John Cope

After a hard-fought battle to stop the opening up of our local Green Belt to development, we are pleased to see the Lib Dems that run the Council finally back down following our lengthy campaign with local residents to demand the Green Belt is protected.

Recently over 6,000 people signed a petition to demand Elmbridge Council scrap their plans to close the Cecil Hepworth Playhouse. Thank you to everyone who signed the petition and all the local campaigners that led an amazing effort which forced the Council to stop closure.

The choice by the Liberal Democrat and political "Resident Associations" that run Elmbridge Council to hit residents with the maximum rise in Council Tax could have been avoided if the administration was on top of the finances and had a proper plan to lead the Council.

After years of dither and delay the Liberal Democrats who run Elmbridge Council in a coalition with the residents associations put forward a draft Local Plan only for their own legal advice to block it as legally indefensible.

This puts our local green belt at huge risk. 

Local high streets, families, and small businesses are set to be hit by a huge hike in parking charges from Elmbridge Borough Council and an end to free Sunday parking.

The Liberal Democrats and their allies who have governed Elmbridge Council for years were challenged by Conservative councillors over their continued failure to reinstate garden waste collections for thousands of residents. Cllr John Cope asked if the offer of help from Runnymede has been explored, receiving the inexplicable answer that is had not with the Council Leader even claiming to still be unaware of it, despite it being raised in public since September

Please sign our petition here to make sure the right decision is taken by the Council and Elmbridge Conservative’s campaign to improve animal welfare protections across Elmbridge are adopted.