Labour Councillors Launch Petition to Reinstate Bardon Relief Road

A new 25 year Development Plan was approved by the Conservative controlled North West Leics District Council at a special meeting on Tuesday 24th April. The plan proposes up to 4500 houses to be built in South East Coalville in the next 20 years and also abandons plans for the Bardon Relief Road.

In a packed Council chamber, Greenhill Labour Councillors Nick Clarke and Ron Adams proposed an amendment to the plan calling on the Bardon by-pass to be included in the plan, together with other infrastructure improvements in the area. 

Councillor Clarke said

“If developers are to be allowed the privilege of building on green fields surrounding my home town, then it is right and proper that some of the huge profit generated by these developers is used to improve the roads and infrastructure for those adversely affected by their actions". 

The Labour amendment was voted down by the Tory majority on the Council.

Councillor Dave De Lacy (Labour spokesperson for Transport) has launched a petition demanding the decision be reversed. 

Councillor De Lacy said

“The proposed development equates to another town on the outskirts of Coalville. How can the already overcrowded roads cope with this amount of development? The decision to abandon the Bardon Relief Road must be reversed.”

Councillor Ron Adams said after the meeting;

“I encourage anybody who supports the need for a Bardon Relief Road to take part in the consultation and sign our petition. If we can generate enough support this might just persuade the Tory administration to revisit their position. It is blatantly obvious to anybody who lives on, or uses Bardon Road and the surrounding area that a relief road is desperately needed.” 

The Labour Group at NWLeics District Council and supporters of the Relief Road will be out and about collecting signatures for their petition over the coming weeks. You can also sign it on line at;
 http://bit.ly/KB2oHh

Lib-Dems Support Tory NHS bill

To their undying shame Liberal Democrats have supported the Tory NHS Bill which will open the NHS up to big business and a much increased role for private companies. Hospitals will be allowed to earn up to 49% of their income from private patients. Inevitably this will lead to a two tier system in our hospitals.
The Royal Colleges of Physicians, GP`s, Nurses, Midwives, Paediatrics and Child Health, Radiologists, Physiotherapists, the British Geriatric Society and the Patients Association all oppose the Bill.
Phil Gray, chief executive of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, stated “David Cameron can quote as many figures out of context as he likes but cannot escape the central fact that his government’s proposals are almost universally opposed by professionals in the NHS. Like other professional bodies, we have lobbied for more than a year in parliament to get the Government to amend the Health Bill, which seriously threatens the future of the NHS, but they refused to make any significant changes.”


 

Conservatives and Lib-Dems give £40,000 tax rebate per year to Millionaires

George Osborne used to say “We are all in this together”. Well, not any more because today he gave a Budget where millions were asked to pay more, so millionaires can pay less.
In tough times the choices this Consevative-Lib Dem Government is making tells you everything you need to know about them.
They prove that George Osborne and David Cameron and Nick Clegg are totally out of touch with what life is like for people in our country.
At a time when bills are going up for families on middle and low incomes George Osborne has added to them all. Fuel duty is going up this summer, even though petrol prices are at a record high. 

And at the very same time the Budget gave a tax cut to the very richest people in our country. Just 14,000 people earning £1 million or more will get a Budget boost of over £40,000 each year.
The Government could have used the money to cut fuel duty or reverse unfair and perverse cuts to tax credits – which will see thousands of working parents better off quitting work from next month. They could have used the money to reduce the cuts to police officers or help pay the down the deficit. Instead they chose to cut taxes for the 300,000 people earning over £150,000 - the richest one per cent. How can this be the right priority now?
Whatever he says about increasing the income tax personal allowance a family with children earning just £20,000 will still lose around £253 a year from this April.
And shockingly he slipped out a £3 billion tax raid on pensioners over the next four years. Nearly four and a half million pensioners who pay income tax will lose an average of £83 per year next April. And people turning 65 next year will lose up to £322.
And all this comes from a government whose economic policies have utterly failed on jobs, growth and the deficit.
Of course there have to be tough decisions on tax, spending and pay. But we won’t get the deficit down unless we have a plan for jobs and growth to get our economy moving again and get people off the dole and into work.
And that was the gaping hole in today’s Budget. It wasn’t just unfair, it had no plan for jobs like Labour’s plan which includes a guaranteed job for every young person out of work for more than a year – fully funded by a tax on bank bonuses.
Instead in Tory Britain unemployment is at a 17 year high, with a record one million young people out of work. Our economy has stalled as America races ahead. And this slower growth and higher unemployment means the government is set to borrow an extra £150 billion to pay for this economic failure.
George Osborne's plan has failed. Trying to raise taxes and cut spending too far and too fast has backfired. And with his tax cut for millionaires he is piling insult upon injury for millions of families and pensioners across Britain.

Greenhill Lib-Dem votes with Tories to reject "1st Hour Free" Parking in Coalville

At a recent Council meeting Labour Councillors tabled an amendment to the Conservative Budget plans which would have allowed "1st hour free" parking in Coalville. Regrettably the Greenhill Lib-Dem joined the Tories in voting against the proposal. The Labour amendment was lost. .

Councillor Nick Clarke commented - " I find it amazing that the Greenhill Lib-Dem voted with the Conservatives as he recently called on the Tories to introduce one hour free parking in Coalville himself"

Councillor Ron Adams commented - " It seems Lib-Dem allegiance to the Tories is as strong in local politics as it is nationally"

Labour Councillors Oppose Massive 8.25% Council Rent Increase

Labour Councillors from Warren Hills Branch representing Greenhill and Ibstock and Heather are appalled at the massive 8.25% increase in rents for Council tenants, which was imposed by the controlling Conservative Group at the meeting of the North West Leics District Council on Thursday 23rd February.

The two wards of Greenhill and Ibstock and Heather have the most Council properties in the North West Leics District. Greenhill has nearly 800 Council properties and Ibstock & Heather has 413.

Fourteen Labour Councillors opposed the Tory budget which included these increases. The vote in the Council chamber to approve the Conservative budget was 20 for 15 against with 1 abstention.

Ron Adams and Dave De Lacy both spoke in the debate opposing the massive rent increase.

Dave De Lacy, in his first Council meeting since being elected as Councillor for Ibstock and Heather, specifically asked the Tories " What advice they would give to Council tenants who are desperately struggling to pay their bills and simply can`t afford to pay such a massive increase?"

Dave said after the meeting “Conservatives Councillors did not seem to have any advice for tenants, they didn’t seem to show any compassion at all.  This rent increase which is well above inflation will be absolutely devastating to hard pressed Council tenants”.

Ron Adams said in the debate – “I cannot and will not support this appalling rent increase of 8.25% for Council tenants. This equates to an increase of over £320 per year for some tenants within Greenhill. This is a vicious attack on Council tenants.”Ron stated after the meeting; “As a Councillor who represents nearly 800 Council tenants, I find this increase obscene!”

 Janet Ruff commented after the meeting "We are all in it together - What a joke. The Tories don’t seem to care about how council house tenants are going to afford this increase.  It seems to me that the less well off are again being asked to contribute far more than the wealthy and privileged in our society" 

Nick Clarke when told about the vote after the meeting said "I feel really sorry for all those council tenants who will now have to find this money from somewhere. Wages, pensions and most benefits are not going up anything like 8.25%. This increase could put tenants in severe financial difficulty.”

Issued by Councillors Ron Adams, Nick Clarke, Janet Ruff, Dave De Lacy

(We would like to make it clear under the Council’s code of conduct Nick Clarke quite properly declared a prejudicial interest, and did not take part in the debate because he has a close relative who is a Council tenant of NWLDC).

Labour win Council Election in Ibstock and Heather Conservative Vote Collapses, Lib-Dem leaflet sent to Police

The result of the District Council Election in Ibstock and Heather was as follows:-

Russell Boam (Con)       357 votes

Dave De Lacy (Lab)        480 votes

Ivan Hammonds (Ind)      125 votes

Sue Morrell     (Green)     32 votes

Jakob Whiten (UKIP)       26 votes

Kim Wyatt (Lib Dem)      372 votes

Dave De Lacy, the successful Labour candidate, is the Secretary of Warren Hills Labour Party Branch.

Dave said “I would really thank the voters in Ibstock and Heather for electing me – I believe we fought a positive campaign. I also believe the vote shows that the electorate are becoming increasingly fed up and disillusioned with the policies of the Tory Controlled District and County Councils and the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government.  On the doorstep voters were  really concerned about the cuts to local bus services and the future of the NHS.

I believe that Tory-Lib Dem policies on the NHS and also the Economy with youth unemployment soaring will result in growing support for Labour across the country”.

Dave also said “I also thought the Lib-Dems fought a particularly negative and misleading campaign.  I understand that one of the Lib-Dem leaflets (published and promoted by Councillor Michael Wyatt on behalf of the Lib-Dem candidate Kim Wyatt) has been referred to the police by the Returning Officer as a result of alleged irregularities.”

Photo of some of the magnificent Labour team campaigning in Ibstock the Saturday before the election

Warren Hills Labour Party branch now has four Councillors Ron Adams and Nick Clarke representing Greenhill and Janet Ruff and Dave De Lacy representing Ibstock and Heather.

Next Meeting of Warren Hills Branch

The next meeting of the Warren Hills Labour Party Branch is the Annual General Meeting and will take place at 7.0pm on Wednesday 22nd February 2012. The venue for the meeting is at the Agar Nook Community Centre, Belgrave Close, Coalville. LE674TN.
All branch members are invited to attend.

Dave De Lacy
Branch Secretary