Moving the Council headquarters away from Pippbrook Council Offices
The Pippbrook Council Offices are environmentally unfriendly and not needed as a size of building for the Council’s workforce.
A Conservative administration will move the Council headquarters away from Pippbrook to a site that is more sustainable and environmentally friendly for a 21st century council. We will then redevelop the existing Council office into social housing. This will save the District Council significant amounts of money.
Budget Management
The capital budget needs to be reviewed and the various vanity projects advocated by the Liberal Democrat administration such as the installation of solar panels on Leatherhead Leisure Centre and refurbishment of Dorking Halls need to be removed from the plan.
A fiscally responsible administration cannot borrow money against the cashflow, particularly in the current climate of local government funding.
A Conservative administration will ensure every project in the capital budget has a proper project plan and budget, and a regular report back to the Councillors to ensure there is adequate scrutiny.
The revenue budget currently has a hole of £4,500,000. A Conservative administration will deliver a more sustainable revenue budget that is balanced.
Reorganising the Council Leadership
The current Liberal Democrat administration has nine members, almost a quarter of the 39 Councillors on Mole Valley District Council. This is leading to ineffective decision making and only achieves providing paid jobs and platforms for senior Liberal Democrats with aspirations to serve in higher office, rather than delivering effective services for Mole Valley residents.
A Conservative administration would reform the Cabinet and reduce it to the following members:
- Leader of the Council
- Cabinet Member for Finance & Corporate Resources
- Cabinet Member for Community Services
- Cabinet Member for Leisure and Environment
- Cabinet Member for Housing
- Cabinet Member for Planning
- Cabinet Member for Economic Development
This restructure would remove two members of the Cabinet and reduce the number of Cabinet Members to seven, which is a much more sustainable number for effective decision making. Making this reform would save residents £7,000 per year.