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As I am writing this the area is full of committed candidates, and their helpers, pushing leaflets through doors ahead of borough and a parliamentary elections in May.
One problem prospective councillors find on the doorstep is that people get confused about what areas are looked after by the borough council (based in Camberley) and by the county (based in assorted, but principally Kingston). Counter intuitively roads (and signs, and lights, and parking in roads etc) are a county matter as is looking after the tip and its contents. But collecting rubbish from our homes is done by the borough - and the two organisations don't even use the same recycling facilities! No wonder people get confused?
My illustration comes from another era - one where many people still had outdoor 'privies' for a start.
It is easy to forget that, once upon a time, having a local council was a sign that a town was 'on the up' and that business men were keen to serve on it and carry out some of the necessary work that would carry everyone forward.
Much of the work done by the first Frimley councillors (Camberley didn't get included in the name until later, and Surrey Heath was born later still) was about health. They set up a fever hospital and paid for nurses to look after those with infectious diseases. Then they set about providing clean water and drains for the areas of Yorktown which had sprung up rather too quickly for their own good!
So, what does the council do for us? it used to save our children from dying from scarlet fever and cholera - do we still see them as heroes?
