Bury Liberal Democrats

The extra officers for Bury will be funded by the savings from scrapping ID cards, and are part of the Liberal Democrats’ Safer Streets – More and Better Police manifesto commitment.

Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Bury South, Vic D’Albert said:

“People in Bury South are often telling me how they feel unsafe.

“Expensive ID cards aren’t going to change that, but an extra officer walking down Bury New Road or more police in Bury on Friday night will.

Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Bury North, Richard Baum said:

“The Liberal Democrats are committed to more police, and this is the only way to create safer streets.”

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said:

“The Liberal Democrats are the only party that wants to cut crime by putting more police on the street.

“When only one in a hundred crimes ends up with a conviction in court, it is time for things to change.

“Labour and the Conservatives may talk tough but they are unwilling to make the crucial decisions to cut crime.”

Children’s Outdoor play groups in the area are warning that dog fouling is threatening their future, making it unsafe for children to play outside. Local Liberal Democrat Councillors in Prestwich have called for the Council to fine offending dog owners and ask dog owners to be more responsible.
 
Cllr Andrew Garner, Sedgley ward Councillor, said “At a recent surgery we were told that a popular local children’s play group at St Mary’s Park is considering its future because the dog mess problem is so bad. Not only is it obviously unsightly, but it is a health hazard and children’s health are being put at risk. It’s very disappointing that beautiful parks are being spoiled like this, and that our children are suffering as a result.”
 
Local Councillors are calling on dog owners to take care that their pets don’t foul footpaths and park areas, and to clean up when this happens. There is growing anger that the Council are not doing enough to help residents with the problem and growing anger against selfish dog owners who don’t clean up after their pets.

A long-standing campaigner for Prestwich is Liberal Democrat Councillor for St Mary’s ward Donal O’Hanlon. He said “The Council have to do more to help us. Recently we discovered that Prestwich has significantly fewer dog waste bins than any other part of Bury. The Conservatives who run the town hall are neglecting Prestwich and it has to change. Where are our dog bins? Where are the dog wardens? Where are the clean up teams? This neglect of Prestwich from the Conservatives who run the Council is just not good enough, and now it’s harming our children.”

ENDS

Commenting on the launch of the Conservatives’ crime section of their draft manifesto, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said:

“The Tories love to tell you they are the party of law and order, when in fact they are the party of crime.

“Their disgraceful record in Government speaks for itself – crime nearly doubled, violent crime nearly tripled and robbery quadrupled. “A vote for the Tories is a vote for more crime; a vote for more tried and tested policies which don’t work. “The Tories cannot be trusted – one of their policies is to reduce one of the few remaining protections from the surveillance state.”

Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Bury South added.

“The Conservatives’ crime policies are masked by a total disregard for the causes of crime and an insatiable determination to undermine Police resources. There policies are tough on paper, but don’t add up in the real world. As with their other “policies” pronouncements they are all spin and no substance.”

The campaign to stop an 8-acre private soccer centre being built in Heaton Park is in its final stages ahead of a decision by Manchester Council on December 17th. Campaigners to save the park have been encouraged by a wave of rejections for similar schemes in parks in London.

Campaigners in Morden Park found out this week that their campaign to stop their park being turned into a commercial soccer centre had been a success. Find our more from their website here.

Regents Park, as well as parks in Morden and Wandsworth in the capital, have all been threatened with “Goals” soccer centres similar to the one proposed for Heaton park. In each case the applications have been rejected after public pressure.

Campaigners in Morden produced this stunning video to support their cause:

Cllr Tim Pickstone, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Holyrood ward and a leader of the campaign to protect the park said “I am pleased that communities in London have come together to save parkland, and that local Councils have listened to what people want. I appeal to Manchester City Council to do the same.

“We have always said that this is a good facility, but in completely the wrong place. We are all for better sports facilities, but this is an 8 acre concrete site with a big car park, charging people a lot of money and open until 11pm. This isn’t something that should be built on green land inside a quiet public park.

“Manchester Council will hear the application on December 17th. In the meantime I urge as many local people as possible to visit the website at www.saveheatonpark.org.uk and learn more about how to stop this development from threatening our park.”

Lib Dems across the country are coming together to fight for free childcare for every family.

We all understand that juggling work and family life can be a struggle for parents. Current Government provisions make it difficult to raise young children and go back to work full or even part-time and the economic crisis means families are even harder pressed than before.

Liberal Democrats believe that things need to change and parents should be entitled to 20 hours of free, high quality childcare for each child from 18 months to when they start school. 

Bury Liberal Democrats are calling for everyone who supports this cause to sign our petition calling for the Government to bring in the extra childcare. You can find the petition here

Anyone interested in joining a Facebook group in support of this campaign can do so here 

Or you can follow us on Twitter

Please spread the word with an email to five of your friends. Just click here 

Bury’s dole queues have lengthened by over three quarters this year to over 4,000.

“The banks have had their bail-out, how much longer must ordinary people wait for theirs?”

Liberal Democrats in Bury have accused the Conservatives of breaking an election pledge after it was revealed that no new CCTV camera is being installed in the borough this year, despite the Tories promising an increase.

Figures obtained by the Lib Dems show that since coming to power in May 2007, no new public safety cameras have been introduced across the borough. The only increase planned for this year is a single additional camera aimed at catching motorists parking illegally on Silver Street.

Commenting on the news, Liberal Democrat Councillor Steve Wright said “The Conservative election manifesto made a specific commitment to improving community safety by investing in CCTV cameras. The Tories have broken that promise and have not given Bury a single new camera.

The amount of bulky waste sent for recycling in Bury has slumped since the Conservative Council introduced charges for collection, say local Liberal Democrats.

Commenting on the figures, Lib Dem Councillor for St Mary’s ward Cllr Donal O’Hanlon said “These are truly shocking figures. At a time when we should be encouraging recycling, this Tory policy does exactly the opposite. Since introducing the charges, we’ve seen the amount of waste collected almost halve. Now it’s falling even more. More bulky waste will be illegally dumped, and less will be recycled. The Tories have put money before doing the right thing.”

Local Liberal Democrats have backed shopkeepers’ calls for the removal of new
parking charges at the Bay Horse pub in Unsworth.

Support has also been given the shopkeepers’ view that the charges are damaging
business during the recession. Mrs Baum said “The first time I came here after
the charges were brought in, the car park was absolutely empty. It is clear that
less people are shopping here because of the new fees, which could be disastrous
for local businesses. I will campaign hard to have the brewery remove these
silly charges.”

“Overcrowding on Greater Manchester’s Trains could get worse,” says Transport Chief Keith Whitmore

Overcrowing on Greater Manchester’s trains could get worse if Department of Transport (DFT) rules lead to five trains, currently used betweeen Oldham and Manchester, being mothballed next month,” says Cllr Keith Whitmore - the first-ever Liberal Democrat Chairman of the Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA).

Cllr Whitmore said:
“Due to Transport Authority activities in Greater Manchester, we will next month begin conversion of a train line from Oldham to Manchester to carry Trams. When this happens, five trains will become available. We believe that the DFT’s super profits, raised from North West rail companies, should be used to allow those five trains to continue operating in Greater Manchester, where they will be invaluable in relieving some of the chronic overcrowding we experience.”

“The DFT has refused to make any funding available and have instead decided that these trains will be put into cold storage, very likely never to see the light of day again in our area. This is frankly scandalous.”