Questions and Answers

Written Questions submitted to Full Council is the only sure way to get a response even if the response is one you do not want to accept. To reflect the frustration and anger felt by residents I put a series of written questions before Full Council on the 16th July making a case for CCTV , management of top-heavy overgrown trees, mould on the frontages of the maisonettes in Lakeview , replacement Dog Bins, and for continued provision of Mother & Toddler spaces in the Town's Car Parks.

The first I will cover.

"Does the Leader agree that zero tolerance is the only way to tackle antisocial behaviour that results in criminal damage and that the Council as "partners" are committed to assisting the police and the community?

1. What has been the cost of vandalism in Goldsworth Park to the new Children's Play area, new car park by the Recreation Ground, damage to the roof of Goldwater Lodge and the fire by the lake.

2. Will the Council now seriously consider providing CCTV facilities in that area"

The Answer from the Leader of the Council, Cllr Kingsbury

" The Council deals robustly with reports of antisocial behaviour through a range of approaches, such as low level interventions ( including home visits and acceptable behaviour contracts), education and enforcement. This allows us a flexible approach to provide suitable responses to a range of different circumstances. Early interventions that are sometimes as simple as providing suitable advice can be very effective. This is supportive of Surrey Police's policy on Neighbourhood Policing and many of our home visits are joint ones with police colleagues. This wide ranging approach also helps in gathering information and intelligence which enables us to target the right people.

At the time of writing detailed costs are not available relating to specific acts of vandalism although a proportion of such costs would be met through normal contract arrangements such as graffiti removal.

There are no immediate proposals to install CCTV at this location and at present time our efforts are concentrated upon a multi agency approach for this area coordinated by the Joint Action Group, which is a multi agency group established in accordance the Council's Crime and Disorder responsibilities. There is a meeting of the Woking Partnership next week and I will arrange for this issue to be discussed with partners"

I was allowed a supplementary

" Considering that all the measures outlined above have been tried in Goldsworth Park for months, even years, and have obviously failed to deliver what we as a community expect will the Leader make the strongest representations on our behalf at the Woking Partnership Meeting "

He will.

Incidentally another meeting of Full Council has been called on July 23rd to set a revised Council Tax for 2009/10 following the substitute precept determined by Surrey Police Authority having being capped by the Government. I have taken this opportunity to submit another Question to the Leader asking if he has found out the cost of the vandalism as it is now a week on and if there is any news from the Woking Partnership Meeting.

The irony about this meeting is the Police Authority ignored the Government when it was indicated that they would be capped. The Government will indeed be blamed, but the Police Authority could have heeded the warning but chose to go ahead anyway. They then applied for a costly judicial review of the capping. The judge turned down the Police Authority's application on 17th July. The paper before Borough Councillors on Thursday states the Council has no choice in the matter but to agree the revised precept. Officer advice is that it would be unlawful. We had no say in the setting of it, no say in their choice to ignore the Government or indeed in the Government's choice to cap, no choice about going to judicial review, and no say in the type of services the police will cut as a result. Yet we will have to no doubt put up with continued damage and disturbance within our community with less bobbies on the beat and will no doubt continue to get answers like the one I had above.

Update on Changes to the Waste Collection Service.

The oversight panel met in June and discussions with Biffa Waste Services are still taking place to iron out the detail.

Garden Waste collection which is an opt-in scheme for which there will be a charge.

Leaflets are being prepared about the forthcoming changes and will be available by the end of July.

The Council will begin to take payment for the new service from 1/9/09. Collections will begin on Monday 2/11/09 and during the changeover period clear plastic sacks will be collected until 18th December.

New Contract

The collection day will change and all households will receive a "Day Change Letter" explaining the revised collection day/week.

Batteries

A plastic envelope will be enclosed with the "Day Change Letter" . This will be used for household batteries. Once the envelope is full it can be left out for collection on recycling week, starting immediately.

Food waste

Collection will start the final week of January 2010. There appears to be no clear answer to what happens to the food waste by way of disposal.