Forest Lib Dem councillor launches blog site

Samina Safdar, who was one of the four Lib Dem councillors elected by Waltham Forest residents in by-elections last year, has launched a blog site covering news and iterms of interest in her ward.

Samina, who was elected in Forest ward, hopes that the site will provide another way for local residents to keep in touch with the work of their local Lib Dem councillors, but has ensured residents that they will continue to recieve their local FOCUS newsletter straight to their door!

If you’d like to see what Samina and the Forest Lib Dems have been up to, please head over to the Samina Safdar blog.

Meeting the real needs of London – Lib Dems set out their alternatives to the Boris budget

Help for Londoners facing tough economic times and long term action to improve London’s environment are the key proposals put forward by the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group in their alternative budget proposals, which would lead to no extra increases in Boris Johnson’s council tax bill.

Mike Tuffrey, the leader of the Liberal Democrat Assembly Group said:

“Many families have already faced redundancies and many more face the daunting prospect of unemployment in 2009. The Mayor cannot stop people losing their jobs but the least he must do is provide help to stop people losing their homes.

“We believe that the Mayor’s draft budget contains too much short term thinking and not enough real vision for London. If Boris has real ambitions for London we hope he will listen carefully to these bold proposals to tackle London’s immense challenges.”

Measures included in the Liberal Democrat Assembly Group’s alternative London budget include funding for:

· A youth worker with every Safer Neighbourhood Team, to work with those at most risk and so preventing youth crime at source
· Good value fares, such as a one hour bus ticket.

· Further investment in walking and cycling, including completion of the London Cycle Network Plus, providing cycle maintenance points and a London walking map

· Moving ahead with the East London Line phase 2 extension

· Making more homes affordable to heat by meeting up-to-date environmental standards

· Tackling fare evasion on London’s transport

· Reducing the amount spent on holding and publicising the Mayor’s additional public meetings

There’s-now stopping your local Lib Dems…

Waltham Forest residents woke up this morning to a blanket of snow which forecasters are suggesting is the heaviest in 18 years.

Much of London’s transport network has been hit by the weather, with bus and tube services suspended across London. However the winter maintenance programme agreed by your local Liberal Democrat Group on the Council has swung into action, with major routes being pre-gritted last night to ensure that conditions are safer during today’s conditions. Gritters will again head out onto the streets this evening to combat the weather, which is forecast to bring more snow and freezing temperatures overnight.

Waltham Forest Lib Dems – working for you whatever the weather!

Waltham Forest Lib Dems keep Council Tax promise

Liberal Democrats on Waltham Forest are “very pleased” that they have been able to keep their Council Tax pledge to residents, but have warned that the Government needs to do more to relieve the economic crisis being felt by local people.

Liberal Democrat members of the Council administration will propose a 1.9% rise in Council Tax this spring, a level below many other local authorities. However local Lib Dem councillors have called on the Government to take more responsibility for the downturn and provide more effective relief for residents.

Cllr John Macklin, Leader of the Waltham Forest Liberal Democrats Group, said:

“The Liberal Democrats always promised that, as part of the Council administration, we would keep Council Tax down below 2.5% and we are keen to keep that pledge despite very challenging financial times for local authorities.

“Lib Dem councillors have worked very hard to ensure that we are able to set local Council Tax at this low rate, and I am very pleased that residents will this year see an increase far below that likely to be felt in many other authorities.

“However I understand that our hard work will still only provide partial relief to local residents who are feeling the full effects of job losses and negative equity on their properties.

“The Lib Dems were warning a year ago that Waltham Forest residents were likely to be hit particularly hard by this recession and property slump, and the collapse in local house prices — one of the worst in London — has certainly shown this to be the case.

“A local council can only do so much to relieve the huge financial burden on local people.

“Residents will no doubt make up their own minds as to whether trying constantly to ‘spin’ this situation as a ‘global credit crunch’ rather than a recession really constitutes an effective economic policy from Labour.”

New community centre planned on site of Thatched House public toilets

Waltham Forest Council has recently received a planning application for the former public toilets on Crownfield Road.

The plan is to demolish them and, on the site, build a three storey community centre. The Catt Hall ward Liberal Democrats have already raised the issue of parking provisions through the local FOCUS leaflets and are asking residents to make their views known.

To read more about the plans, head over to the Leyton and Wanstead Liberal Democrats site.

EMD building – update

News emerges from High St councillor James O’Rourke that councillors are to be given the opportunity to view proposals for the regeneration of the former EMD cinema in Hoe Street at a presentation by the owners of the building , the UK Church of God.

We reported earlier this month that Cllr O’Rourke had been gioven access to the building after press reports that squatters were occupying the site emrged over Christmas. Cllr O’Rourke managed to take some pictures of the inside of the historic building during his visit.

Cllr O’Rourke, who has consistently fought for greater transparency from the Council with regards to the future of the site, has more on the development at his blog.

A Better Way To Go – London Lib Dems set out imaginative transport policies

Responding to Boris Johnson’s consultation on his transport document Way To Go, the Liberal Democrat group at the London Assembly have launched their own proposals under the title ‘A Better Way To Go’.

Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat Transport Assembly spokesperson said:

“Above all else the Mayor needs to focus on reducing the need to travel. Many Londoners spend three hours a day getting to and from work in intolerably crowded conditions. It makes no sense for London’s economy to have a workforce which is often stressed and irritable before they get to their desks each day.

“Many people are also facing longer and longer journeys to use key public services or simply to go shopping. There has to be a better way.

“We should be developing a capital city where people need to travel less often and less far. This means keeping essential public services like health, police and post offices local, not consolidating them into larger and more distant centres.

“We also need inventive ideas for developing vibrant local economies in outer London towns. We urgently need fast-tracked express coaches linking our town centres – it shouldn’t be a requirement to always have to travel in and out of central London to simply move around outer London by public transport”.

The Better Way To Go document pushes strongly for “green” transport initiatives, pressing for zero-emission public transport – like the Cross River Tram, the use of sustainably generated electricity, and giving pedestrians priority on more of central London’s smaller streets.

The document Better Way To Go contains the following key points:

· Proposals to reduce the need to travel by better strategic planning promoting local economies in outer London towns and keeping essential public services local.

· Connecting outer London towns by fast coach services removing the need to travel through central London.

· A Mayoral initiative to promote flexi-time and working from home for office staff.

· Pedestrianising the smaller streets between Trafalgar Square and Oxford Street, and making Oxford Street itself a pedestrian precinct.

· Completing the London Cycle Network, backing the cycle hire scheme and creating much more secure cycle parking.

· Urgent moves to make public transport zero-emission: a Cross River Tram, more hybrid-engined buses and black cabs, Tube electricity sustainably generated.

· Determined opposition to a third runway at Heathrow, with strong backing for high-speed rail alternatives to internal and short-haul continental flights.

Good news on EMD site?

Following recent press reports of squatters using the EMD building in Walthamstow, local High St councillor James O’Rourke was given access to the site to take up the case.

But whilst James found no evidence of squatters, he did discover that the owners of the former cinema are apparently in talks to proceed with a new usage of the building, with a planning application expected possibly as early as late January or early February.

Cllr O’Rourke said:

“I will be contacting the relevant Cabinet members to ask urgently for details about these discussions and plans on behalf of High Street residents.”

For more information on the future of the EMD site – and some exclusive pictures from inside the building – head over to Cllr O’Rourkes blog.

New Year’s Message from Nick Clegg

Britain is facing a difficult year. Every day, 200 families are now at risk of losing their homes, and three million people could be out of a job. The government got us into this mess and haven’t got the right ideas to get us out of it. The Conservatives want to do nothing – they wouldn’t lift a finger to help.

As the New Year starts, it’s time to do things differently.

There is a path to recovery. Liberal Democrats will do things differently.

We’ll get practical help to families who are struggling – more money in their pockets with big, permanent and fair tax cuts. That way people will be able to afford the bills and get spending again.

And Liberal Democrats will put the economy back on track with a big, green investment programme. Instead of wasting billions on a pointless VAT cut that makes little difference we would invest that money to cut your fuel bills, create thousands of jobs and deliver what our country needs for the future.

Warm homes, schools and hospitals, clean energy, public transport we can all be proud of.

I know we can fix the economic mess Britain’s in. If only we do things differently for once. Instead of making the same old mistakes the same old parties have made for generations.

Both Labour and the Conservatives keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect something different to happen. They are parties of the past, prisoners of their own special interests.

Perhaps the greatest danger of today’s recession is that it will mortgage the future of our children. We must prevent that from happening. That’s why in the first three months of this year, Liberal Democrats will be focusing on the help we can give to children and young families.

Good quality childcare for every family, so children can flourish and mothers and fathers can get out to work – or look for work – without worrying about the nursery or childminder fees. Extra funding for children from deprived backgrounds, to help raise standards in schools for everyone. And we’ll be unveiling a pledge to reduce infant class sizes to 15 – so every child gets the individual attention they need to get the best start in life.

This is a time of crisis. But crisis can bring renewal. It can bring change.

Imagine a better Britain – where no-one is held back by their upbringing, everyone has the power to change things for the better, and anyone who struggles gets a helping hand. A Britain with fair taxes and safe, properly run banks – so that everyone who works hard can make it. A Britain that switches to green energy so the planet is protected and new jobs are created. A Britain where every child is given the chance to succeed.

2009 must be a year of doing things differently. A year of real change. A year of hope.

And that’s what the Liberal Democrats offer.

Happy New Year.

Christmas holidays

Our website will feature all the latest news, updates, campaigns and photos of the Liberal Democrats in Waltham Forest when we return from the Christmas break.

In the meantime, have a relaxing holiday, and feel free to take the time to browse through the Archives section (on the left of this page) to see what we got up to in 2008…

Thanks for your continuing support. Merry Christmas from Waltham Forest Lib Dems

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