Despite Tory claims that council tax will not be going up, residents will see an increase in their tax bills due to the hand-over of Open Space assets to Kirkham Town Council.

The calculations are complicated but the Portfolio Holder for Finance claims increases on ‘average’ tax bills will only be in the order of £2.83 yet she tried to make political capital last year when St Anne’s Town Council increased its precept by a much smaller amount affecting a smaller group of people!

The transfer of assets to Kirkham Town Council has been on the cards for some time. Kirkham  Council think they can offer a better service to residents, eventually at a lower cost. St Anne’s Town Council has also been in preliminary discussions with Fylde Borough about gaining control over its open space assets but if as a consequence taxes rise it may be difficult to convince the public of the benefits.

This deal sees Fylde Borough saving £85,000 but some residents will see a tax increase to fund this as unpalatable.

Horwich TC, Lever Park

LD Lynn Rock 218 (42.4)

Lab 211 ((41.1)

Green 85 (16.5)

Lib Dems have been given assurances from the European Commission that countries which do not comply with new welfare rules for laying hens will be closely investigated and, if appropriate, taken to court.

Under intense political pressure from Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament, the Commission confirmed its commitment to put in place infringement procedures as of January 2012.

Lib Dems met with EU Commissioner Dalli to push for swift actions against any country ignoring the new EU ban on battery cages.

“The Commission must also support those countries such as the UK who are using every means at their disposal to try and ban illegally produced eggs from entering their markets.

“Egg farmers in Britain and other countries that have met the new standards must not face competition from those with less concern for animal welfare.

“Until a full ban on illegal eggs and egg products is put in place, consumers can take care to only buy products labelled free range or organic with regard to their egg content.”

According to EU Health and Consumer Commissioner John Dalli, inspection teams will start their investigations in targeted EU countries as of January 2012 to collect evidence of non-compliance to back up the prosecution when it goes to court.

The Commissioner will be limited in what he can do. Duffsaid, “John Dalli pointed out that he has no police force and no army. He only has court processes and sometimes these take time!”

In the UK, DEFRA has revealed that 30 UK farms still use battery cages for up to 500,000 laying hens. However, the Government announced that it expected full compliance with the new hen welfare law by February and would prosecute any farmers using battery cages after this date.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is to urge more companies to offer shares to their employees, saying it will improve productivity and unlock growth. The government plans to cut red tape, and reform the tax system to accommodate employee ownership.

It is hoped the measures will create what he calls a “John Lewis economy”.

The Lib Dem leader will tell the event hosted by the City of London Corporation and Centre Forum think tank: “We don’t believe our problem is too much capitalism – we think it’s that too few people have capital.

“We need more individuals to have a real stake in their firms. More of a John Lewis economy, if you like.”

“And what many people don’t realise about employee ownership is that it is a hugely underused tool in unlocking growth.

“Firms that have engaged employees, who own a chunk of their company, are just as dynamic, just as savvy, as their competitors. In fact, they often perform better.”

What a shame that Cumbria are proposing to go down the same route as Tory-controlled Lancashire County Council in closing Household Waste Recycling Centres.   A bad move.

Congratulations to LibDem Marion Sweet, who took on and defeated the Conservative candidate by 58 votes to win a seat on the Royal Wootton Bassett Town Council.

More than 100 employers have agreed to back an initiative designed to help open up jobs in business and other professions.

Barclays, Tesco and BP, as well as 10 top law practices, have signed a “business compact” aimed at promoting greater social mobility.

This obliges them to formally advertise work experience opportunities and to pay interns a wage or expenses.

Mr Clegg said the move marked the start of a “culture shift” among companies.

According to Network Rail’s own feasibility study the  alternative schemes to HS2 would “deliver some short-term capacity benefits, but they would come at a heavy price in terms of disruption to passengers and the wider economy”.  

However longer trains and more services on a single line can only get you so far before the cost of upgrading, and the impact this has on service reliability, begins to undermine the purpose of the upgrades.

High speed rail, however, will solve our capacity crisis in the long term, take cars off the road, protect existing freight lines and increase freight capacity, reduce journey times, create a realistic alternative to domestic air travel and provide better services on the existing train routes. And all of this can be done without the kind of disruptive works which normally occur when train lines are upgraded.

It is simply no longer feasible for any politician to pretend that we can rely on two main train lines to connect the North and the South.  Read more

We  collected 73 trees for recycling over the weekend. 

LibDems - making a difference locally

We received lots of positive comments about what we were doing and our efforts certainly haven’t gone unnoticed.  

Whilst the Tories are busy closing the local recycling centre (the Tip) and the Tourist Information Centre,  the LibDems are actually doing things to help local residents.

It is great news that  the council owned depot on St. David’s Road North, has recently been sold to a developer and is destined to have affordable homes built on it. The site has been disused for some time so  let’s hope things start moving soon.

After its long industrial use, much work will need to be done to decontaminate the site and builders may yet be able to prove the rumour that a fire engine is buried on the site!

Together with local residents Carol lanyon and I campaigned to have this site cleaned up after asbestos and old fridges could clearly be seen from properties that overlooked the area.  Thanks to the intervention of Fylde’s new CEO Allan Oldfield, action was taken a few months ago and numerous skips of rubbish were removed.

With the future of this site now agreed, let’s hope work will start on the development of the old abattoir site and Fairways Garage sites at the corner of St. David’s Road North and Heeley Road. These sites have been an eyesore for a considerable time. Plans were submitted several years ago about nothing has happened so far. With a New Homes bonus in the offing, Fylde’s planners should be pushing the developers for action.  

The Heeley Road site was the subject of considerable a controversy when Conservatives councillors, who don’t even live in the ward, supported plans to build a ‘homeless hostel’   in this location.