New Year Round Up

Wednesday 18th January

Happy New Year!

The work continues apace locally. The winter has seen a number of issues continuing and new ones coming to light. Herewith a sum up of whats been going on;

Windlesham Suregry

A number of locally interested residents have taken up the baton in order to see if there might be a solution to the proposed closure of the Windlesham Doctor's Suregry. Less a surgery and more of a consulting room, the Lightwater Surgery principals, who run the Windlesham rooms, notified residents that the service was to close. As outlined below in another blog post, this decision was a particularly unpopular one, and I was asked in October 2011 to chair a public meeting on the subject.
The interested residents came up with a number of possible solutions to the closure and listened to residents views on the subject. The most interesting arrangements involved the proposed pavilion, but what was abundntly clear was that the Windlesham residents didn't want to have to go to Lightwater.

Bagshot Library

The Friends of Bagshot Library have continued their sterling work in continuing with the unpopular Community Partnership arrangement in respect of keeping the libarary running. Over the Summer and autumn, a number of us have discussed alternative ideas, but it appears that the best solution for the library and for Bagshot residents, is for a rota of volunteers to take on some of the opening hours. What remains are significant discussions into the details of that arrangement, including leases, professional staff retention and IT hardware.

Snow.

Preparations this year have been doubled in order to avoid the nightmares of the past few years. The County Council has doubled its supplies this year and provided the Borough with 40 tons of salt for local provision. There remains some question over grit bin location - some which physically exist on the roadside don't exist on central records and some which exist on central records aren't on the roadside. I am advised thouh that county officers are looking into this as I write.
All recorded bins have been restocked.

Youth Service

There continues to be a reworking of the County Council Youth Service in order to attract the 'buy in' and management of outside agencies. This has raised concerns among many within the service. However, subsequent take up by some local charitable organisations such as the Y - who will provide an umbrella service for a number of elements of the service - has been encouraging. as ever, it is the detail that remains to be worked upon, and I remain confident that this is in safe hands.

Busy Bee

Thursday 3rd November

Its been something of a month.
More Bagshot library meetings, discussions about changes to the Youth Service, ongoing plans regards the Windlesham Doctor's Surgery, the A30 bus lane, the Red Road speed limit and lots more; I haven't yet mentioned the Leadership and Cabinet changes at County Hall!

So, this is just a quick note to let you all know that while the blog seems somewhat idle at present, your County Councillor has not been so.

More detailed updates when I have a quiet moment.

Windlesham Doctor's Surgery.

Wednesday 21st September

I've said this a couple of times publicly recently, so I'll repeat it here again.
Its pretty wretched being an elected representative at present. Time and again I am asked to assist with a cut to a service, or a closure of something else, or the repair of a road, etc etc, and regrettably the answer is almost always the same: the government don't have any surplus money.

This goes for government both centrally and locally. The County Council are undertaking and implementing cuts as part of their PVR work in order to save £1m per week of the annual budget. And that is impacting across all areas.

Clearly though, this form of review is not limited to the public service. Involved in property as one of my own business interests, we have had to make radical changes in order to adapt to a change in demand and a lack of monetary supply across the mortgage and investment markets. Life has changed and business has changed. And so, while lamentable to hear, it is no real surprise to me to hear now that the Windlesham Doctor's Surgery - run as a business as surgeries are these days - is now potentially about to close.

I attended a consultation meeting on Wednesday where the doctors put the case to a Windlesham Link packed with local residents, councillors and other interested parties.
It was pretty bleak.
Seemingly, to put the pre-fab buildings into something resembling a state of the art surgery would cost in the region of £150,000. To buy the freehold interest from the current landowner would cost approximatekly £100,000. So would be £150,000 in order to keep the status quo and a further £100,000 to secure the interest in the property once redevelopment had taken place. At £100 per patient, the Windlesham surgery alone would need 2500 new patients to cover the cost of the renovations alone.
Thus, the doctors had decided that it was a better investment of capital to expand the surgery at Lightwater in order to bring it up to a 'state of the art' medical centre and deal with any future patient increase at Lightwater.

A sound business case. But a deeply unpopular move with residents, as evidenced by a lot of jeering - unjustified in my opinion - and barracking of the speaker, Adrian Davis, who repeated his regret and his continued commitment to provide a first class medical service in the area.

However, there remains a potential light at the end of the tunnel in respect of keeping a doctor in Windlesham. Cllrs Sturt & Harris recently discussed with me the remodelling of the pavilion at the Field of Remembrance. The subject of a future blog post, it is currently at the plans stage, and a suggestion was made to install a multi-function and compliant consulting room within this new building. This suggestion, if workable, would not only keep a doctor within Windlesham, subject to certain conditions, but may also free up car parking space in the village.

Its all just embryonic at present, but watch this space.

Bagshot Library Ctd...

Thursday 15th September

I had the opportunity to attend a pair of meetings last week as part of the continued efforts to save Bagshot Library.

I say save - the County Council Leadership have, as part of the money saving exercises required to save £1m per week across all County departments, elected to encourage the smaller libraries to form Community Partnership models once they have been removed from the larger strategic network.
The arguments for and against such a move have been discussed on this blog and elsewhere and while I personally believe that there would have been other ways to move forward with the partnership model, I'm now trying to assist the organisation of a solution which keeps a library presence in Bagshot.

First up was Wednesdays 'Communities Scrutiny Committee' at County Hall. The Libraries came up again - specifically the dates in respect of the existing partnerships arrangements; the new strategic network; and the future of the remaining libraries, including Lightwater.
I spoke again of my concerns, but pushed for our committee to have a final say in respect of any closure dates for the 11 Community Partnership libraries, in the event that a workable partnership solution cannot be fully in place by the various cut off dates. It was a concern shared by the chairman and an amendment to the recommendation was proposed and subsequently carried by the committee.

I was subsequently invited to a public meeting held by 'The Friends of Bagshot Library' who have been the loudest local organisational voice in support of Bagshot Library to date.
Ably chaired by the ubiquitous Meurig Williams, we were shown a number of options explored by 'the Friends', followed by a question & answer session. It was clear that there was a lot of animosity from local people regards the future of the library in spite of the efforts of the Friends and others to come up with a solution.

I spoek briefly about making sure we had a workable proposal to put to the Library Service in order to ensure Bagshoit retained a library presence. Similarly, other speakers spoke of alternative options, but one thing remained clear; a broader solution is probably going to be required if we are going to make the best of the resources that the county side of the partnership are going to continue to remain to support.

I have a few ideas that I'm currently woirking on in respect of making the Library part of a larger 'Bagshot Community Hub', but more of that later.

Life goes on in Lightwater.

Wednesday 9th August


Fortunately for this part of the world, we have so far been spared any of the violence recently seen in London and other parts of the UK. Frankly, while the images are absolutely dumbfounding, I happen to believe that some of this behaviour is somewhat inevitable, due to a complex set of circumstances that have arisen as a result of a society where social responsibility approaches its low water mark. But I can blog more about that another time.

I was delighted to be asked to the junction of Curley Hill Road and High View Road last week by Cllr Surinder Gandhum, who had been called by a resident as a contractor was moving the road signs. Seemingly, there is a little disagreement about which road is which at that junction; formerly, both roads were accessed from MacDonald Road, but since the 1970's and the installation of an Electric Sub Station, High View Road has been diverted into Curley Hill Road.

Or so it was thought. Confusion still abounds. High View Road signs had been erected on Curley Hill Road when they maybe shouldn't have, further exacerbated by the loss by vandalism of one of the signs. Small potatoes you might think, but a number of residents were particularly upset about it.
So, while the validity of each road is explored, I suggested to the contractor and council officers that we might erect the signs as you see above;, i.e. to show each road from where the house entrances begin. We can change the signs if required when a formal response is forthcoming from the Highways department.

Back @ BackMac & a New Local Political Surgery

Monday 1st August.

Apologies blog readers. No, I haven't been in the pub for three months, although frankly some of the recent and ongoing current events are so unbelievable, one has to check oneself to ensure its not all some boozy hallucination.

I have been working for you on a number of issues and have been spending a fair bit of time up in Kingston at County Hall in addition to being out & about locally, so this is just an update to remind everyone that I'm still here and still available to discuss the local issues that matter to you.

Now - back to 'The Half Moon'. Cllr Conrad Sturt, proprietor, has kindly offered part of his premises to me to hold a regular 'surgery' for all or any residents to come and see me to discuss the issues that matter, in much the same way as Michael Gove MP and his monthly 'surgeries'. Its very much at the embryonic stage, but the idea is to take one Saturday AM per month and make appointments with local residents on a first come first served basis.

For further information or to make an appointment, give me a call on 7854195199, or email at stuart.macleod@surreycc.gov.uk
Altrnatively, since its 2011, you can contact me through Twitter, by clicking on the link at the top right of this page, or searching under '@macleodsj'

We very much look forward to seeing you.

Royal Wedding Fever

Friday 29th April

Yes. I caught the fever.

I raised the flag at home, donned the most british item I had in the wardrobe and having watched the wedding, marched the family down into Bagshot to attend the wedding day street party.
Perhaps it was the balmy weather; perhaps it was the cool, refreshing beverages; perhaps it was the superb effort made by organisers & attendees; or perhaps it was simply the occasion, but a great time was had by all.

Many thanks to Glyn Carpenter of the BBA and all who assisted in making it happen. And thanks to Cllr John May, the Mayor of Surrey Heath, who also attended and got into the spirit. It was certainly the best public event I've been to in Bagshot and I'm looking forward to the next one being even better.

Local Elections & the AV Business

Thursday 5th May

Here we are again: Canvassing completed. Leaflet deliveries undertaken. Flag-boards up. Rosettes dusted off. Yes, election day has cometh.

Locally, I sense that the Conservative Party is on pretty safe ground. The canvassing that Natalie, Rebecca & I have undertaken seems to suggest so, with even some past Liberal voters either pledging Tory support or suggesting that they may not actually go out to vote this time. At least in Lightwater.

Notwithstanding the massive poll drop in Liberal support nationwide, I also think that the local Labour & Liberal Party machines have made a mistake in not coming to some sort of agreement regards the location of their respective candidates. By both parties standing their candidates in Tory marginal wards, the effect will be to split the anti-Tory vote & thereby actually return Conservative candidates in those wards. Bagshot, Frimley Green & Mytchett may very well be blue by tomorrow afternoon, with the Conservative Party maintaining and in fact increasing it's majority at the Town Hall.

It will be interesting to watch the new Councillors make their respective marks thereafter.

The only negative spectre I can forsee is that of a low turnout. Local elections generally receive the least public interest in terms of voters heading out to the polling stations, with the result that little over of a quarter of the electorate actually vote. I find this to be a great shame, for even though the Borough & Parish responsibilities are fairly limited, one can truly influence the decisions these bodies make by way of electing one's local member.

And as for AV? Well, see below.
For me its either 'First Past the Post' or 'Full Proportional Representation'.
Not this AV hybrid.
And not a system that saw Ed Miliband elected as the Labour Leader.

See you at the Polling Station!


PS -
Natalie MacLeod & Rebecca Jennings-Evans are the Conservative Parish candidates for Lightwater West.

A Question of Priorities

Tuesday 26th April

I read a letter this morning in this week's 'Camberley News & Mail' and felt compelled to write. It may not be published by the newspaper, but herewith the letter.



"A Question of Priorities

Dear Sir,

I sympathise with a great deal that Mrs Williams has to say specifically regards the economic challenges currently facing Bagshot (Letters, April 22nd), although I sense her formidable memory has omitted the manner by which rosettes of all colours have supported - and continue to support - the interests of Bagshot.
Regrettably for Bagshot, the situation is as described: an ever decreasing circle, fast becoming a 'ghost town' as businesses - and banks - depart, causing residents to similarly look elsewhere for local amenities.
Indeed the case of the library, which will require significant local support in terms of users and volunteers in order to remain open come September, has in many residents' eyes become the last straw, with closure - if it comes to that - becoming another reason for visitors to go elsewehere. If it sounds bleak, it's because it is. Another 'destination facility' at risk adding to that sense of impending doom. Having discussed this with residents and local volunteer groups I remain hopeful that a community sourced solution can be achieved, but the future is not yet certain. This cut might yet hurt.

However, the cuts must be taken in context. Notwithstanding the looming scandal of just how much of one's council tax is spent elswhere in the COUNTRY and Mrs Williams' concerns about 'ring-fenced' funding at County Hall, the County Council is having to make substantial savings in the face of savage cuts to the central government grants. It is not only the library budget being scrutinised - most budgets at the CC have been reviewed and let me confirm - no cuts are popular. But if cuts are deemed necessary once all budgets have been reviewed, then I personally would rather see them in areas where the community can have a chance to fill the gap, as in the case of the library and part-time volunteer requirements, rather than in areas such as Children's Social Care, Vulnerable Adults etc, where the community frankly, cannot.

Best Regards
SM


Stuart MacLeod CC
Conservative.

County Councillor representing the Surrey Division of Windlesham, Bagshot & Lightwater

www.backmac.org.uk"

First Past the Post

Tuesday 19th April

While out on the doorsteps this week, the subject on a majority of voter's lips was the 'Voting Referendum' rather than any pressing local issues. Seemingly, there is a great deal of confusion regards the referendum and the controversy surrounding each choice.

Herewith the BBC explanation of the issues:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11243595

The Party take on it is to vote 'No' to AV. Personally, I'm accord with that stance, although for slightly different reasons. And this is basically because what is proposed is in my opinion a compromise arrangement rather than any kind of overhaul. AV as proposed remains a 'majoritarian' voting system - i.e. Candidates are still required to secure a majority of the votes cast whether they are first, second, third or fourth choices.

Frankly, unless the voting system is going to be radically changed - and by that I mean that every taxpayer in the land gets one vote in a PR system - then there's really no point in changing our current system. As proposed, the AV system does nothing to address the concerns of the existing 'First Past the Post' system, but certainly adds further complications.

This is the main problem with the proposed system in that the second, third, fourth choices of voters who supported eliminated candidates are counted, so giving an unequal treatment to the total number of votes cast. As proposed it is entirely likely that the leading candidate from the first preference votes will be at a significant disadvantage: their supporters will not have their subsequent preferences considered, while other non-first choice candidates will have.

But there's another reason that I abhor this compromise arrangement: it was an AV system that allowed Ed Miliband to take the leadership of the Labour party, now providing a woeful opposition at Westminster.

And that's reason enough for me.