MVDC and lost level playing field

The Dorking Advertiser devotes two pages to the good news that Leatherhead is to receive some £300,000 to improve Leatherhead's High Street and Church Street, this will be a combination of MVDC money and a grant from SCC. A further £50,000 will be made available for street art, e.g. perhaps a swan sculpture or a memorial to one of the the town's more famous people.

Nobody could wish Leatherhead anything but well and they are certainly very fortunate to have benefited from MVDC's act of largesse; curious is it not that the same council could not afford £6,000 for Dorking's floral decorations this summer and has had to impose a flat £1 charge to park in certain Dorking car parks in the evening - because of financial restraints of course.

It would seem MVDC is not aware of the need for there to be level playing fields.

Forget being born with a silver spoon in your mouth, far better to have been born in the north of our district.

Pepin

Dorking and our county council

Although our local media has commented upon it (in particular the Surrey Advertiser) I have been fascinated by the reaction, or more precisely lack of reaction, to Michael Frater's recent report on Surrey County Council who it should be remembered have been responsible for regularly bringing Dorking to a halt.

Following the sudden resignation of the chief executive of SCC last November and the subsequent resignation of the leader of the council a man called Michael Frater was brought in to act as interim chief executive - a position he occupied until the end of June.

Frater has had a very distinguished career in local government and was awarded a CBE in recognition of his service to local government. When Frater's term of office ended after six months he prepared a report summarising his views of how the council operates, among his conclusions are:

• The bosses were "superior and arrogant"
• The council runs on the basis of blame and bullying
• Is unsophisticated
• Is in denial following its demotion to a one star authority
• Is bureaucratic
• Lacks vision and strategy
• Has an absence of leadership
• Worst case of financial mismanagement he (Frater) had seen
• There is a whole systems failure

The report was on the agenda to be discussed at SCC's July 14 meeting as item six. At the meeting this item was not discussed.

Although it's quite well hidden away the report is on SCC website and provided you're not a nervous type you can read it, go to: SCC website, click 'Your Council' on the home page, the 'Councillors & Committees' then 'Cabinet', then 'What's being discussed' and then 14.7.09 meeting, agenda item six. Here you will find Frater's 12-page report - quite simply it's devastating.

And to think that during the last 12-years this wretched council that boasts of being one of Britain's largest and best authorities has been effectively wasting our money which amounts to about £1billion every year - what miserable lot, hopefully the new management will do a little bit better.

Self satisfied MVDC

My eye was caught by a message from MVDC enclosed with the recently revised council tax bill: "A message to all our resident...THANK YOU". Following a survey of 2,500 people residents LAST AUTUMN MVDC announces that the council is among the best performing councils in the country!

MVDC tell us:

• No less than 81% of people are satisfied with our parks and open spaces
• 76% of people liked our recycling service
• 74% of people were satisfied with our refuse service

All this from a council that went on to increase their element of the council tax by 4.9%, fractionally below the level that would have resulted in the government stepping in. A council that decided Dorking did not need any floral displays this year; a council that set a first in Surrey, i.e. choosing to charge for parking in the evening; a council that went on to spend £250,000 refurbishing their own reception area. I could go on and on but I suspect many people already know what MVDC is guilty of especially favouring areas in the north of the district - the heartland of the council's controlling Conservative councillors - no evening parking charges there!

I would like to have seen the rest of the survey results they boast of above and I would like to see the results of the same survey run today!

The Dorking Advertiser

Like all local papers the Dorking Advertiser has its good weeks and its not so good weeks, but to be fair it has been going through a good spell with regard to parking issues in the town - it just will not let the issue die, which is more than can be said for the Chamber of Commerce. If silence really can be deafening the the Dorking CofC have succeeded.

Mole Valley and its councillors

The manner in which Dorking is being treated by the councillors on MVDC is nothing short of appalling - I should qualify that statement since the town's councillors (all LibDems - and no, I'm not a LibDem supporter) have constantly opposed the Conservative's controlling group's more silly plans - like a £1 charge on anyone using the two car parks at the eastern end of the town, i.e. Dorking Halls and the council staff car park (used free of charge by the staff Monday to Friday). The stupidity of this charge is revealed by the fact that most of the monet will be spent on wages for a parking enforcement officer - I believe in another language that's a good old fashioned parking warden.

Nowhere else in the Mole Valley is there a charge for evening parking - in fact just about everywhere in Surrey is free in the evening. What has Dorking done to deserve this rotten treatment? Why is MVDC prepared to invest in Leatherhead and Ashtead - in fact just about anywhere in the district except Dorking? Why, given the dreadful state that Dorking's town centre is in, did the council decide to withdraw funding of about £6,000 for town centre floral decorations? One could go on and on...

Isn't it about time the town's traders demanded a meeting with MVDC and an explanation of the apparently unfair treatment?