Press release: Woking Conservatives keep council tax pledge

February 15, 2010 — admin

At its meeting on Thursday (11 February), the Conservative Executive agreed to deliver the pledge given by the Leader of the Executive, Cllr John Kingsbury, in May 2009 not to increase the Woking element of council tax by more than the Bank of England’s CPI inflation forecast.  

Although this figure now stands at 2.9%, the Executive agreed to recommend to Full Council on 22 February a council tax increase limited to 2.5%. This modest increase equates to £4.95 per year or 10p per week for a Band D council taxpayer.  

For a Band H taxpayer – the highest property banding – the increase for the Woking element of council tax will be £9.90 per year or 19p per week.

Leader of the Executive, Cllr John Kingsbury said: “While we know no-one likes to see council tax increases, we believe that in this challenging economic climate, we have kept faith with our pledge and kept this increase in Woking’s share of council tax to the very minimum. 

“At the same, we have managed the council’s budget to ensure that there will be no cuts to any of its core services. I believe this is an important message that Woking residents will want to hear from their Conservative administration.”

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Press release: Executive supports Woking Hospice

October 15, 2009 — admin
Woking Borough Council’s executive has decided to support Woking Hospice following the council meeting last night. A grant of nearly £60,000 was approved for the hospice to fund its home-based palliative-care nursing service.

The hospice on Hill View Road has been in discussion with the council about securing financial assistance since April as the effects of the recession bite into its fundraising ability. It recently suspended day centre services due to financial pressures.

Each year, Woking Hospice needs to raise around £2.6million to fund its end-of-life care but NHS Surrey gave only £423,000 to the charity for 2009/10 and future funding from the NHS looks bleak. The hospice estimates that it needs £300,000 by March 2010 to maintain its core services, which provide respite for families and dignity for patients.

Under proposals put forward to the executive, the council would provide £57,400 this year and will consider a similar amount annually until 2012/13 to fund home nursing services. This money would come initially from the Community Fund and subsequently from the Grants budget.

Conservative Leader of the Executive Cllr John Kingsbury said: “We provided £250,000 to set up Woking Hospice but since that time it has managed to raise enough funds without council help. But the recession has meant a big drop in donations and the amount of money it can raise.

“There are many competing calls on the council for money and we are already under a great deal of pressure but the benefits of the hospice’s work in the community are clear. It is vitally important that its work continues and the Conservative administration is determined to support this funding proposal.”

Jonathan Lord, the recently selected Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Woking said: “It is clear that Woking Hospice fulfils an essential role within our community.  I am delighted to support the Conservative administration’s efforts to help the hospice maintain its services during these tough economic times.”

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Press release: Conservatives support shops and shoppers with car parking freeze

September 15, 2009 — simonashall

Woking’s Conservative administration stepped up its support for the Woking Town Centre economy at last week’s meeting of the council’s executive with confirmation that it would not be foisting an increase in car parking charges on shoppers during the run-up to Christmas.

Proposals had been put forward that would have meant the half-hourly increments currently used for charging in the main town centre car parks would have been removed. Currently people shopping for an hour and 20 minutes only pay the hour and 30 minutes increment – removing this would have left them paying for two hours.

In rejecting the idea of increasing car park charges for a second time this year, leader of the executive Cllr John Kingsbury said that he was mindful of the recession and the effect that this was having on people’s pockets. The Conservatives have introduced a discount scheme in the car parks that allows people to park all day for £8 and up to six hours for £5.

“We are not going to make the same mistake that the Liberal Democrats made in 2006/7,” said Cllr Kingsbury. “The Lib Dem executive budgeted for increased charges in April and then again in August, which was totally wrong.

“The Conservative executive has agreed to invest money in the  Peacocks Shopping Centre, to allow Next to move into a much larger site and we will hopefully see further enhancements soon.

“This was not the right time to think about removing the half-hour increment, which would have had the effect of significantly increasing the cost of parking to residents. We want people to be able to support our businesses in Woking during the autumn and in the run-up to Christmas.

“Operating our car parks is not about raising revenue – it is about creating a balance between covering the costs of the service for the taxpayer, supporting businesses and providing an excellent service to visitors to the town in their cars.”

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