Letter: Welcome Back Dragon

Published on: 18 Aug, 2026
Updated on: 18 Aug, 2026

From Bernard Quoroll

Former local authority CEO

The current drought has been much more than just about the weather.

Since our local online newspaper has been “off the air”, residents have been deprived of up-to-date news about what many public bodies have been doing in their name, and I am sure, much to the relief of some people who purport to represent us.

Important conversations via the letters page on local topical issues have withered on the vine. Local news and insight have gone on the back burner. Oh, and our local police service looks like being rolled up into some distant regional uniformed branch of the Home Office without a peep from the people they are supposed to serve. Has anyone noticed? It is the opposite of devolution. Policing by consent will become a thing of the past.

At such times we get to understand what it feels like to be in the dark and how much we all rely on the Dragon team to keep us informed and to pursue the mammoth task of holding those who represent us to account.

I for one still have a long list of issues which I believe deserve answers ranging from the still buried housing finance fiasco to what is being planned in our name by the shadow “West Surrey and South Middlesex Council “as it has now apparently been named without any reference to the 660,000 or so residents who live here. How did Spelthorne which is really part of London, acquire such clout?

As no one has bothered to consult us, should we not now have a plebiscite to find a name we can all support? Meanwhile I propose a name to start the ball rolling. How about the “Guildford, Runnymede, South Middlesex, Surrey Heath, Waverley and Woking Council”?

And what about the proud boast of the new administration that it would introduce within three weeks of their first meeting, the most localising agenda ever seen in local politics? I must have blinked.

This is only the tip of an iceberg. In all our interests let’s hope we are now back to some kind of normality. We are lucky to have The Dragon which runs on a shoestring, and much poorer without it.

Responses to Letter: Welcome Back Dragon

John Ferns Reply

August 19, 2026 at 1:37 pm

Welcome back, Bernard.

I’m with you on the name change. The addition of Spelthorne to West Surrey was bad enough. But let’s not forget that Spelthorne arrived carrying more than £1 billion of borrowing. To then demand a name change for the rest of us really does add insult to injury — and, frankly, outrage.

Something that might not have happened quite so easily or quickly had The Dragon been around to ask the awkward questions.

Perhaps the new leaders of the new shadow council might now stand up and explain when they first became aware of the proposal, who promoted it, and what consultation — if any — took place with the other five constituent councils before they adopted it?
Jack Bayliss Reply

August 19, 2026 at 2:50 pm

I entirely agree. Welcome back Guildford Dragon. But I think that the name suggested for the council is much too long. My suggestion is Newark Priory Surrounds Council.

Newark Priory is ancient and historic, thus preserving a bit of our history; it is roughly in the centre of the are of responsibility of the new council; and although there are a couple of other Newarks the nearest and furthest south is near Peterborough.