Denzil Coulson

In Executive papers tabled for the Tory-controlled Executive meeting on Thursday 23 July, the proposals state that “the Council join with Guildford Borough Council in the procurement of Leisure Services at the Leisure Centre and Pool in the Park”. This includes setting up a Board that “will be requested to prepare a shadow bid for both a continuing directly operated service and an option for a Council owned (either solely or jointly with GBC) not for profit trust bid.”

Guildford Liberal Democrats have already opposed the decision by Guildford Tories and have called-in the Executive papers to allow Guildford residents the chance to voice their views about the future of the Spectrum. Woking residents too must have a say in the future of Woking Leisure Centre and I too will be requesting that this Executive decision is called-in after tomorrow night’s meeting. The papers on the leisure centre tendering can be found at this link.

You, as members of the public, can attend the Council Executive meeting on Thursday 23 July after the short Full Council Meeting at 7pm in the Council Chamber. We must make the point that the public have a right to be consulted about whether Woking Leisure Centre should be put up for sale or not.

I personally believe that the Leisure Centre should remain in public hands as I do not believe that the Council will be able to control what happens in terms of service provision should anything go wrong. In fact, the evidence in favour of leisure trusts is not good with even the Audit Commission stating that service provision standards and perceived financial savings are poorer out of public hands. You can find the full report against leisure trusts at this link here.

Please vote in my Leisure Centre survey using the VOTE button on the left.

The Surrey Police Authority are faced with a potential £3 million financial hole thanks to bungled political games between a Labour Government and a Tory-controlled police authority. Earlier this year, the underfunded Surrey Police Authority, two thirds of whose members are Conservative, decided to defy the Government by raising their council tax precept by £1.6 million above the 5% Government precept capping regime. This month, the Government foreseeably capped the police, which has now forced a re-billing of Council Tax payers to the tune of £1.2 million!

In effect, what this means is that a Band D council taxpayer will pay £3.24 less on their annual tax bill. This translates to a saving of just 6 pence per week! Coupled with the police authority’s legal bills trying to fight the cap, Surrey Police are now faced with a potential £3 million hole in their finances - money that they needed to spend to protect the public. What a waste these Labour/Tory political games have caused to the local council taxpayer!

The relevant council paper can be found at this link here.

Woking’s waste and recycling collection service will change in September. The main change is to the garden waste collection service, which is a subscription service of £35 per year for an extra garden waste wheelie bin. There will also be a food waste collection service. Whilst I welcome the food waste collection, I did not support the subscription service for garden waste because most residents in Goldsworth Park do not generate that amount of garden waste to make up for the cost of the £35 equivalent in garden waste sacks. A further reason is that this makes the service unaffordable to residents on low incomes who want to recycle.

My other major concern is how the sharing of a wheelie bin amongst residents will be managed including the management of a joint subscription. You can find some of the information at the Woking Council link here. I will keep you informed about any further developments.

Recently, I and local full-time carer, Mrs Lorna Murray, secured a temporary discount for carers at Woking Leisure Centre, after this had been taken away by the Conservative-controlled Council on 31 March this year. Prior to this, all carers were able to swim for a £1.

 Mrs Lorna Murray submitted a question to the Council asking whether the Tories would re-instate this discount permanently for all carers, as carers are entitled to respite and keeping fit and healthy so that they can carry out their full-time responsibilities effectively. Lorna’s husband and disabled daughter, Naomi, were also present.  

Lorna Murray said:  “If you give carers the discount that’s so important for them, this allows carers to take responsibility for their health. If a carer’s health goes down, it costs the local council and local health authority an awful lot of money. I do have 1st hand experience of this, when I was seriously ill in hospital last year for 3 weeks. When your leg turns blue and purple and you’re having to learn to walk over again, you know you’re in very big trouble when you are a full-time carer.” 

When I first met Lorna and Naomi, I was truly struck by how much carers have to look after their loved ones 24/7. Carers and disabled people are not a balance sheet but real people, who are adversely affected by insensitive Tory cuts. I will keep fighting until this discount is made permanent to allow all carers to swim for a £1.

Vandalism in Goldsworth Park is out of control. Late in June, this skateboard ramp was daubed with a mixture of green and yellow paint. Not only that but the brand new parking lot was defaced with offensive graffiti (see below). Thankfully the graffiti was promptly removed by SERCO within days after I reported this damage to our neighbourhood officer.

I was also shocked to learn that someone was seen in broad daylight on the roof of Goldwater Lodge stripping lead beneath the roof tiles. He ran away before anyone could try to catch him. The cost to repair this is going to be high. 

At a recent Police Panel meeting, I listened to residents and voiced my strong concerns about the wanton vandalism committed in Goldsworth Park Recreation ground and urged the police to take more action to catch the perpetrators to patrol the area over the weekends, particularly at night. I also stated that had we had CCTV installed at Goldwater Lodge a few years ago, we may have avoided this wanton destruction. The cost of the damage has, in my view, far outweighed the cost of installing the CCTV in the first place.

It is time for the Council and Police to act and I raised my concerns with Council Leader, John Kingsbury at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, to address this issue as a matter of urgency. I will keep you informed about any further developments.