Letter: Hard Work Pledge From Guildford North’s New Champion

Published on: 11 May, 2021
Updated on: 11 May, 2021

From: Julia McShane

Lib Dem county councillor for Guildford North and borough councillor for Westborough

In response to: Challenges Set For Lib Dem Winner, While Wishing Her Luck

As the new county councillor for Guildford North, I am very grateful to the residents who have put their trust in me to represent them. I know I will need to work hard to deserve the support of those who did not vote for me and I will be a strong voice for everyone in Stoughton, Stoke (Bellfields, Weyfield and Slyfield).

I am very much looking forward to working with you, so I was pleased to see Chris O’Keeffe’s Dragon letter wishing me well and offering his view on what he would like to see done in the area.

But I found disappointing that, as a resident of Stoke, he seems unaware the two borough council seats in Stoke are held by Labour. As the new county councillor, I am more than happy to pick up any issues they may be missing, to work with them and the community on local concerns, and support residents in reporting problems such as graffiti to the borough council.

I absolutely agree with Mr O’Keeffe about Stoke roads being in an unacceptable condition. The poor state of the road surface in Riverside has been raised with Surrey County Council Highways in a previous enquiry by Mr O’Keeffe.

The road was inspected but did not appear to meet the criteria set by SCC. I wonder if he is fully aware a fellow Conservative is the cabinet member for Highways responsible for such decisions?

Having been a borough councillor for 10 years, I have a proven record of being a strong voice for my community and of working with residents to help solve their problems and worries. I have every intention of doing more of that for and with the residents of Guildford North and I hope the Conservative administration at Surrey County Council will respond positively to our expectations of them.

The Liberal Democrats are the party of community councillors, residents working hard for and with other residents to address all the issues that affect our lives and community. We gained seats across Surrey in the recent elections and we will certainly be a strong voice for our residents on the council.

We will hold the weakened Conservative administration to account and argue the case for better services in all areas, including my Guildford North.

Responses to Letter: Hard Work Pledge From Guildford North’s New Champion

Jacob Allen Reply

May 11, 2021 at 3:40 pm

Cllr McShane implies Labour is neglecting the issues present in Stoke. Could she remind us who she is replacing at the county level? And at what local government level highways is dealt with?

Jacob Allen was the Labour candidate for Guildford South West in the SCC election
Cllr James Walsh Reply

May 11, 2021 at 9:23 pm

Bit of a low blow there from Julia McShane. As my party colleague Jacob Allen says, there has been a Lib Dem councillor representing Stoke for many years and the poor state of roads falls under the county council remit, not borough. Believe me, I would wholly support this being the responsibility of GBC so we could have a good crack at it.

I’d be interested to know what representations Ms Iles’ predecessor made on this frustrating issue. My fellow councillor Angela Gunning and I are more than happy to add a borough perspective to any Cllr McShane makes in her new role.
Chris O'Keeffe Reply

May 12, 2021 at 8:45 am

I am pleased by Julia McShane’s commitment but the notion that because the borough council and county council are not entirely dominated by the Liberal Democrats seems a poor defence because the Lib Dem’s have represented Guildford North at SCC for years and have controlled GBC for quite some time.

If you are elected, people expect you to uphold your pledges. The focus is clearly whether Liberal Democrats will be able to get things done, they can not keep blaming everyone else.

As a local resident of Bellfields I genuinely wish Julia the best of luck.

Chris O’Keeffe was the Conservative candidate for Guildford North in the recent SCC election.