Nottingham City Council Liberal Democrat Group

As you can see from this article in the Nottingham Evening Post, the Lib Dem Group has criticised a budget decision which will reduce road maintenance schemes.

The article quotes Cllr Gary Long as saying:

I am confident the roads will get worse. They are reducing the resurfacing programme. The less roads they are resurfacing the more emergency potholes they have to fill, They get into a vicious circle with less and less money available for proper resurfacing work. This is a position they found themselves in a few years ago.”

Click here for the full story and more quotes in the Post.

Group Whip, Cllr Alex Foster, has blogged about the Council proposal to charge for replacement wheelie-bins. Previously, the first replacement wheelie-bin was free.

Cllr Foster said:

If you are unfortunate enough to lose your wheelie bin in the next financial year, there will be a charge for a new one. At the moment, the first one you lose is free, but the council charge you if you lose any more than that. But as we all know, there are 50 ways to lose your wheelie bin. And we know a song about that, don’t we, boys and girls?”

See the full blog post here: http://www.alexfoster.me.uk/2010/03/09/nottingham-labours-wheelie-bin-tax/

The Liberal Democrat Group has announced its budget amendment for the upcoming 2010/11 financial year, which makes over £10 million worth of changes on what the Council will spend its money on. The amendment focuses on improving key services for local people whilst slashing the amount of glossy publicity produced by Nottingham City Council. It also pledges to keep Victoria Leisure Centre open.

The Lib Dem Group would invest an extra £225,000 in occupational therapy provision, and a £200,000 increase for tree trimming in the City. The Group would also cancel several Labour decisions, including a £300,000 cut-back on road maintenance, and a plan to charge residents for a first replacement wheelie-bin.

Lib Dem Group leader, Cllr Gary Long, said:

To cut £300,000 from the road maintenance budget after a very icy and damaging winter period is madness. We need more investment in road maintenance programs, not less.”

On the plans to charge for the replacement of wheelie-bins, Cllr Alex Foster said:

This is a shocking decision by the Labour Group. People could end up being charged for being a victim of crime if their bin is stolen. It’s daft and unfair. We decided to oppose it straight away.”

The Lib Dems have pledged to save over £350,000 by cutting-down the Council’s communications and marketing. The Arrow magazine would only come out every two months (cut from 10 issues a year to six), the Proud campaign would be scrapped, and another £104,000 would be saved from corporate marketing and corporate communications.

Cllr Long said:

What makes a city proud is the way it looks after its people, not huge stickers on the side of lorries telling people that they are proud. This Council should stop plastering buzz-words on bus-shelters and pump the money back into services.”

Also under the Lib Dem plans, Victoria Leisure Centre would be kept open and refurbished, rather than rebuilt. This would save over £6 million which would be channelled into extra spending on road resurfacing and street cleaning equipment.

Headlines of the Liberal Democrat Group budget amendment…

• Make the Arrow magazine bi-monthly and more informative (save £179,000)
• Keep Victoria Leisure Centre open for 2010-11 by refurbishing rather than rebuilding
• Completely stop the Proud campaign (save £35,000)
• Reverse decision to charge residents for first replacement wheelie-bins
• Invest an extra £225,000 in occupational therapy provision
• Invest an extra £200,000 for tree trimming
• Reverse decision to cut £300,000 from the highways maintenance schedule, and also invest an extra £6 million capital into resurfacing roads & pavements
• Create a Green Living Centre in Nottingham which would provide advice and education for people on environmental issues
• £104,000 other savings on corporate marketing and communications
• Reverse decision to cut £147,000 in youth activities
• Reverse a decision to cut £103,000 from the business support fund

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UPDATE: The Lib Dem budget amendment was voted-down in Full Council by the Labour Group on 8th March 2010.Link to Nottingham Evening Post article about the budget meeting

The Liberal Democrat Group on Nottingham City Council today voted in favour of an amendment to save Victoria Leisure Centre and keep it open for the 2010/11 season. The amendment which was proposed by Lib Dem councillor, Gary Long, was unanimously rejected by the Labour Group on the Council.

As a result of the vote, Victoria Leisure Centre will be largely replaced by a new £9m sports complex. The centre will also close from 1st April while the new development works take place. It is expected to re-open in 2012. Local opposition to the new building has been strong. There has been a march through Nottingham by protestors, and petitions containing hundreds of names have been handed-in to the Council.

Cllr Long said:

If Victoria Leisure Centre was refurbished rather than rebuilt, then we could keep it open and minimize disruption for local people who want to use the facilities. Unfortunately, the Labour Group does not agree with us and has chosen to go ahead with the rebuild, despite the clear concerns of local people.”

The campaign to save the current Victoria Leisure Centre complex has been championed at Council meetings by Cllr Tony Sutton, who was unfortunately unable to attend today’s meeting because of a recent minor heart attack.

A Liberal Democrat proposal to save Beechdale Road Library has been voted down by the Labour Group on Nottingham City Council, despite pleas from residents to not to close the much-loved and well-used local resource.

Lib Dem councillors, Alex Foster and Gary Long, proposed an amendment to the 2010/11 budget which would have saved the library, but it was voted down by the Labour Group. Cllr Alex Foster said:

We have been told that it would only take £12,000 to save the library. Almost two-thousand local people signed our petition to save it, which shows the level of public feeling behind the campaign.”

Cllr Gary Long said:

Stats have shown that Beechdale Road Library is especially popular with youngsters aged 10 or under. If the library closes, young children will need to travel further to enjoy reading and learning – possibly with the added cost of public transport. Local people have enjoyed using this library for decades, so why close it now?”

Beechdale Road Library’s closure would end a 54-year period of library usage on the site. The fore-runner to the current library building was opened on 8th November 1956.

The Lib Dem amendment suggested keeping the library open by reducing £12,000 in administration costs in the library network.

Key facts

• The library saw an 8% increase in new members in 2008-09.
• The number of reservations increased by 2% in 2008-09.
• 50% of Active Borrowers in 2008-09 were aged 10 years or under. This shows that the library is an important resource for the learning and development of the area’s young people.
• Over one in ten of the local population are Active Borrowers (customers who have actively used their library card in the past 12 months). And this figure does not even include computer use.

The Conservative Party’s belated decision to not oppose Nottingham’s workplace parking levy has been welcomed by the Liberal Democrat Group on the City Council. The Tories had previously opposed the levy, which will help to pay for the City’s tram extension and other transport improvements.
 
Lib Dem Group leader, Cllr Gary Long, said:

This decision from the Tories is better late than never. It seems that they’ve finally seen sense and will no longer oppose a scheme which should help to make Nottingham’s transport system more modern and the envy of hundreds of other cities across Europe.
 
However, the amount of time taken by the Tories to come to this decision is a pity. The Lib Dem Group has supported the tram from the beginning, showing our firm commitment to the future of modern transport in our City.”

Links to media reports about the u-turn…

BBC News

Nottingham Evening Post