European Parliamentary Candidate Catherine Bearder Visits Elmbridge

12.52.00pm GMT Mon 1st Dec 2008

On Friday 28 November Liberal Democrat European Parliamentary Candidate for the South-East Catherine Bearder visited Elmbridge.

She spent time with Prospective County Council Candidate Anthony Sheppard looking at issues in Claygate and Hinchley Wood, met elderly residents in Esher and Weston Green, and spoke to Long Ditton Liberal Democrat Councillors, Barry Fairbank and Shweta Kapadia.

Catherine Bearder said: "I am delighted to have had the opportunity to visit Elmbridge and meet so many people. I was concerned to see first hand the problems that poor maintenance of roads, pavements and street lighting by Surrey County Council is having for residents, and to see the pressures of over-development on the green belt."

Anthony Sheppard said: "I was pleased to be able to show Catherine some daft examples of Surrey's inability to manage streetlighting contractors, including one site where an old lamppost has been left alongside a new one for over six months."

Catherine added: "I am the second Liberal Democrat Candidate or MEP to visit Elmbridge this year, and like Sharon Bowles MEP will work hard to campaign for a greener, fairer and more transparent European Union and help keep places like this so pleasant to live in.

"I believe we need European integration to tackle cross-border issues like environmental pressures, terrorism and fraud, but we must reform the European Union to make it more efficient and democratic including stopping the time and money wasting trips every month to Strasbourg."