Author: stockportlibdems

Stockport Liberal Democrats are calling for a full investigation into the unprecedented flooding in Bramhall, Hazel Grove and Offerton over the weekend, and say questions need to be answered.

“We would like to thank the emergency services, council officers and residents who rallied round and made sure people were kept safe during the flood,” said Stockport Lib Dem leader Cllr Iain Roberts.

“But there are three important questions that must now be answered.

“First, there was a lot of rainfall in a short period of time, but not a record amount. Why did houses flood that have never flooded before? Why did houses flood where the Environment Agency has said the risk was less than once every hundred years? Why did houses flood where there are flood defences in place and where improved drainage systems have only recently been installed? Had local drains and sluices been maintained according to the council’s specifications?

“Second, once the water started rising, was everything possible done to protect people and property? For example, we have heard reports that the council did not act quickly enough to close Hazelwood Road, putting houses there at risk of water overflowing their front steps due to large vehicles driving past, and that the council’s emergency number was not answered and then went offline. We are concerned not enough happened shortly following the issue of the Environment Agency alert early on Friday evening.

“And third, what needs to be done to stop this happening again? What lessons can be learned from this event to reduce the impact of any future flood events.

“We will ask the council for a detailed report on all of this to come to the next Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee on 7th July.”

Cllr Laura Booth was one of the victims of the flood at her home in Offerton, despite being in an area the Environment Agency says is protected by flood defences.

Cllr Booth said: “I was very fortunate to only be lightly affected but this experience has given me a sense of the huge impact flooding has had on hundreds of my neighbours. They are now trying to pick up the pieces and contacting their insurance companies. It is essential that we find out the cause of these floods so we can stop the same thing happening again”.

In December the Department of Health announced a decision to cut funding for the community pharmacy budget by £170m, a reduction of more than 6% in cash terms.

Stockport NHS Watch estimate that this could result in the closure of around 100 community pharmacies across Greater Manchester. It will be the small, local pharmacies that close – the big chains like Boots will be able to offset the funding cut.

Community pharmacies are a vital arm of the health services received by our residents, often helping to moderate demand for GP and A&E services.

A substantial petition (over a million signatures) was handed in to Downing Street last month but pharmacists are keen to secure a parliamentary debate on this issue, which requires 100,000 signatures on their online petition here.

Please sign the petition and help us keep our community pharmacies. At a time when we are being told to visit our pharmacist instead of the GP or A&E for minor ailments, this is a false economy that will not only harm patients but could well end up costing the NHS more.

The country faces one of the most important decisions to be made in a generation – whether or not to remain in the European Union.

Liberal Democrats have always advocated remaining firmly within the European Union but, however you intend to vote, you must register first in order to vote.

The deadline for registering to vote for the EU Referendum is Tuesday 7th June and you can do so quickly and easily by going to the following government website:

https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

Stockport Lib Dems have congratulated Stockport Homes for again being among the Top Ten Landlords nationally, having been chosen by a panel of judges for Housing 24 magazine’s award. There will now be a public vote to determine the order of the top 10 and Stockport Homes have come second for the past two years.

As Stockport Homes is one of the smallest landlords on the list we are encouraging everyone to show their support for the company who manage the housing stock on behalf of Stockport Council.

The public vote opened this morning and it is only open for a couple of weeks. Only one vote is counted per device but we’d really appreciate you spreading the word among your friends, families and contacts.

The voting link is here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/RKLPF6V

Following widespread media coverage about councils using inflated residents’ parking permit charges as a way of increasing their income, Stockport’s Liberal Democrat Group have expressed concern that the new Labour Executive may choose to adopt a policy similar to Labour run Manchester City Council and force residents to pay more.

Speaking of these concerns Cllr Mark Hunter, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader and shadow transport spokesperson said: “Under Liberal Democrat control, Stockport’s resident parking charges have been deliberately held at the cost of administering the scheme, making a charge of only £31 per car. According to recent figures, the national average is £64, so we have been charging less than half of that.

“Compare this with Labour run Manchester City Council, where some residents’ parking permits cost as much as £750 a year, nearly 12 times the national average and over 24 times the price of a permit in Stockport. This clearly amounts to a rip off to prop up the council’s coffers.

“Stockport Liberal Democrats will be keeping a close eye on these charges and we will campaign against any proposals by the new Labour administration to hike residents’ parking permit charges as a stealth tax to prop up their budget.”