Still here, and very chuffed to have been on the Liberal Democrat Voice short-list for best new blog of the year (hence the rather fun graphic above).

I didn’t win - the excellent The People’s Republic of Mortimer swept the board with Best New Liberal Democrat Blog, Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year, and best Liberal Democrat posting.  It’s a bit of a blogger’s blog, reminding me of Sf Fanzines of the past, and quite unlike my own rather puritanically limited information-before-opinion approach on this website. To use someone else’s joke, people who like this sort of blog will like this blog - check it out!

The problem with a web site is it goes stale. Looking at the report on Full Council a full eleven days ago is less inspiring now. Even for me.

Formal committee and Council meetings come around in a cycle; in between times there is a drift of meetings, information gathering, and ’casework’. So whenever there is nothing major to report back on, I’m going to bring together a number of these bits under the ‘I’m Still Here’ banner to give some account of what I am doing as a Councillor when not at Council meetings.

It will just be a taster - some things are confidential, some just too fiddly or tediously political to include.

Earlier in the week I visited one of Surrey’s childrens’ homes. County Councillors are in the strange and rather disconcerting position of being ‘corporate parents’ to Surrey’s Looked After Children, which is quite a responsibility.  I was impressed by the staff and the way these children were being cared for. I will come back to write about what we still need to do for Looked After Children fairly soon, but all is far from dark and gloomy.

The Knaphill Residents Association AGM was on Wednesday - a very well organised and well attended event. It was my week for residents’ meetings, because the next evening was the Goldsworth Park Community Association committee meeting - open to all residents of Goldsworth Park - at Goldwater Lodge.

Before the GPCA meeting was the ‘Police Panel’ meeting for Goldsworth Park, when the Neighbourhood Specialist Officer, PC Richard Martin, and his team of Police Community Support Officers held one of the regular open meetings with residents to discuss local issues. Some of the points made:

• There is a ‘Designated Public Place Order’ now in effect on Goldsworth Park (but not the immediate area of Waitrose) which allows the police to remove alcohol from anyone in that area - though they do say this doesn’t mean your wine will be confiscated if you decide to have a bottle with a picnic on the recreation ground.

• There has been a successful plain-clothes operation around the lake and shopping centre over half term. There were no arrests for anti-social behaviour, but a number of youngsters haved had their names and addresses taken, and some parents have been visited.

You can find more details of local policing on Goldsworth Park at:

 http://www.surrey.police.uk/neighbourhood.asp?area=WKGP

I’m also a member of the Management Committee of a Pupil Referral Unit, which had its termly meeting this week.   

Some other concerns

The bus-bollards in Knaphill are still playing up. I contacted SCC about this, the bollards  were mended, and I was told that the mechanism had been altered so that it should be less sensitive - but I notice they were down again today, and cars were driving through. I will follow up again.

Details of an over-large tree that Serco have not dealt with to the satisfaction of those living closest to it have been passed on one of the Borough Councillors to chase.

I am still looking for a Governor for one of the Primary Schools in Knaphill. This is because County Councillors have the opportunity to nominate ‘LEA Governors’ to the Governing Bodies of Community Schools on their ‘patch’. LEA Governors don’t need to have existing connections with that school, only the potential to be a good ’critical friend’ to the school, both supporting and, in the nicest possible way, holding to account the school’s management.

Governors with specialist skills and knowledge outside education can be very valuable. Someone with a good grasp of finance, or knowledge of building can help the Governing Body make better decisions. So can someone who will just sensibly and tactfully bring a fresh point of view into the school.  

If you live in the west of Woking and would be interested in finding out what being a School Governor involves, please contact me on 01483 871909 

This site is intended to be a lot of things … amusing, informative, and above all a personal ‘minority report’ on the convoluted and sometimes surprising workings of Surrey County Council as seen by an ordinary, ‘backbench’ Divisional member, with some extras about Knaphill, Goldsworth West, and Woking as they seem interesting to me.
Please come back soon!