Scoring 8 out of 10, Lib Dem MEPs provide best ‘value-for-money’ of all UK parties, according to the Independent
EUROPE: You have a vote today – don’t forget to use it!
Solar panels on the P&Rs? Lib Dems propose sensible approach to solar energy
Yes, of course the LibDems are fully behind solar energy – but not at the expense of valuable arable land! What is needed is a sensible approach.
So if we could find a place that delivers this energy and has a positive impact on 8 other issues then it could be considered a real winner.
Well, Dave Busby – LibDem councillor for Belstead Brook – may have just had that ‘eureka’ moment. He is proposing that we should cover the Copdock Park & Ride with solar panels.
Apart from the obvious benefit of additional power what else would this proposal give us?
“Generating income for the site would mean that
– Fares could be reduced – resulting in increased numbers using the service increasing, meaning less traffic jams and less pollution in Ipswich;
– The future viability of the site would be guaranteed;
– Students from Suffolk One could be offered cheap parking – eliminating the continuing thorny problem of them needing to park in surrounding residential areas,” Dave points out.
Additional benefits would be that
- Traffic flow into town is reduced;
- Agricultural land is retained for food production;
- The Suffolk landscape is not blighted;
- The site could provide a point for charging electric cars;
- It means a double use for an asset
Solar panels could also be added at the Martlesham P&R site to provide similar benefits on the other side of Ipswich.
So will it happen?
“Watch this space,” says Dave Busby.
LibDems fight for East of England Jobs
Like it or not, more than 4 million UK jobs depend on Britain remaining in the European Union.
Which is why the Lib Dems want us to stay in Europe, unlike UKIP and the many Conservative Eurosceptics. Pulling out of Europe would be disastrous for the economy – and for Suffolk!
In the East of England a staggering 375,000 jobs will be put at risk if Britain leaves the European Union.
“The facts speak for themselves,” says Lib Dem Euro MP Andrew Duff. “Locally, the EU has provided vital funding for job creation projects and has brought in £millions of investment.
The truth is, the EU needs reform, but pulling out would lead to economic disaster.”
Published and promoted by I Horner on behalf of the Liberal Democrats at Orwell House, Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 0PP
UKIP: “Safer lorries? Nein danke!”
Suffolk cyclists and pedestrians will be delighted to hear that new regulations on lorry design were adopted by the European Parliament on Tuesday with a huge majority.
Inadequate HGV design has been implicated as a significant factor in the deaths and injuries of pedestrians and cyclists. Lorries are involved in almost one in five cycle fatalities in Britain.
Under changes pushed by Liberal Democrat MEPs, the design of lorry cabs are set to be changed. Crucially they will have larger windows to the front and side – which will increase the driver’s field of vision and reduce blind spots. New vehicles would also have a crumple zone and a rounder front, with the intention of reducing the severity of injuries to vulnerable road users – in a collision the design would allow a cyclist or pedestrian to be deflected away from the lorry rather than being dragged beneath it.It is thought the proposal could help prevent dozens of fatal accidents each year.
Although the vote was 606 – 54, embarrassingly, more MEPs from the UK than any other country voted against adopting these new rules and half of the 12 were from UKIP 
, including UKIP leader Nigel Farage. Another vote against was from the BNP’s Nick Griffin.
A full list of nay-sayers can be found here.
“This vote show how divorced UKIP MEPs are from any activity except that of claiming expenses, ” says LibDem Transport spokesman Caroline Page.
“I have twice been very nearly killed by a lorry when cycling. In both cases, poor visibility from the cab was the key issue. I am sure that lorry drivers will welcome these proposals as fervently as cyclists and pedestrians.
Lorry drivers don’t want to become killers, any more than cyclists want to be killed. How hard is that for UKIP to understand?”
Caroline Page
NHS Data sharing – it’s your call
Everyone in Suffolk should have received a leaflet through the post (click here) about how the government intends to share your personal health data with a variety of ‘approved’ (but unspecified) organisations and ‘researchers’. The leaflet came without an envelope and will probably have arrived with a lot of other leaflets and many people may have thrown it away unread.
The leaflet tells you, “If you are happy for your information to be shared “ (or if you have thrown away the leaflet unread) “you do not need to do anything. There is no form to fill in and nothing to sign.”
In other words – you will automatically have opted into having your full medical information shared with whoever the government decides appropriate.
Or indeed, anyone who breaks into the HSCIC ‘secure’ system.
“The thing that worries me, is why is there no form to fill in and nothing to sign? The government are leafleting every household in the country,and the form could easily have contained a simple opt-in slip that you could fill in and take to your GP. Almost everything in this country that’s not compulsory requires an opt in – from electoral registration, to becoming an organ donor. If the government wants to start a trend for opting-out rather than opting-in why don’t we start with one or both of these? ” asks Woodbridge County Councillor Caroline Page.
“The second problem I have is can we be identified via this data? The leaflet tells you that your name will not be linked to your data but the parent NHS website confirms that they are linking “your date of birth, full postcode, NHS number, and gender“ will be. That is enough to identify most people.
Theoretically NHS data sharing is a good idea. Nothing would please me – and people like me – more than if a responsible state used our medical data for responsible research to ameliorate our current problems and make life better for the future. But until we can have better guarantees as to anonymity and security this initiative seems to be fatally flawed.
Personally, I’m happy to share my NHS data with my excellent GP practice, with hospitals and with various expert medical personnel. But until we can have better guarantees as to anonymity and security I will not be sharing my data with the state!”
A proposal – which will be discussed next month – could additionally give access to our data to non-NHS bodies, including private firms. Make a positive decision as to whether you are opting in or out. Contact your GP surgery
Caroline Page
Suffolk County Council Budget 2014
Suffolk County Council agreed its Budget at full council today. The LibDems had a free vote, but most – if not all – voted against the Administration’s proposals. As Leader, Dave Wood said:
Our group fully understands the financial needs of the County – and the absolute requirement the Council has to raise efficiency and to give good value for money. So of course, we fully support the proposed 0% increase in Council Tax.
However, we sincerely believe that the Pickles Bribe (eg central government’s council tax freeze deal) should actually be used, rather than placed in the reserves as seems to have become Tory practice. This money should be given back to the people of Suffolk – from whom it was extracted via their taxes – and used to support some of the services you are proposing to cut.
We are concerned – most particularly with Adult and Continuing Services – that apparent efficiencies are masking significant service resuctions. We have anecdotal evidence that this is the case.
It is a different case with Childrens and Young Peoples’ services. League tables show clearly that we are still performing badly, and yet we see substantial budget cuts. This just cannot be right. The future of Suffolk depends on the aspirations of its young people.
We welcome the gains you propose to make from the moving of CSD inhouse- but surely there has been a very hard lesson to be learned here. This project has been very badly managed for years now. It is proof, if proof was needed that outsourcing services doesn’t always make savings and is not always best.. SO surely the savings made from this and the Energy from Waste project should be employed to rectify the problems I have quoted.
On a personal level I’m deeply disappointed that the Council has decided to cut their contribution to Suffolk’s magnificent AONBs by 20% – especially as it is on the back of them being forward-looking and restructuring I know it is only a small sumof money in the grand scheme of things – but what sort of message is it going to send out to our other contributing partners, considering AONBs importance, and the contribution they make to the Suffolk economy? I wish that the reduction could have been phased in with a full consultation. As it is there in black and white in today’s budget, I hope the Portfolio holder will reassure us that he will take no more from the AONBs for the duration of this administration.
2014 – Happy New Year!
May the coming year bring you peace and prosperity.
The Suffolk Lib Dems are committed to working for Suffolk and representing you, the people of Suffolk – today and every day. We’re looking forward to continuing the fight to make our lovely county a place that everyone can enjoy living in – from Kersey to Kessingland , from Bury to Beccles (and everywhere else in the bargain!)
With your support, we can make 2014 a year to remember!
Dave Wood, Liberal Democrat Group Leader, County Councillor for Peninsula and Lib Dem Spokesperson for Public Protection and Environment
John Field, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader, County Councillor for Gipping Valley and Lib Dem Spokesperson for Resource Management
Dave Busby County Councillor for Belstead Brook and Lib Dem Spokesperson for Finance and Property
Inga Lockington County Councillor for St. Margarets and Westgate, Ipswich and Lib Dem Spokesperson for Health and Adult Care
Penny Otton County Councillor for Thedwastre South and Lib Dem Spokesperson for Education, Skills, Young People and Localities
Caroline Page County Councillor for Woodbridge and Lib Dem Spokesperson for Roads and Transport
Julia Truelove County Councillor for Bosmere
Severe weather warning: midnight 23 Dec – 6am 24th Dec
The Met Office have issued an Amber Warning of Wind, valid from 00:05 on Tue, 24th Dec 2013 until 06:00 on Tue, 24th Dec 2013.
“Southwesterly gales and locally severe gales will continue across southern and eastern parts of England during Monday night, but are expected to strengthen further across parts of southeast England, including SUFFOLK, in the Amber warning area, during the early hours of Tuesday, with gusts of 65-75 mph inland and 75-85 mph along exposed eastern coasts. The winds will ease from the west by morning.”
Note – Friday 27th sees return of gales and rain.
Heavy rain is anticipated although it is considered that this will only have the potential for localised surface water flooding with up to 20-25mm of rain across the county. There may be other incidents of flooding in areas susceptible to flooding from fast reacting rivers – Rattlesden, Stowmarket and possibly to Needham Market.
Widespread messages are being circulated to the public through the media – that “ the Public should be prepared for disruption, particularly to travel and for interruptions to power supplies.”
TRAVEL
Road: The Highways Agency has closed the QEII Bridge at Dartford until further notice with traffic being diverted through the tunnels. It is anticipated that the Orwell Bridge will be closed later this evening- based upon the wind limits, but hopefully after this evening’s homeward commute to ease congestion problems in Ipswich.
Suffolk Highways are activating their Highways Hub overnight to deal with expected road disruption. However, crews will not carry out chainsaw clearances during darkness hours, but will make situations safe and put diversions in place. Additional crews will commence shifts earlier tomorrow morning.
Rail: Anglia Rail tell us 50 mph speed restriction will be imposed across the Route network from 6pm this evening until first thing tomorrow morning. As a consequence there will be some cancellations and alterations to services.
Services in Anglia are not expected to resume until after 10am tomorrow morning, to be in position to clear the debris, etc. and also allow for “route proving trains” to check the lines before re-opened to services. If possible they will restore services before 10am but the advice to the public is not to look to travel tomorrow until after 1000 hrs.
POWER OUTAGES
It is anticipated that there will be power outages, especially along the coast. UK Power Networks have initiated their emergency procedures.
GENERAL
Warnings are being sent regarding open areas, public spaces and parks and Right of Way regarding the hazards.
There may be loss of power affecting care homes and vulnerable people
Probable closure of Port of Felixstowe, and increased congestion if Orwell Bridge closed.
Caroline Page
LibDem Spokesperson for Transport
David v Goliath: Suffolk LibDems see off Hadleigh Tescos
Twenty six years after it first proposed a store in Hadleigh, Tesco has at last admitted defeat and has withdrawn its application to build a supermarket there.
The supermarket giant has finally conceded that they cannot get past spirited public defence of Hadleigh High Street – which on this final occasion was led by Lib Dem David Busby and the Babergh Planning Committee. District councillors voted seven to six to reject the plans. They decided they would be gambling on the future of the whole town’s economy if they the 2,500 square metre store to go ahead.
“Tesco would do more harm than good,” said Cllr Busby.“If we get the decision wrong and the high street goes down, we will never get it back.”
However he warns that the future of the town doesn’t end here. ”This can only be seen as the start of the survival of the High Street, it doesn’t guarantee it,” says Cllr Busby. ” A sustainable future can only be ensured by constant attention.It is now down to the people of Hadleigh, the retailers and the town councillors to make it happen!
Warning: Suffolk Coastal tidal surge tonight
Looks like the Suffolk Coast may be in for a hammering battering tonight, with the Environment Agency strongest tidal surge in 60 years predicted. Already there are Severe Flood Warnings right along the Suffolk Coast, from Felixstowe to Lowestoft .
However a Major Incident has been announced – so keep aware.
- The Environment Agency Warnings link identifes trouble spots. It is updated every time there is a change to predicted circumstances.
- When flooding is likely, the Environment Agency issues flood alerts and warnings through the media – broadcast on TV and local radio. You can register with the Environment Agency to receive free floods warnings by phone, text or e-mail. You can also get advice and information via Floodline on 0845 9881188.
- Suffolk Police Emergency Helpline: 0845 603 2814
- If there is any risk of danger to people, property or the environment as a result of flooding you should not hesitate to ring 999.
- Further general information can be found on the Suffolk County Council flood risk webpage
Keep an eye on warnings and keep safe!