Statement on Council Chief Executive and Budget Savings

Following the announcement of the early retirement of Bury Council’s Chief Executive, and the need to make up to £24 million of savings over the next four years Liberal Democrat Group Leader Tim Pickstone said:

“We will be extremely sorry to lose Mark Sanders from Bury Council. Mark has been a key part of some significant progress in Bury over the last nine years and will be a great loss to the Borough.

“Even in the timing of his retirement shows leadership around the significant savings that the Council has to make over the coming years.”

On the £7 Million a year budget cuts:

“Everyone knows that significant savings need to be made across all areas of public spending after the deficit built up under the last Labour Government. Bury’s share of this will be a huge challenge”

“We believe that all parties need to work together on finding a way through these savings. We need to ask the people of Bury what they think so that the future services provided by the Council best meet what local people need and want”.

Statement on Local Area Grant Funding

Following the decision by Bury Council, supported by all three parties to support moves to restore the Local Area Partnership Grants, Liberal Democrat Group Resource Spokesperson Councillor Richard Baum said:

“When we heard that the Local Area Partnership (LAP) Grants were to end following the grant cut by the last Labour Government we were devastated.”

“LAP Grants have provided much needed funds to improve our local area. In Prestwich, where I am a Councillor, grants have seen projects like Prestwich Festival, the Farmers Market and the Graffiti Clean Up – to lose all of this would be a disaster”.

“It is great that there is cross party support, facilitated by a Lib Dem amendment in Council, to finding a solution to restoring grants both this year and in the future”.

Grants Cuts put Prestwich Festival at Risk

Prestwich Festival and many other important community projects may be at risk after an annoucement that Bury Council is to cut all Area Board Grants in the current financial year.

The Conservative-led Council has announced that there will be no Area Partnership grants for Prestwich – or any other the other parts of Bury this year. This is a grant scheme which has been running by the local areas for the last ten years. In Prestwich the grants have funded projects throughout the community, with the support for Prestwich Festival being the most visible in recent years.

Local Liberal Democrat Vic D’Albert said “This is another decision to cut services taken by the Conservatives without any consultation whatsoever. It’s damaging and not what people want. Once again we think the Bury Conservatives have got it wrong. We all know that cuts are needed to pay off Labour’s debt, but yet again the Tories at the town hall are cutting without asking people what matters to them.

“The Prestwich Festival is something we’re really proud of. We will fight to keep it going, and the Council need to realise how much this means to local people. They have made their decision without asking anyone, and are making the people of Prestwich pay disproportionately for Labour’s debt mess.”

(Picture: Prestwich Carnival Parade this summer)

100 days – Message from Nick Clegg MP

Today, the coalition Government is 100 days old.

I want to take this moment to say thank you once again for all your support, all your hard work, all your generosity. Thank you for everything you did to help us win over a million more votes for the Liberal Democrats in the General Election. Thank you for getting Liberal Democrat ministers into government for the first time in generations.

Today I made a speech about how the Coalition government is building a fairer society in Britain. You can read it here.

Both David Cameron and I have always made it clear that we are governing Britain for the long term, not for tomorrow’s headlines.

One of our main long-term goals is to increase social mobility. A fair society is one where everyone has the chance to do well, regardless of their beginnings. A society where no-one is held back by the circumstances of their birth. Where what counts isn’t what school you went to, the job your parents did or the colour of your skin, but your ability and ambition.

Read the rest of this entry.

Victory on Traffic Improvements (Prestwich)

Councillors and residents victory with Prestwich traffic improvements
Local Lib Dem Councillors have joined residents in welcoming a pair of improvements to traffic hotspots in Prestwich. After lengthy campaigns, new restrictions on parking have been proposed for Queen’s Drive and School Grove, making roads safer for residents and fellow drivers.

The plans for Queen’s Drive will see extended double yellow lines opposite Rochester Avenue. Liberal Democrat Councillor for Sedgley Steve Wright said “I welcome these plans, as we have been helping residents campaign for them for years. Parking near to the police college has always been difficult, making the road dangerous especially for parents and children at nearby schools.”

In St Mary’s ward, the turning circle on School Grove will also be made a “No Waiting at any time” zone. Cllr Richard Baum said “This area is frequently packed with people stopping for the nearby school. It is dangerous for the children and not fair on the people who live on School Grove. These improvements will make things better for everyone.”

The plans have been considered by the Council’s Traffic Management Unit and will be formally advertised in the coming days.

Members and Supporters Events – Summer / Autumn 2010

Saturday 31st July, from 6.30pm
PIZZA AND POLITICS
Hosted by Cllrs Vic and Mary D’Albert
17 Prestwich Park Road South, Prestwich, M25 9PF.
Come along for an informal evening of food and political chat.
Cllr Donal O’Hanlon will lead a discussion on “The Big Politics: getting people involved in
politics without talking politics!”
£3 per person (pay on the night)

Monday 2nd August, 7.30-9.30pm
EXECUTIVE MEETING
Elton Liberal Club, New George Street, Bury BL8 1NW.
All welcome to join this meeting of party business.

Sunday 29th August, from 4pm
SUMMER BBQ
Hosted by Cllr Ann Garner and the Executive
182 Glebelands Road, Prestwich, M25 1NJ.
£10 donation per adult.
All contributions towards the BBQ, bottles and raffle prizes much appreciated.
Please book in advance by contacting Ann (ann@burylibdems.net, 0161 798 0117)

Friday 10th September, 7 for 7.30pm
QUIZ NIGHT
Elton Liberal Club, New George Street, Bury, BL8 1NW.
Tickets in advance or on the night.
For more information and for tickets contact Robert Sloss.
£15 per team (maximum of 6 people).
If you don’t have a team, come along and we’ll put together teams on the night.

Tuesday 21st September , 7.30pm
SCHOOL GOVERNORS’ MEETING
82 Glebelands Road, Prestwich, M25 1NJ
This meeting will be led by Cllr Ann Garner and is for members who are school governors
or those interested in finding out more about being a governor. The meeting will discuss
changes to policy and procedure and budget challenges. For further details contact Ann
(ann@burylibdems.net, 0161 798 0117).

Prestwich LAP Votes NO on Parking Charges

Prestwich Local Area Partnership voted overwhelmingly against Bury Council’s plans to impose parking charges on Fairfax Road at its meeting on 15th July.

The vote was taken after the controversial plans were outlined at the meeting. Angry residents in the audience grilled Council parking chiefs for half an hour after it was confirmed that the Council plan to charge motorists £1 to park for up to an hour, and £2 afterwards.

St Mary’s ward Councillor Richard Baum said “It was clear that everyone in the room was against these proposals. It’s all about making money for Bury Council by punishing the people of Prestwich. These charges mean that people going to the doctors or the walk-in centre will have to pay. That’s just not fair, and that’s why I voted against the parking charges at the LAP like I did at the Council meeting when they were first proposed.”

Sedgley Councillor Steve Wright said “Local people are angry and we need to make it clear to the Conservatives at the Town Hall that Prestwich opposes these proposals. They are bad for business, bad for traffic congestion and bad for the town. I appeal to everyone in Prestwich to try and beat these plans by letting the Council know how much we oppose these charges.”

Lib Dems call for Consultation on Cuts

Local Liberal Democrats have accused Bury Conservatives of threatening the future of the town after big cuts were announced to Town Hall budgets last week.

The Council confirmed a range of cuts to be made immediately, including a reduction in funding for children’s services, playgrounds and roads. The decisions were made with immediate effect and without the involvement of Councillors or local people.

Commenting, Cllr Tim Pickstone the leader of the Bury Liberal Democrats said “We all know that cuts need to be made because of the huge debts left by the last Labour government. But this is the wrong way to go about making those cuts. In just a few days the Conservatives have decided to slash vital services without asking local people what they think is important.

“Why didn’t the Conservatives at the Town Hall ask other Councillors to talk to local people and get a sense about where they would like to see the cuts made? If they’d have asked local people they’d have found out just how bad some of their plans are. For instance, all year people have been telling me how much the roads need better maintenance, and yet this is the first budget to be cut. That’s madness and it isn’t fair. Local people have also said that they want more facilities for young people, but this budget too has been cut straight away. Where’s the sense in that?

“I call on the Conservatives to start a big consultation with local people right now about the full options for these necessary cuts, and I call on local people to let us know what their priorities are so that local Lib Dems can work with local people as we make the best of the mess the Labour Government have left us in.”

Lib Dems call for rethink on Fairfax Road Parking Charges

Local Liberal Democrat Councillors have called on the Conservatives running Bury Council to scrap proposed charges for the Fairfax Road. The planned charges will see motorists charged £1 for short-stay parking, and £2 for long-stay.

Councillor Tim Pickstone, leader of the Bury Liberal Democrats, said “Lib Dems in Prestwich have opposed the Fairfax Road car parking charges from day one. We voted against them, and have campaigned strongly against them since.

“We’re worried that the £1 charge for short-term parking will be particularly damaging to local shops, whilst at the same time doing nothing to achieve what the Conservatives at Bury Town Hall say they want, namely to reduce all-day parking.

“We’re worried that on street parking will increase on the nearby residential roads traffic congestion will increase on surrounding roads, and local people who need to use the NHS walk-in centre and GPs, particularly the old and disabled, will be disadvantaged.

“In the interests of Prestwich, its time for a re-think on the Fairfax Road parking charges. “

Message from Nick Clegg on the Queen’s Speech Debate

Yesterday I was proud to be at the Government Dispatch Box in the House of Commons moving a motion in support of a Queen’s Speech that committed to delivering long cherished Liberal Democrat policies.

Over the coming months we will bring forward legislation for much needed political reform and the restoration of our civil liberties. We will bring in a proportionally elected second chamber, strengthen the role of parliament, increase devolution to Scotland and Wales, regulate party funding and lobbysists, introduce the power of recall for corrupt MPs and give people a chance to vote to end First Past the Post elections for the House of Commons. All huge leaps forward in reforming our politics.

And we will introduce a Freedom Bill. Something I campaigned for vigorously with Chris Huhne, Lynne Featherstone and others in opposition – which we will now deliver in government. It will scrap ID cards, end fingerprinting of children in schools without their parent’s consent, regulate CCTV cameras, place significant restrictions on the DNA database and restore the right to protest.

I am sincerely committed to working together across party lines to help bring about this new and better politics. And I hope all parties will work together on these issues. However so far sadly the Labour party is unwilling to learn from is mistakes in government. It seems wedded to deeply illiberal policies such as intrusive and unjustifiable ID cards and a DNA database full of the data of innocent men and women. I hope that will change.

Yesterday the Liberal Democrat MPs you helped elect voted in Parliament for a program of real, liberal change. After 13 years of failure from Labour we are already making a real difference in government. With your on-going support we can keep making Liberal Democrat policies a reality.