Local Meeting in Bagshot

Thursday, 26th March 2009

Last night saw the convening of a special meeting of the 'Bagshot Society', to which I was cordially invited by the chairman, Glyn Carpenter. Glyn is a great asset to Bagshot and in addition to her refreshement facility in the High Street, has been spearheading the efforts in respect of the closure of the Nationwide Building Society. Each year the 'Bagshot Society' invites local councillors to answer questions in an open forum and the meeting was very well attended with a number of local issues being raised:

- The closure of the 'Nationwide' banking facility
- The provision of a bus service into West London
- The requirement for a decrease in business rates
- The imposition of car parking charges
- The progress of individual planning applications
- The new forthcoming refuse collection service

Meetings like these are invaluable in raising the awareness of local issues and provide a useful interface between local people and their elected representatives. While some of the issues rasied last night are already being worked on, the meeting certainly gave me a warm feeling about local support and the future of Bagshot.