Residents in Burns Road and Coombelands are justifiably concerned about plans just released to overdevelop land at the end of two of the Town’s longest cul-de-sacs. Building at the end of these roads will result in a dramatic increase in the number of cars and car journeys along the two roads.
The plans, plus the proposals for Ivy Farm, threaten the very character of our market town.
As Your Lib Dem Councillor for Palace ward i was concerned to hear at a
meeting that consideration is being given to closing the Betjeman Road Play Area.
The Play Area was built with funds from the developer (known as S106 money) and now the
Council appears not to want to maintain it. Most people want the play area kept open. Some
anti-social behaviour is not a reason to close it.
The Council should monitor it better and the police should police it better
The performance of North Herts Council has been judged to ”meet only minimum requirements” in a nationwide independent assessment of councils – scoring two out of a possible four. The assessment was conducted by the Audit Commission as part of their “One Place” evaluation of local public services across the country.
Leader of the opposition, Lib Dem Councillor Steve Jarvis said “Many people will recognise the Audit Commission’s assessment that ‘The Council has modest ambitions which do not set a clear vision beyond the short term.’ North Herts is nice place to live but The Council doesn’t do much to contribute to this. “This probably explains why people in North Herts are less happy with their district council’s services than people in England as a whole.”
The One Place evaluation includes assessments of the County Council, all the District Councils in Hertfordshire, the police authority and the health authorities. You can see details at http://oneplace.direct.gov.uk/infobyarea/region/area/Pages/areaoverview.aspx?region=50&area=359
North Herts Council has refused to sign up to the 10:10 Campaign which seeks to cut carbon emissions by 10% in 2010. Labour and Conservative Councillors refused to back a Liberal Democrat proposal that the Council should sign up to the campaign at a Council meeting on Thursday.
Liberal Democrat leader Steve Jarvis said, “The Council says that it is committed to cutting carbon emission, but apparently its not prepared to sign up to a public target to do so because they say they might not be able to meet it. Many people will think that it would be better for the council to try and perhaps not quite meet the target rather than not even trying. “Other Councils, of all political persuasions, have signed up, many businesses and individuals have signed up and both the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives have said that they will ensure the government signs up if they are in a position to do so after the general election. “Why is something that so many other organisations can do just too hard for North Herts Council?”
10:10 is a project to persuade individuals, companies, organisations and the government to achieve a 10% cut in the UK’s carbon emissions in 2010.
North Herts Council has finally abandoned its plan to spend nearly £11 million pounds on new council offices.
The cabinet eventually recognised that the plan, which the Liberal Democrats have opposed ever since the start, was the wrong way to proceeed.
Commenting Lib Dem leader Steve Jarvis said, “I’m glad that the cabinet has finally seen sense and abandoned this ridiculous scheme. What a pity that they wasted so much time and money before doing so.”
It was a great honour for me to meet up with the Gurkhas,
thousands of whom were not being allowed to settle here
after their service in the British Army.
The Liberal Democrats led a defeat of the Government in a
vote on the rights of retired Gurkha soldiers to live in the UK.
The long campaign by the Liberal Democrats and Gurkha
pressure groups,which saw the Prime Minister challenged
Repeatedly on the issue by Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg
lead to an historic victory for the Gurkhas who have served our
country so bravely
For the last few years North Herts Council has set itself the target of increasing the Council Tax by less than 2% above the rate of inflation. This is too high and every year the Liberal Democrats propose a lower rise.
Now inflation is negative you might have expected smaller increases, but the Council has decided to change its target. Now it is 2% above inflation, unless inflation is negative, in which case it is 2%. So the lower inflation is the more you will be asked to pay in real terms.
Not a great way to help people when times are hard.
Lib Dem leader Steve Jarvis proposed sticking with the old target, but the Conservatives AND Labour said this would be terribly risky and voted it down.
For some reason almost every Conservative Councillor voted against a motion calling for the County Council to look at better waste disposal solutions than incineration at the council meeting on Thursday.
Some just repeated that it is better than land fill, which is true, but there are many solutions that are better still. Anaerobic digestion would be cheaper and environmentally preferable for example but, for some reason the Conservatives don’t think that it should even be considered.
North Herts Council’s cabinet has agreed to spend an extra £43,000 on lawyers, but decided that it could not guarantee that the popular Play Ranger children’s play schemes will not be axed, when it met on Tuesday.
Liberal Democrat Leader of the Opposition Steve Jarvis said, “The Council used to provide legal services for North Herts Homes, who paid the Council for this, but North Herts Homes have decided that they don’t need this service any more. Rather than cut the amount spent on lawyers, the council has decided that they will increase the council’s own spending to make up the difference. The same meeting of the cabinet that agreed to spend more on lawyers said that they could not guarantee that the popular children’s Play Ranger scheme, which has been a great success with parents and children this year, will continue in 2010.”“Once again the council has its priorities wrong. It’s more concerned about looking after the council than providing services for local people.”
The final decision on the Play Ranger scheme will have to wait until the council sets its budget next February.
Despite this, very few people are actually being prosecuted.
Information released to the Liberal Democrats in a Parliamentary answer shows:
Read the rest of this entry.
North Herts Conservative Councillors have blocked a Liberal Democrat proposal to make value for money one of the council’s top priorities. The proposal would have replaced the council’s existing priorities, making delivering better value an additional priority.
Liberal Democrat opposition leader Steve Jarvis said, “Coming the week after the council discovered that this year’s council tax rise was double what it needed to be and an Audit Commission report that highlighted the council’s poor performance on value for money, the decision by the Conservatives that this should not be one of the council’s top priorities is stunning. People in North Herts are paying far more than those in surrounding areas, yet the Conservatives don’t seem to care.”
“When we challenge them on this they say that they are being careful with the council’s money. The problem is that they are using our money to do it. Other councils can do better than this. Why can’t North Herts?”
Papers for this week’s North Herts Council cabinet meeting reveal that, after pushing through a 3.9% increase in Council Tax in February, the council has now discovered that the increase could have been much lower. The council spent nearly £200,000 less than expected last year – enough to reduce the council tax rise by 2%.
Liberal Democrat leader of the opposition on the council, Steve Jarvis said, “North Herts has one of the highest levels of council tax in the area and a track record of big increases. Now it is clear that this year’s rise could actually been much lower, with no impact on local services. The Conservatives who run the council say that they are being prudent, but it’s easy to be prudent when somebody else picks up the bill. It’s time they recognised that they are giving local people a bad deal and brought their performance into line with other councils.”
Liberal Democrats proposed further savings in spending on new computers and software at the time of the budget. Coupled with the savings that have now been discovered these could have resulted in a tax rise of less than 1.5%. Neighbouring St.Albans council, which is run by the Liberal Democrats, did not increase its council tax at all this year.
Liberal Democrats have launched radical new policies to tackle climate change.
The goal is to reach a zero carbon Britain by 2050. The plans will make Britain an world leader in tackling climate change.
With these policies we have become the first major British party to map out the route to a carbon neutral Britain.The party is the first to plan the way towards a cleaner global environment.”For more information about Liberal Democrat green plans, please visit the party’s web site.
At a meeting of the council on Thursday the Conservatives running North Herts Council dismissed a bad report from the Audit Commission claiming that the Audit Commission got it wrong. They rejected a Liberal Democrat proposal to recognise that the Council was falling behind other districts and needed to do better.
Steve Jarvis, Liberal Democrat leader of the opposition on the council, said, “The Audit Commission report clearly identified that North Herts council’s performance and value for money is worse than most other district councils. They reached this conclusion after studying the council’s performance and comparing it will other councils where they have conducted similar exercises . The Audit Commission is an independent body that has no reason to conclude that North Herts Council is worse than other councils unless that’s what the evidence shows. Rather than accept that there is a need to do things differently and that the Audit Commission is providing helpful information the leader of the council told us that the Audit Commission is wrong and that everything is fine.
“Many people will think that this sort of complacency is one of the reasons why North Herts Council performs more poorly than it could.”
Comments made by the Audit Commission in their annual audit letter to the council include
The Budget will do nothing for ordinary residents of Royston , who have been
clobbered by rising food, fuel and transport prices, The Budget was criticised for
failing to give much needed help to those struggling in recession by refusing to
back Liberal Democrat calls to cut income tax by £700 for the vast majority of people.
As the cost of food, heating, water and transport continue to rise for families in
Royston . Gordon Brown should be putting money back into their pockets
by cutting income tax for the vast majority of taxpayers by £700.
Britain’s taxes are too heavy on those who can least afford it and too easy to avoid
for those who know how.
Labour is out of ideas and out of steam. This Government has condemned us to
years of unemployment and a decade of debt. The country deserves something
different.
Lib Dems are calling for action to stop thousands of people from losing their homes.
Latest figures show that repossessions are rising as people struggle to pay sky high mortgages.
The Lib Dems have announced a three point plan to stop bank rushing to repossess homes.
Homeowners should be given the chance to renegotiate the terms of their mortgage.
Banks should allow people to extend their mortgages and offer shared equity schemes.
“We need to make repossession the absolute last resort.”
Chris Huhne with a police officer
crime is on the rise again, but the Labour Government is cutting police numbers even further.
Welcome to Brown’s Britain.
In Brown’s Britain, the Government spends billions of pounds forcing law abiding people to carry ID cards while criminals go free.
It’s no joke.
Labour talk tough on crime, but fail to act. The last Conservative Government talked tough, but cut police numbers too.
We need real action - not more pointless posturing.
That’s why the Liberal Democrats will abolish Labour’s expensive and pointless ID card scheme. We want to spend the money on things that will actually help ordinary law abiding people across the country. Read the rest of this entry.
A hard core of care homes across England have repeatedly failed to meet basic standards in hygiene and infection control, and a handful of homes have failed inspections four or more times in three years, research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry.
Nick Clegg is leading a campaign to knock on one million doors across the UK.
More people than ever feel alienated by the political process in Britain today. To many it doesn’t seem to matter who runs the country - nothing ever changes. Gordon Brown has been a disaster. There is little enthusiasm for a return to Conservative rule.
The best way to engage with people is to go and talk to them. That’s why Nick Clegg is setting his party the challenge of knocking on a million people between October and June.
Nick Clegg says, “I’m passionate about connecting with people. Talking with them, listening to them, and learning from them. That is why since I became Leader I’ve been holding Town Hall meetings in constituencies across the country. And that is why at our conference in Bournemouth I will be challenging our party to knock on at least a million doors between the end of conference and Polling Day for the Local and European elections. It is a tough challenge, but one which I am confident that we are more than capable of meeting.
“For Liberal Democrats calling on people to talk to them isn’t just about elections and votes. It is about understanding what matters to residents in our communities. Our opponents often deride us for listening to the very real concerns of voters about local issues. But it is something to be proud of that we take seriously such concerns and, more importantly, work to act on them. This is what community politics is all about; and this is what makes us different from the other parties. Community politics rightly lies at the heart of our party and the way in which we do politics.
“But we shouldn’t be afraid to talk about national and international issues either. I want Liberal Democrats across the country to be talking about how we are going to cut taxes for ordinary families and how we are offering real solutions to every day problems like fuel poverty. We are the only party with a viable economic recovery plan, and the only party that understands the pressures being put on people up and down the country by the current economic situation.
The Liberal Democrats have published their Freedom Bill, detailing how the party plans to roll back the authoritarian laws passed by both Labour and Conservative governments which have undermined civil liberties.
Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords protest the restrictions on demonstrating outside Parliament during the passage of the Serious and Organised Crime Act. Read the rest of this entry.
North Herts Council is now planning to spend a massive £10.6 million pounds on new council offices - 40% more than they originally estimated. The revised figures are to be presented to the council’s cabinet next week as part of the Council’s budget for 2009/10. The opposition leader, Liberal Democrat Cllr Steve Jarvis, said: “This is an outrageous amount of money for the council to spend on new offices at any time. It looks particularly bad at a time when many people in the district will be finding it hard to make ends meet. “The council’s papers show the new offices as part of its programme to deliver “satisfied communities”. I can’t imagine that many people in Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry.
Following calls from the Liberal Democrats for an inquiry into Sunday night’s gritting run, the County Council has admitted that it cancelled its gritting operations on the advice of ‘forecasters’. The forecasters had said the snow had missed Hertfordshire but just a few hours later changed their opinion and suggested 10-15cm of snow was due.Chris White, Liberal Democrat County Council Group Leader, said: ‘The County Council urgently needs to review its forecaster. By not gritting the roads lives were put at risk alongside property and businesses. Councils all around the area were running their gritters throughout the night yet in Hertfordshire our gritters were sat in the depot. This is not good enough.’
Time to Change is England’s most ambitious programme to end discrimination faced by people who experience mental health problems.
