19 Councillors Petition Secretary of State (Mole Valley Liberal Democrats)

Mole Valley Liberal Democrats <info@molevalleylibdems.org.uk>

19 Councillors Petition Secretary of State

February 8, 2008 5:00 PM

Stephen & Margaret Cooksey at Pippbrook

All 16 Liberal Democrat Councillors and the 3 Independents have joined together to write to Hazel Blears, the Secretary of State for Communities, asking her to reject the application from Mole Valley District Council to replace the present committee system with an Executive of 7 members drawn entirely from the Conservative Party. This Executive would take almost all Council policy decisions and would exclude other members (of any Party) from any meaningful part in decision making.

The letter cites the lack of genuine consultation as the main reason for rejecting the application. It contends - "This was a pre-determined decision and the consequent consultation process was both inadequate and

inappropriate and in no way provided the opportunity for community participation in the spirit of the legislation."

Liberal Democrat Group Leader Councillor Margaret Cooksey said "Our approach to the Secretary of State is the last opportunity to stop this scheme and preserve the committee system that has provided proper democratic participation in decision making ever since the establishment of the Council.

The 'consultation' process was a travesty organised by the Conservative Group to produce the answer they wanted. It was pushed through with the votes of just 21 out of the total 41 Councillors. We hope that the Secretary of State will understand the concerns shared by all non-Conservative Councillors about the validity of this process and will reject the change."