Politics, people say, is a dirty game. When it comes to political discourse in Runnymede, however, nothing could usually be further from the truth. In the Council chamber, both Conservative and opposition councillors work together to move beyond petty point-scoring and deliver for local residents.
Sadly, Englefield Green Labour’s candidates Sebastian Michnowicz and Roxanne Mashari have violated this spirit by distributing two of the most outrageously inaccurate and misleading political leaflets I have ever come across.
Here’s are but a few of the inaccuracies contained in their leaflets…
► 1. Sebastian claims to be “at the back of the churchyard in Wick Lane” surveying what appears to be… a development on Blays Lane!
► 2. Sebastian pledges to work to “re-open the Queen Elizabeth Hospital”. I am not aware of the existence of a “Queen Elizabeth Hospital”. Does he mean the former day care centre, Queen Elizabeth House? Assuming he does, he speaks of his desire to turn the building into a “youth centre”. Sebastian is missing the fact that the Corby Drive Youth Centre is situated only a few hundred metres away and, following gutsy hard work by Cllrs Marisa Heath and Mike Kusneraitis, has recently secured a new three year lease and £5,000 grant for new ICT facilities.
► 3. Roxanne is severely critical of the Borough Council’s provision of lighting in the village, with Sebastian claiming that “Conservatives have done nothing to improve safety provisions in the area”. Pictured on Roxanne’s leaflet is a photograph of the footpath close to Ilex Close – the same footpath for which Cllr Marisa Heath has secured funding for the installation of improved lighting in the coming months. We work to improve the safety for all local residents at all hours of the day and night. In terms of improving student safety in the village, all six Englefield Green councillors attend regular meetings with members of Royal Holloway’s senior management team and Student Union President Joff Manning to discuss how we can better work together. The new Safer Runnymede Control Centre in the new Civic Offices complex (the construction of which is opposed by both Roxanne and Sebastian) will allow us to greatly expand our CCTV coverage in the village.
► 4. As a councillor, Sebastian wants to “appoint three Police Community Support Officers” in Englefield Green East ward. Quite apart from the fact the Borough Council has no power to implement such a plan, such a high number of PCSOs per head of population would mean that Englefield Green East would have more Police coverage than either Brixton or Peckham.
► 5. Sebastian alleges that your Conservative councillors were in some way negligent in taking “action to prevent the closure” of the Victoria Street Post Office. This is an area in which the Borough Council has no power whatsoever. That said, it is vital that the village has a Post Office and your six Conservative councillors Englefield Green are actively assisting Jan and Bunny, the owners of ‘Sohi’ on Bond Street in their application to take on the Post Office franchise.
► 6. Roxanne claims that your Englefield Green councillors “barely hold any surgeries that give local residents the opportunities to express their views or seek advice” and she will “hold regular surgeries once a month”. Well, if any resident wishes to come to our surgery on the second Saturday of the month at 11am at the Village Hall on Harvest Road, they are more than welcome!
► 7. Roxanne speaks of her desire to “campaign for more bicycle paths”. Firstly, the provision of cycle paths is an issue for the County Council. Secondly, the County Council has recently funded an excellent new cycle path leading alongside Egham Hill, easily connecting the village to local amenities in Egham.
► 8. Both Sebastian and Roxanne allege that the Borough Council has spent £23,000,000 on a new development to replace our existing dilapidated Civic Offices. I have no idea where this figure came from. Where too did the suggestion that the building is “£12,000,000 over budget” come from? The total building cost is £16,500,000 of which £3,500,000 will be met by Surrey County Constabulary with the remaining £13,000,000 by the Borough Council. The land the current Civic Offices is situated on will be sold for a new housing development (including a significant number of affordable homes) with a large majority of the £13,000,000 cost to the Borough Council of the new offices being recouped by the profits from the sale of this land.
The present offices were constructed in 1968 and were given a shelf-life of 25 years. They have now been in use for 40 years! The estimated cost of bringing the building up an acceptable standard as a place of work for our staff is estimated at up to £6,500,000! The new offices will not only be of minimal cost to taxpayers but will also conform to the highest possible environmental standards and incorporate the modern ICT infrastructure necessary to continue improving local services. Sebastian and Roxanne are correct to suggest that the opening of the building is behind schedule, yet have neglected to mention that the Borough Council’s contract with developers Willmot Dixon means that the Council has been compensated to the tune of £11,000 per week since the developers slipped behind their scheduled completion date of December 10th. In order to avoid any unnecessary costs to taxpayers, the Borough Council has refused to take possession of the buildings until all construction problems were eliminated, meaning that residents can expect the buildings to be of the very highest quality.
I apologise for taking a considerably more party political tone than I have traditionally taken on this Blog but I feel it is important that I set the record straight and respond to Labour’s misleading and dishonest smears.
The latest edition of ‘In Touch’, the newsletter of the Englefield Green Conservative Councillors is currently be distributed to more than 4,000 people across the village. 
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Posted by cllrdanielhamilton
I was delighted to hear this afternoon that a property developer’s appeal to overturn the Council’s decision to refuse planning application for the controversial Englemede development has been rejected by the Planning Inspectorate. 
Cllr Marisa Heath, who was first elected to the Borough Council in 2003 and also represents the village on Surrey County Council will be fighting Englefield Green East and Hugh Meares, who is currently serving as Mayor of Runnymede, will be running for a third term (having been elected in 2000) in Englefield Green West. 
