Mary Reid

You'll now find my blog here.

As usual, this blog is taking a break over the summer holiday period. I have been writing it now for over four and a half years, and I've learnt that a time away from it is not only good for the soul but also sends me back with new enthusiasm.

This time I'm planning to return in a new guise, so watch out for a bright new www.maryreid.org.uk.

Now what would you do to improve Tolworth Broadway?

It's actually a rather pleasant street with wide pavements and lots of street trees. Strictly speaking it begins outside Our Lady Immaculate, but it feels as though it starts further back, by the green triangle opposite the old Red Lion. It then runs right down to the roundabout.

At that point the A3 becomes a major barrier between you and the delights on the far side. Indeed, I think some people may have spent their whole lives on the Broadway side and never ventured through the tunnels to the Toby Jug and Tolworth Station. Beyond them lie parks, open land, streams and sportsfields, but they seem very detached from the shops back on The Broadway.

Then there's Marks & Spencer and Boots, and more recently The Broadway Café, which have together brought life to the shopping centre, but it still seems to lack something distinctive.

Much thinking has been taking place, and bids were invited for proposals to spend the £2.1 million that Transport for London (brilliant!) has offered to brighten up the area. The winning ideas were unveiled this week, and they certainly are innovative.

Apparently for £2 million the pavements on both sides of the road could be completely relaid and prettified. The proposal is to do the same amount of work but over double the length of street by pedestrianising the MIDDLE of the road.

The central barriers, which we all hate, would come down and a 4 metre wide strip would be created along the full length from OLI.

This would be used by pedestrians and cyclists both as a central refuge while crossing the road, but also as a walkway - hence the 'greenway' - in its own right.

The really clever thing is what happens when the greenway meets the roundabout. Well, it simply carries on!

By moving the traffic lights a safe crossing can be created across the traffic lanes.

The walkway will then continue down a gentle slope into the centre of the roundabout, over the pedestrian bridge and up to another crossing which will take people onto the next stage of the greenway.

This means that people will be able to walk the full length of the Broadway, and on to Tolworth Station, almost in a straight line and without using the hated tunnels.

You can read much more about these proposals on the Council website, and you can also respond there to the consultation.

(Pictures nicked from the Council website)

Those, I learnt, were the top casework issues for Liberal Democrat councillors in Serbia. You can't walk on many pavements because of the cars parked on them, elevators keep breaking down (it happened to me twice in 5 days), and feral dogs are a real nuisance in some towns.

Now it may surprise you to learn that there are Liberal Democrat councillors in Serbia.

The country has only enjoyed democracy for nine years, and in that time over 400 political parties have been formed. One of those is the Liberal Democratic Party, which broke away from the ruling Democratic Party in 2005. 

Current LDP members had greatly admired the Democratic Prime Minister, Zoran Djindjic, but following his assassination in 2003, they were not happy as the party slid to the right. They claim it did little to remove the corruption endemic in politics, and had started to adopt a nationalist position in a region blighted by tribal divisions. So the new LDP was formed.

In spite of the competition, this young party has already gained 5% of the National Assembly seats, and has taken seats in local government across the country. It has one elected Mayor and is part of a controlling coalition in many other boroughs.  All elections, include the National Assembly, are currently conducted on a party list system, which unfortunately does not encourage a close relationship between an elected representative and an area that he or she represents (although they are currently looking at ways of introducing more geographical representation).

The LDP has a charismatic young leader in Cedomir Jovanovic, and he is an important element of their brand. Indeed, the party has a young membership, and most of the councillors that I met were under 35.

I was supposedly providing training for them, but I learnt so much in the process.  One of my themes in politics (and on this blog) is the importance of strong opposition; indeed, that is the defining characteristic of a democracy. I hardly needed to tell them that.

Another of my themes is equality and inclusivity; the whole history of the Balkans is one of nationalism, tribalism, power struggles and distrust, which break out violently at frequent intervals. The LDP is founded on the same fundamental principles as the UK Liberal Democrats who "exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community".

I and my fellow trainer, Cllr Laura Willoughby, were able to share with them some of the techniques for communicating with the electorate that are so familiar to us here - leaflets, emails, casework etc.  The party over there is still developing its organisational structures and refining its key policies, but needs to concentrate on grassroots activities as it matures.

Just to prove I really was there, this is a view of the River Sava as it joins the Danube in Belgrade.

Earlier in the year I was encouraging people to come along and contribute to a Community Plan meeting on 1st April. I'm pleased to say that about 40 local residents turned up, and they spent the evening scoping out a Community Plan for the South of the Borough Neighbourhood.

This was a new approach to developing Neighbourhood policy. In the past the councillors have agreed a policy statement at the beginning of the municipal year in May, and then have reviewed it after a year to see what has been achieved.

The problem with that process is that the wider community does not have much say over which policies are adopted - although any sensible councillor will be trying to identify live issues in their wards.

Liberal Democrats have been deeply committed to empowering communities - indeed it was that concept that brought me into the party in the 1970s. In Kingston we have achieved an unusual level of localisation through Neighbourhoods, but some of us were keen to push the boundaries further. So the South of the Borough councillors decided to pioneer a new way of giving power back to their community, and the other Neighbourhoods are watching this with some interest.

That first meeting in April produced some key priorities around traffic, finding a home of the Chessington police teams, protecting gardens and other green spaces, and youth facilities.

Everyone who attended was asked to be a member of the South of the Borough Community Panel. This is in the process of being set up, but it will largely function through an email discussion group, with occasional face-to-face meetings. The Panel will be asked to think about, and contribute to, the Community Plan and to develop new aspects in future years.

We also asked for volunteers who would be willing to take a more active role by serving on the Community Steering Group. So far about 16 people have put themselves forward and the group has now met twice, most recently on Monday. Between its two meetings, members split into three task groups to consider the formal terms of reference of the Steering Group, to discuss the management of the Community Panel, and most importantly, to start drafting the South of the Borough Community Plan.

In the meantime, the student councils of all the schools in the Neighbourhood held a conference a couple of weeks ago.  The Neighbourhood Manager took the opportunity to consult them about their priorities for the local area, which will be fed into the Community Plan as well.

So what happens next? Well, the Community Plan will be drawn up, and an Action Plan will list the things that need to happen. These documents will be sent out to everyone on the Community Panel for their responses. They in turn will be asked to circulate it through their networks, again to get feedback. We hope to have a written version which can also be circulated at meetings and through public spaces like the Library and doctor's surgeries.

The final draft of the Community Plan will be presented to the South of the Borough Neighbourhood Committee in November. Once that has been agreed it will then become policy, which means that Council officers will be tasked with implementing it. Some of the objectives in the Plan will actually have to be referred to other service providers - police, NHS Kingston, Transport for London - but we do know that they also need to show that they are working closely with the local community around their priorities.

The Steering Group will then monitor the Community Plan, by getting regular reports on progress.

We are still putting the system in place, so it is rather experimental at the moment. For example, we realised that we should have started the process somewhat earlier. Next time round we would hope to have the next version of the Community Plan drafted soon after the beginning of the municipal year.

We also know that we need to have a more formal method for recruiting people on to the Steering Group. At the moment it consists of some wonderful people who care about the community and want to be actively involved. In future, we will probably need some kind of election. The first year will be a transition period as things are put in place.

If you would like to be on the Community Panel, and you live, study or have a business in the Neighbourhood, then please email me through the Contact Me link. The Steering Group is also looking for more members from the Tolworth and Hook Rise ward, as they are under-represented at present.