Hitchin and Harpenden Liberal Democrats

In his keynote speech to the Liberal Democrat Conference, Party Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has outlined his goals for the Government and the country over the coming years. He reiterated his commitment to liberal values on the environment and human rights and his determination to ensure a fair chance for every child, saying "every child can do good things, great things, if only we give them the opportunities they deserve."

Liberal Democrats have proposed changes to the Tory-run council's budget to save services for young people, freeze increases in residents parking costs and protect both public toilets and recycling facilities.

Liberal Democrat leader Steve Jarvis said, "The proposed budget identifies savings of £750,000 in the Council's costs and proposes a zero rise in Council Tax, both of which we have long argued are possible. North Herts has been an expensive Council for too long, but now the Coalition Government has forced the local Conservatives to make changes.

Climate Change

The threat of climate change is one of my top three priorities as you will see from my website. I have laid out below how the Liberal Democrats plan to tackle this issue, and you can rest assured of my personal commitment too. Our incumbent MP has made clear his scepticism about the science and the degree of the threat - please support my campaign so that we can remove from parliament one of the three MP's to actually vote AGAINST the climate change bill.

Harpenden Branch

Our Area

There are four electoral wards in Harpenden Town. Each ward has 3 District Councillors (St Albans District Council) and four Harpenden Town Councillors. All of the town's councillors are Conservative.

Key Issues

• The appalling state of the local roads and pavements (predominantly a Herts County Council responsibility - which is Tory controlled);
• The major expansion of capacity at Luton airport and the resulting increase in flights over Harpenden and traffic in the local road network;
• The impact of increasing traffic on residential roads, especially near local schools;
• Parking problems in the town centre and in the residential roads close to Harpenden station, particularly from rail commuters;
• The threat to the local environment posed by "town cramming" through inappropriate infill and backland developments and the threat of major developments in the local Greenbelt;
• The problems for local families caused by the severe shortage of affordable housing in Harpenden, whether social housing or houses to buy.
• Preservation of the character and economic viability of Redbourn Village.
• - Preservation of the Greenbelt around the village and the two rural parishes.

Hitchin and South Liberal Democrats

Our Area

The town of Hitchin and the surrounding villages return twenty members to North Hertfordshire District Council of whom six are Liberal Democrats. The District itself is Conservative controlled.

Hitchin has fantastic rail links into London and has become a commuter base for the capital. Although a large number of residents also work locally in Stevenage and Luton.

Wheathampstead & Redbourn Liberal Democrats

Our Area

The branch has recently been extended and now covers the villages of Redbourn, Sandridge and Wheathampstead. Each have their own very distinct character, but share many features lying as they do on the outskirts of St Albans.

Wheathampstead and Redbourn comprise the county division known as "St Albans Rural". Sandridge county division is made up of Sandridge District ward plus Marshallswick North, which lies within the St Albans constituency.

Conservative councillors on NHDC last week (11/11/2010) voted to increase district councillors pay by 18%, with the leader of the council rising by no less than 68%.

Although council services in the region will need to be cut by £1.5 million over the following year they decided to push ahead with the pay-rise regardless. Although an independent panel had suggested that councilors were in line for a pay rise, councillors were under no obligation to push for any increase.

The 2010 North Herts District Council election results were announced on Friday 7th May and there were two notable successes for Hitchin.

Cllr Lawrence Oliver retained his Hitchin Highbury ward. This means that all three councillors in Highbury are still Liberal Democrat.

Meanwhile over in Hitchin Bearton ward Lisa Courts secured a magnificent win. After several recounts she was declared the new Liberal democrat councillor, having won by 5 votes!

After an uncertain night across the UK, Hitchin & Harpenden Liberal Democrats could at least take some comfort from a small increase in the share of their vote locally.

Hitchin & Harpenden Liberal Democrats candidate Nigel Quinton secured second place in the 2010 General Election with 26.7% of the vote (14,598 votes). The Lib-Dem vote was nearly double Labour's as they were beaten into an extremely poor third, only achieving 13.6% (7,413 votes.)

NHS

Climate Change

More on Climate Change

Peak Oil

Political Reform

More on political reform

Green Belt

Education and School Places

Roads Surveys