Village News

The CRA and Local Politics

In May 2012 there will be an election to appoint local councillors on Reigate and Banstead Borough Council. One of the seats to be contested is presently held by a Chipstead resident, Cllr Richard Wagner, who has represented our Ward of Chipstead, Hooley, Woodmansterne and Netherne for nearly 6 years. Although originally voted in as a Conservative Party nominee, Richard chose, in 2011, to help form and become a member of a new, separate political grouping, the Downlands Residents Group. Another of our three local Ward councillors, Richard Mantle, has also joined the Downlands Residents Group, while our third Ward councillor, John Stephenson, remains within the Conservative Group. Despite its name, the Downlands Residents Group has no affiliation with the CRA.

As a result, Richard Wagner will be standing in the May elections against Keith Foreman, a Netherne resident and the new Conservative Party nominee. Over the coming months Chipstead residents will, no doubt, be made fully aware by each candidate of their policies and priorities, and residents will thus have the opportunity to question and make personal judgements about their respective merits.

The CRA’s rules and objects state that the association is non-political. In all its activities the CRA committee remains independent of all and any political party, and acts entirely without political bias. It is not, however, apolitical since, in serving the interests of Chipstead residents, it cannot be indifferent to the impact politics might have on the village.

What is of most value to the CRA committee is the regular flow of information from councillors about Council business, much of which directly affects our village. In that respect, we have been most fortunate, over the years, to have been very well served with articles, authored by our councillors, which appear in these Newsletters.  The CRA will, of course, continue to publish these articles, and residents will be able to make informed judgements against the background of this new political perspective within our Ward.

Peter Morley, CRA Chairman