the previous year’s result of £207m.

Its Chief Financial Officer is stepping down from the board leaving the business in the hands of Chairman Stephen Stone and CEO  and Waverley resident Patrick Bergin taking the lead on a new strategy.

 

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Will he? Won’t he? Try and snatch his badge back?

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Has Surrey CC leader candidate Dr Andrew Povey taken his plans for global domination too far?

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Since managing to persuade The Guildford Conservative Association that he should re-enter local politics once more  – Dr Andrew Povey has done pretty much s** all for the people of Ewhurst & Cranleigh.  But then that wasn’t his reason for going back, was it?

He had a score to settle with David Hodge, for daring to jump into the seat he left after receiving a Vote of No Confidence from his Tory colleagues. And, don’t let him fool you that the vote wasn’t official! since when did Tory’s wash their dirty linen in public? The Tory group had been working behind the scenes for months to get rid of their Little Povey. He, of course, thought otherwise saying, Deputy Hodge had resigned because they were  “seeing things differently.” Now with a score to settle, MLP – wants to grab his badge back.mylittlepovey2

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Now, Dr Povey is claiming that “Overall life will be better for the people of Surrey.” Presumably meaning – under his control?

 The people of Cranleigh & Ewhurst sent him back to County Towers because among other things, he pledged he would prevent the onward march of developers? Did he? NO! He told them he would protect their local services – did he NO! Children’s centres closing, the Cranleigh dump reduced hours and up for closure.? What did he – almost – succeed in doing when he was the leader?

Almost succeeded in putting in parking meters in every town and village street in Surrey. And, it is believed, he bought thousands of meters and it cost the county council a shedload of money. Though the figure was never revealed – so another bit of dirty washing that didn’t get hung out on the public line?

Still, fear not readers. There are plenty of other contenders for the Head Honcho at SCC – or so we hear.

Here’s a little run down – if you want to pop down to Bet Fred. Be Quick. We are putting our money on Tim Oliver – however, don’t put a heavy bet on – the WW has never won an argument yet!

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