The Surrey Lib Dem Record of Action and Success 2005-2009

The Liberal Democrat Group on Surrey County Council is the main opposition group.  Over the past four years the Lib Dems have been very active in pushing for positive actions:

• We put pressure on the Conservatives to improve the condition of the roads and pavements. This has led to money being spent on resurfacing more roads. (And more is needed!)
• We urged the Conservatives to tackle the problem of flooding that affects some properties and causes hazards on some Surrey roads.
• We asked the Council to identify the problem areas and to improve road drainage. This resulted in money being allocated to a number of flood prevention schemes.
• We opposed Conservative proposals to cut bus services and as a consequence the cuts have been shelved.
• We led the campaign to oppose the closure of a number of youth centres. This succeeded as the Conservatives backed down and the youth centres were retained.
• We opposed the cut to the number of youth workers resulting from the recruitment freeze in the youth service. As a result, the Conservative administration reversed the decision and lifted the recruitment freeze which meant that youth centres could continue to maintain their opening hours for the benefit of young people.
• We led the opposition to the Conservative proposals to close a number of libraries in Surrey. The Conservative administration did a U-turn and the libraries were retained.
• We have pressed the Conservatives to work with Boroughs and Districts in Surrey to increase the amount of waste that is reduced, re-used and recycled. This is now happening.
• We have consistently opposed mass burn incineration and have called for the County Council to dispose of the remaining waste in the most environmentally friendly way possible. As a result, the Council is now considering different ways of disposing of the remaining waste such as anaerobic digestion and composting.
• We pressed Surrey County Council as a major employer and as a Council representing a significant number of UK residents to urgently take a leadership role and act to reduce Surrey’s impact on climate change. As a consequence, two years later, the Conservative administration has produced a strategy on climate change.
• As the only effective opposition on Surrey County Council, we have kept up the pressure on the Conservative administration to ensure that they were held accountable for their actions.

For more about making Surrey County Council more caring and effective over the coming four years, see the Liberal Democrat programme of action for Surrey 2009-2013