Letter: What Gobbledegook from the SCC Leader

Published on: 18 Apr, 2025
Updated on: 18 Apr, 2025

From Liz Hogger

former Lib Dem borough councillor and chair of Effingham Parish Council

In his letter Local Government Reorganisation Must Strengthen Links Between Communities, the Conservative leader of Surrey County Council Tim Oliver [pictured] says: “…focus local attention on things that matter…” and “…making a real and lasting difference”.

What does that mean? What gobbledegook for so-called community-level boards with umpteen bodies represented but no decision-making power.

Frankly, it sounds like a nightmare talking shop. For the villages, doubtless, hard-pressed parish councils will be left to provide truly local engagement.

As for the “meaningful engagement exercise” to shape the way you can get involved and have your say in all the services your local community needs, to be held after the recommended restructuring has been submitted to central government, words fail me…

Maybe I’m just getting old and cynical.