News from Surrey Labour

Labour seeks Surrey transport chief’s head after Christmas chaos

Councillor Victor Agarwal Labour’s Stanwell Councillor is hoping that he will be joined by Liberal Democrat and Independent Councillors in calling for Ian Lake to consider his position as Surrey County Council spokesman on transport. Questions about Surrey County Council’s performance are to be raised at its next meeting in Kingston upon Thames.

This follows the Council’s shambolic response to the bad weather before Christmas.

“Ian Lake issued a statement assuring people in Surrey that the County Council was prepared for the bad weather being predicted by the Met Office,” Councillor Agarwal states. “Hundreds of miles of road were to be gritted and salted and supplies of salt and grit made available everywhere to households according to a media statement he released.”

“The reality of the County’s performance was startlingly different. Because of a concentration of what were designated as priority roads other busy roads that became like skating rinks and highly dangerous were ignored. Worse, when attempts were made to inform the Highways Department of this either to have the roads treated or close them, no one answered the so-called emergency number the County provided. While Basingstoke moved to give temporary shelter for those trapped for many hours in their cars, in places such as Surrey Heath, nothing was done by our Council,” he continues.

“If residents could actually find the bins with salt and grit Councillor Lake claims were universally available they were often empty or there contents quickly used up. Crucially there was a very poor response to a second band of snow, which followed rain left, many roads almost impossible to traverse. The County’s contractors were unprepared for this contingency. In short the claims Ian Lake made for Surrey’s preparedness were highly misleading,” Councillor Agarwal concludes.

Other news from Surrey Labour

• Surrey Heath Tories forced into climb down on community meals - 12 January 2012
• Concern grows about pressure on schools to become Academies by "ideological" Gove - 8 January 2012
• NHS cuts in Surrey show Cameron's promises are empty - 8 January 2012