Author: stockportlibdems

Speaking after the formal announcement made by Buckingham Palace this evening, Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Liberal Democrats at Stockport Town Hall and Leader of the Council, said: “On behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group, I would like to offer our deepest sympathies and condolences to the Royal Family on the passing of Her Majesty The Queen.

We are all shocked that Her Majesty The Queen’s long service at home and overseas has ended so suddenly and we join with our residents in mourning her loss.”

Commenting on Labour’s claims about the recent postponement of the public consultation on Stockport’s Local Plan, Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Council and of the Liberal Democrat Group, said: “The decision to pause our consultation on the draft Local Plan was taken after considerable thought. Before any decision was taken or announced there was a full discussion at a Group Leaders meeting on Wednesday afternoon, where all Groups on the council were represented.

“Having outlined the increased risks of dramatic policy change in the wake of the current national Tory Party leadership election, there was no dissent from the view that the correct way forward was to pause whilst we await clarity about the level of house building required, specifically the unresolved question of whether the current Local Housing Need figures have any status at all, or whether they are firm targets or just guidelines.

“Are Labour now saying that we should have ploughed ahead and spent £200k on a consultation which could have been rendered obsolete within a few days of launch? That wasn’t their position at the Group Leader meeting, so what has changed since Wednesday?

“The rest of their news release is just an attack piece about the new Liberal Democrat administration running Stockport Council, prepared in advance and then cynically expanded to include the Local Plan. We don’t want to play politics with housebuilding and we do not want to release an acre of Green Belt if this can be avoided.”

The Liberal Democrats at Stockport Town Hall have decided to pause the consultation on the council’s Local Plan in the face of turbulence at a national government level and the lack of clarity about the intentions of the forthcoming new government in respect of planning policies.

Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Council and of the Liberal Democrat Group, said: “It had been our intention to go out to public consultation in late September on a Local Plan for Stockport. Unfortunately, with a new Prime Minister due to be announced next week followed by the formation of a new government and no clarity about their intentions around planning matters, we have taken the difficult decision that this is not the time to launch such a consultation.

“We are advised that the consultation will cost in the region of £200k and could be rendered void by any changes to planning policy, forcing the council to reconsider the draft Local Plan and potentially have to repeat the exercise on a revised version. The same decision has been taken by other councils across the country and the political spectrum.

“At this time of great financial constraint, we feel the uncertainties are too great for this to be a sensible use of public funds and we are instead pausing this process whilst awaiting clarity from the new government. We will review the process in due course.”

Speaking after an interview on national radio, Cllr Mark Hunter, Liberal Democrat Leader of Stockport Council, said: “Stockport has been hit by a massive reduction in rail services and our zombie government, focussed entirely on picking their new party leader, is completely failing to act. We have seen our usual service decimated, with Avanti seemingly unable to staff their trains. That is on top of the disruption caused by the rail strikes on 18th and 20th August, which will mean no services at all in the Stockport area across four days.

“This is a disaster for Stockport and for the North West, at a time when our local economy is trying to recover from Covid and cope with the adverse impacts of Brexit, at a time when we are supposed to be encouraging people to use public transport to help tackle air pollution and climate change, and at a time when the council is investing £1bn in town centre regeneration based around our rail infrastructure.

“In a joint letter with the leaders of other political groups at the Town Hall, I have called on the Transport Secretary to intervene to ensure that our residents have access to the rail services they both need and deserve. To date he has not responded but his public comments seem to suggest he sees no role for the government in this latest transport crisis. This simply would not be allowed to happen in London and the South East and the government should not allow it to happen here.”

Speaking after last night’s historic Women’s Euro 2022 win, Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of Stockport Council and of the Liberal Democrats at Stockport Town Hall, said: “What an amazing and truly historic performance by England’s Lionesses to beat Germany in the final of the Women’s Euro 2022 tournament. The spirit they showed throughout is an inspiration to all and it was great to see some of the stars of our local teams contributing to this win. I hope this performance enthuses girls and young women to participate in sport, particularly football.

“I’m sure all our hearts sank as Germany equalised and forced extra time but the Lionesses then won in extra time, saving us all the stress of yet another penalty shoot-out against our oldest rivals. Let’s look forward to the Women’s World Cup, being held ‘down under’ for the first time next year.”

As has become a tradition, the local Liberal Democrats were out in force last Sunday, supporting Stockport Pride and marching with the parade.

Speaking after the event, Cllr Mark Hunter, Lib Dem Leader at Stockport Town Hall, said: “I was delighted to see this year’s Stockport Pride was an even greater success than it has been in previous years. It’s always a fabulous event and important to show solidarity with our friends in the LGBTQ+ community at a time when some of their hard-earned rights and freedoms are once again under challenge.

“Thank you to my colleagues who manned the Lib Dem stall in the market hall and congratulations to all who arranged or took part in the event – it was a fabulous day.”

A selection of pictures from the event can be seen below.