The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.
Liberal Democrats made two landslide gains from Tories in the latest council by-elections, suggesting their voting support has not been dented after the resignation from the Government of Chris Huhne.
Their candidate Chris Lofts took Northamptonshire County Council's Towcester division on a massive swing of more than 30% since the 2009 shire polls.
It has recently been announced that the Chief Executive Officer of the District Councilis leaving her post by "mutual consent".
This decision comes after 5 months of absence on sick leave. However, she has not resigned on the grounds of ill health, nor has she been sacked, so the reasons for her departure are mysterious. If she were leaving for health reasons I would feel sympathetic, but the strangeness of the announcement, and the secrecy surrounding it, make me ask questions. This is the same officer who resigned and took early retirement in March 2010 and was given a £92,000 pension deal, and then allowed to return to work part time. In the interests of openness and transparency I do hope that all the details and the costs of these latest arrangements will be fully disclosed, as a great deal of Council Tax payer's money seems to have been involved.
As the Christmas festivities and holidays come to an end and people return to work and school, we all begin to plan for the year ahead. Unemployment, especially youth unemployment, is a cause for concern nationally, and it is also a worry locally. We are fortunate in Bishop's Stortford because we have the excellent organisation called "Kickstart" which helps the unemployed in their search for jobs. "Kickstart" is held in the Methodist Church Hall in South Street on a Thursday and Friday morning every week, and anyone can walk in without an appointment and ask for free help.
I was inter ested to read the article about Hockerill in last month's edition.
We are fortunate that so many of our lovely old buildings have survived, as, in many other towns, the historic buildings have been demolished to make way for the motor car. But, there are serious problems with the Hockerill crossroads. From the days when stage coaches travelled on their way to East Anglia, with a pub on each of the 4 corners, up to the present time, Hockerill crossroads has been a most important junction.
The elections on May 5th were, to say the least, disappointing for the Lib Dems in Bishop's Stortford.
At District level, Bishop's Stortford has thirteen seats on the Council. The LibDems now have only one of those, held by Cllr Mike Wood who retained his seat in All Saints Ward. However, we sadly lost Mione Goldspink after 20 years representing the people of Stortford. Mione lost her seat in Central Ward as did Bob Taylor. In All Saints Ward we also lost the seat vacated by Andy Graham, who did not seek re-election after 16 years.
Re :-- Liberal Democrat influence over the NHS 'Reform' Bill,
As Liberal Democrats, we are delighted that the Government has agreed to make significant and major changes to the proposed NHS 'Reform' Bill. This is due in no small measure to pressure exerted by the Liberal Democrats which, in association with concerns expressed by the medical profession, caused the Government to pause and to consult.
The Bishop's Stortford High School and the Herts & Essex High School have appealed against the planning decisions by the East Herts Council. The Council refused the planning applications, which involved the moving of the two schools to green belt land at Whittington Way and building over 700 houses across the town on the vacated sites, on the Beldams Lane Playing Field and on land at Patmore Close.
The appeal will be heard at a Public Enquiry, which will begin on September 20th and run for about three weeks.
The Civic Federation, local Residents' Associations, Thorley Parish and other community groups in the town plan to contest the appeal, which is being funded by Hertfordshire County Council using tax-payers' money.
The local branch of the Liberal Democrats is also supporting The Bishop's Stortford Civic Federation's fight against the schools' move.
However, funds are needed to engage legal counsel to ensure that Bishop's Stortford Communities are professionally represented at the enquiry. Please help the Civic Federation to fight the 'Stop Schools' Move' appeal by donating online on the Civic Fedration's website at http:/www.stortfordcf.org.uk or by sending your contribution to:
'CAUSE' c/o 5 Maple Avenue, Bishop's Stortford, Herts. CM23 2RP
Your support would be appreciated and any donation gratefully received.
The LibDems are pleased that the Town Council has managed to reduce its share of the council tax for 2011 - 12 and supported the reduction.
However it could have been reduced still further had a suggestion by Cllr. Mike Wood been taken up by the council.
The council tax required for the Town Council now amounts to just over £1m and, by law, it has to keep reserves of half of the tax requirement. At the moment, reserves are well above this level, with the money just sitting in the bank.
