News from Wealden LibDems
"Where were the gritters?" asks Jane
LibDem Councillor for Crowborough East and group leader on Wealden DC Jane Clark has castigated East Sussex County Council after the problems residents in Crowborough suffered after the heavy snow. Jane says
"On Saturday (19 Dec.) I walked around Crowborough or rather slipped as the pavement snow was so compacted it had become very icy. Indeed my husband and I picked up one elderly resident who had slipped over. Hurtis Hill, the main road for lorries to the industrial estate was closed as 4 lorries were stuck.
"There were several police cars and a gritting lorry was going up and down trying to clear it about 11ish on the Saturday.
"Whitehill Road, Croft Road, Mill Lane. Pine Grove, all key roads for access to the town centre and shops had not been gritted and there was chaos as cars slid and reversed as they were unable to get into the Croft Road car park or out of Morrisons.
Jane adds "I would like to know why East Sussex County Council failed to grit on the Thursday night and Friday. Crowborough is the largest inland town. The weather was not a surprise.
"The Saturday before Christmas is the busiest shopping day and one of the most lucrative for our local businesses but if you could make it to the A26 it was in fact easier to go shopping in Tunbridge Wells.
"The County Council takes a significant amount in Council Tax, it wastes money on roundabouts that no-one wants such as at the end of Mill Lane, so badly laid out that cars were slipping down out of control there on the Tuesday morning and yet provides no road gritting or snow ploughing for those who need to get about their normal business. I dread to think of the cost to the local community. The County Council needs to account for itself.."
Dec 2009
No Land Raise at Laughton UPDATE
Chris Bowers, LibDem Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Wealden, is campaigning against East Sussex County Council's plans to put 'land raise' sites along the A22 corridor, in particular on land between Laughton and East Hoathly.
"The name 'land raise' sounds very genteel," says Chris, "but in lay terms, it's a very big heap of rubbish. The county council has identified five 'areas of search' in which it wants to look for sites to dump construction waste from Brighton & Hove, and we fear pretty much the whole of the land between East Hoathly and Laughton is fairly high up the council's priority list.
"It's not that it's here that we're objecting to - that would be Nimbyist. It's the principle of land raise at this stage of the process. The county council should look at more environmentally sound methods of waste disposal. They are restricting the amount of funding that goes to recycling (effectively setting an upper limit on the amount district councils can recycle). One of the main reasons given for the controversial incinerator being built at Newhaven was that it would reduce significantly the amount of waste needed for landfill!"
On Thursday 10 December Chris attended a public meeting in Laughton organised by local people to campaign against the council's proposal - hopefully involving an environmental planning consultancy in the campaign. Chris adds:
"Please write to the county council to object to the proposal to create land raise sites. The deadline was 15 January BUT HAS BEEN EXTENDED BY 10 DAYS TO 25 January, but please get your letter in as soon as possible, as the council is ploughing ahead with technical work in support of their proposals. Please write to Transport and Environment, East Sussex County Council, C4 Waste and Minerals Policy (AP), FREEPOST (LW43), Lewes, BN7 1BR."
More about this on Chris's website.
updated Jan 2010
Don't let the cheque disappear
Many of us use internet banking, but still write and receive a surprising number of cheques - to pay for the kids' school dinners and activities, the milk bill, tradesmen and allow relatives to safely send financial gifts in a way that "I've transferred £30 to your bank account" just doesn't match.
As a nation, we write nearly four million cheques every day. They might be expensive and annoying for the banks to deal with, but they are still useful for us, and the alternatives are a long way from being up to scratch.
But our banks are planning to vote to abolish cheques altogether, the aim being to phase them out by 2018.
LibDem MP for Cheadle, Mark Hunter, is campaigning against the abolition of cheques. He has created a petition on the Number 10 website - the wording is
"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to save the cheque by reminding the banks of their duty to serve the customer - and not vice versa - and by asking members of the Payments Council to vote against abolishing the cheque bearing in mind the great inconvenience such a decision would cause to Britain's most vulnerable people"
LibDem Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Wealden Chris Bowers is among the signatories.
LibDem Councillor Paul Sparks says
"I would be very much against it. I'm treasurer for a couple of societies and we could not function without cheques. I would guess that charities would also be badly affected."
Please help this campaign by signing the petition
Dec 2009
Nothing blocking Lewes-Uckfield Rail Line - Except County Officials UPDATE
As well as new research highlighted by Chris Bowers, Paul Sparks reports on the recent Rail Conference hosted by the County Council (see end of this article).
"The only obstacle to the Lewes-Uckfield line reopening is the attitude of officials at County Hall." That's the view of Chris Bowers, LibDem Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Wealden, who has got hold of new research which shows that demand for train travel on re-opened rail lines far exceeds theoretical estimates.
Chris says new developments are strengthening the case for re-opening the line. The latest is new research by Railfuture Scotland, which says growing experience of new and re-opened lines in Scotland and Wales confirms an upsurge in passenger demand far exceeding previous estimates of usage from 'theoretical modelling' used to justify investment. Chris adds
"To me, the case for the line has existed for years. I believe last year's feasibility study, which concluded there was no business case for a re-opened Lewes-Uckfield line, was flawed, and these new findings further undermine it. And there's a new report due out later this month which could further damage the feasibility study's credibility, as it looks at how revised government criteria for evaluating new transport schemes would give different business case scenarios now than they gave last year."
This week, the county council's Lead Member for Transport meeting agreed to write to the Secretary of State, asking for the Lewes-Uckfield line to be re-examined. While welcoming that move, Chris feels the biggest obstacle is at County Hall, not Whitehall. "We hear all the right noises from county officials about East Sussex County Council being committed to re-opening the line, but evidence suggests the opposite."
"The most recent example is the proposal to put a new road bridge across the Uck in Uckfield at ground level across the existing rail track bed. This would add to the cost of re-opening the line because a bridge would have to be built, just as some crossing of the A22 south of Uckfield will have to be found."
Among the findings of Railfuture Scotland's research are that trains on the Edinburgh-Bathgate line (opened in 1986) have carried four times more passengers than originally forecast, the Stirling-Alloa line (opened last year) carried three times more passengers in its first three months than modelling had forecast, and the Ebbw Vale-Cardiff line in Wales (also opened last year) carried 2.5 times more than forecast in its first eight months. All used the same complex modelling technique.
"Together with the county's decision to move all shipments into and out of the planned incinerator in Newhaven by road - after the county council had originally spoken about the advantages of having a railway line close by - it all points to a roads-dominated county council that's getting in the way of what the people want and the environment needs: a railway line between Lewes and Uckfield."
The Libdem group at Wealden District Council have for a long time campaigned for the reinstatement of the line. At a public consultation in Crowborough on Saturday LibDem Group Leader Jane Clark was astonished by the vigorous support shown for the reopening of the line. One consultee stated that she would not be able to attend her college if she was not lucky enough to have a car and be able to drive. The reopening of the line would provide more opportunity to access educational establishments and work opportunities for all residents in Wealden.
Meanwhile Paul Sparks, LibDem County Councillor for Uckfield, attended a recent Rail Conference in Eastbourne hosted by East Sussex County Council. Paul reports
"The Tory Leader opened the conference by stating that his 2 main priorities are fibre optic cabling and rail. This was a welcomed although surprising statement by Councillor Peter Jones as in the past it has been alleged that the County Council have favoured road over rail."
"The main part of the conference was directed to the Route Utilisation Strategies being implemented by Network Rail which has been subject to consultation.
"The original document did not include reopening the Lewes - Uckfield line although on the existing service the number of carriages will be increased for peak times to 8 and then eventually to 10. One obvious question is whether all the platforms can cope with the extra length but nevertheless this is good news but there was strong support at the meeting for the reinstatement.
"The other major topic was the withdrawal of the Hastings - Cannon Street services with places like Wadhurst very angry as many residents who work in the City rely on this service and the fear is that they will now move away.
"However, it appeared that all these comments and those contained via the consultation will be ignored and the final document will be much the same as the original issued for consultation. So what is the point of consultation many people asked. Network Rail explained that they had to work within tight budgets and they had to take into account the limitations of the rail network."
Paul concludes "Useful conference but it left many questions unanswered."
Dec 2009
Uckfield LibDem District and County Councillor Paul Sparks recently attended a very informative Benefit Awareness seminar run by the District Council. Paul says
"Currently Wealden are paying £20.7million a year in Housing Benefit which helps pay the rent for tenants in both private rented and social housing.
"In addition, 8,000 households receive £8million in Council Tax Benefit which can be paid to both tenants and owner occupiers. This benefit's name is shortly being changed to "Council Tax Rebate" in the hope that this will increase the take up.
"Both of these benefits are means tested so depend on household income and savings. However, Wealden have a benefit adviser who has been successful in achieving benefits totalling more than £1million in the last year for local residents. She is Jaki Hall and can be contacted on 01323 443774.
"All these benefits are paid by central Government so are not a strain on local council tax payers but it is most likely that the benefits paid will be spent locally so boosting the local economy.
"This is only the tip of the iceberg as far as the complex world of state benefits but Jaki has considerable knowledge and can help with the full range.
"Of course, help on this subject together with many other areas is available from the Citizen's Advice Bureaus in Crowborough, Hailsham and Uckfield."
Nov 2009
Really Useful Shows - 23 Nov and 2 Dec
LibDem Group Leader on Wealden District Council Jane Clark is drawing residents' attention to the two 'Really Useful Shows' being run by the council.
These shows are aimed at jobseekers and others on low incomes
Advice on such topics as money (including benefits), housing, writing a CV and attending a job interview etc. will be available.
The two shows are being held at
- Hailsham Community Centre on Monday 23rd November 2009
- Uckfield Civic Centre on Wednesday 2nd December 2009
Both run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. They are free and will include entertainment for children and demonstrations on cooking without it costing a fortune.
More information here.
Nov 2009
Polegate LibDem councillor, Roy Martin, has called for a outreach facility to accompany the planned new medical centre in Polegate, if it is to be placed at Tower Mill. Roy says
"There have been around 21 options looked at for the medical centre, and they have been considered twice now. The Tower Mill site is not perfect, not least because residents would have to cross the main road, but it seems now to be the only viable option. If it is to go ahead, I would encourage the doctors to put an outreach surgery in the town centre, as there is in Willingdon."
"It has been a very long process to site the new medical centre, and we have to make sure that the health needs of residents are met."
Local MP Norman Baker adds: "I fully support Councillor Martin in this cause, and indeed I have already raised this matter with the Primary Care Trust and the doctors."
Nov 2009
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