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

Labour Secures Improvements at Meadow Lane Crossroads

Recent improvements made at Meadow Lane Crossroads were not welcomed by all. A visually impaired resident found she couldn’t cross the road after the changes to the junction had been made. The resident said; “The pedestrian crossing points are too close to the junction, and the traffic noise from the junction make it impossible to tell whether the way is clear.”

Local District Councillor Nick Clarke heard of her plight when he was gathering the opinion of a local shop keeper regarding the junction. Cllr Clarke stated; “It appeared that she had to seek assistance every time she wanted to cross the road and get to the local Post Office.”

After Councillor Clarke’s intervention a representative of the County Council met the resident on site and has agreed to add an extra pedestrian crossing point on Blackwood.

Cllr Clarke added; “Hopefully the new crossing point will resolve the problem. I would like to thank the County Council for their assistance in this matter.”

The work is due to begin week commencing 13^th Feb 2012

However, the junction still suffers from a lot of illegal parking and fellow District Labour Councillor Ron Adams has raised this issue at North West Leicestershire District Council. Cllr Adams said; “I have received a number of complaints from residents about illegal parking at the junction, even occasions when residents have been blocked in when people are parking across their driveways.”

Since Cllr Adams highlighted the problem at the Council the number of visits by enforcement officers has been increased. Cllr Adams went on; “The amount of illegal parking appears to have reduced since the increase in visits by enforcement officers. However, it is still an issue and I would encourage anybody to report illegally parked vehicles either to the police or the District Council. My thanks go to Officers and Staff at NWLDC for their efforts in trying to resolve the problem.”

For further information

Nick Clarke 07891073391, Ron Adams 07557038432