Stockport’s Liberal Democrat Group have submitted a motion ahead of the next meeting of the full council on 1st October, calling on government to think again about it’s planned change to eligibility criteria for pensioners to receive Winter Fuel Payments, a move that is going to remove this vital support from over 50,000 pensioners across our borough, almost 90% of those currently eligible.
Speaking after submitting the motion, Cllr Mark Hunter, Leader of the Council and of the Lib Dems at Stockport Town Hall, said: “Removing Winter Fuel Payments from all pensioners who are not in receipt of pension credit will leave many residents currently on the margins of fuel poverty struggling to heat their homes and stay alive this winter.
“We fully understand the mess left to the public finances by the outgoing Tory government which the new Labour government are trying to tackle, we believe the criteria being applied are too narrow and consideration needs to be given to those pensioners who either do not qualify for Pension Credit or have not yet applied. Other criteria have been suggested by various bodies and we call on Labour to do the decent thing and reconsider this, trying to find a way of giving support to those who rely on it at present.
“As a council we have done much over the past two years to encourage the take-up of Pension Credit and to provide warm spaces over winter to help people avoid crippling bills heating their homes. The government need to meet us part way and relax the criteria to protect our vulnerable older residents.”
Author: stockportlibdems
Council forced to pause Local Plan consultation
Following the announcement by the Deputy Prime Minister of a new approach to planning and Local Plan-making, accompanied by the imposition of compulsory, nationally set housebuilding targets, Stockport Council have been forced to pause the consultation on their draft Local Plan which had been scheduled for this September and October.
Cllr Mark Roberts, Cabinet Member with responsibility for delivering the Local Plan, said: “We are of course frustrated that we have had to pause the consultation on our draft Local Plan. We knew that a new Labour government was likely to mean changes to planning and housebuilding would be coming down the track, but we faced a deadline of June 2025 to have submitted a Local Plan for inspection by the Planning Inspectorate and therefore had to press on immediately after the General Election.
“The plan we had ready was a Local Plan for Stockport that would have delivered the right homes in the right places and the right planning policies to protect our environment and the local character of our borough whilst delivering sustainable growth. It took account of local residents’ concerns about developing on our precious Green Belt, damaging our local environment and the very things that makes Stockport such a lovely place to live. Seven of the nine other authorities in Greater Manchester who continued with the GM Spatial Framework/Places for Everyone face a similar increase in housing targets despite claims made by Labour locally.
“It is now clear that, both locally and nationally, Labour doesn’t care about these concerns or the impact the colossal increase in mandatory housing targets will have.
“Nationally, Labour are saying “we know what’s best for you”, whilst locally they are saying “don’t build in our back yard”, creating nonsensical scare stories about filling the town centre with skyscrapers. It is really disappointing to see their local leadership turning their backs on the collaborative, cross party approach to the much-needed regeneration and investment in our town and district centres and which brought a Mayoral Development Corporation to Stockport.”
Councillor Mark Hunter, Leader of the Council and of the Lib Dems at Stockport Town Hall added: “We absolutely accept the urgent need for the right mix of homes, including affordable and social housing, but there is no easy solution to this. Labour seem to be making the same mistake as their Conservative predecessors in giving the power and profits to developers ahead of allowing local people to shape the place we live in. Their plans to ignore residents’ wishes and concrete over the green spaces that they hold dear was not mentioned in any of the leaflets they delivered across the borough in the recent local or national elections.
“We will continue to work towards delivering a Local Plan which protects the character of the borough and which delivers the right homes in the right places, taking a ‘brownfield first’ approach, using previously developed land, but it seems clear the Government will force us to build on the Green Belt to meet their centrally-imposed housing target. I firmly believe that central government targets, however well intended, should never trump local decision making.”
Initial reactions to Labour’s new planning proposals
In response to a media enquiry quoting comments by the Stockport Labour Group Leader, Cllr Mark Roberts, Cabinet Member with responsibility for delivering the Local Plan, said: “The Liberal Democrats have set out a clear vision for the Borough’s future that worked hard to take into consideration the concerns raised by local people about developing on our precious Green Belt whilst delivering the policies needed for sustainable growth. This was built on the brilliant foundations of the regeneration work we see currently transforming the town centre’s brown field sites and ensuring those benefits reach everyone.
“We absolutely accept the urgent need for more homes and for more affordable and social housing. It is disappointing to see Labour’s local leadership seemingly turning its back on a collaborative, cross party approach to regeneration and investment that they have repeatedly tried to take credit for. Residents see through their spin and rightly expect better.
“Labour politicians in the recent Local and General elections should have been upfront and honest about exactly where they want to concrete over the green spaces residents hold dear and backing the imposition of arbitrary spreadsheet targets, rather than allowing local authorities to determine what works for their area. The communities across our borough will rightly be concerned about disproportionate and less sustainable development. It’s clear, however, Labour locally and nationally doesn’t care about these concerns or the local environment we hold dear, and the very thing that makes Stockport such a lovely place to live.
“The mask of hope on this new Labour Government is slipping fast with them quickly demonstrating a “We know what’s best for you, so suck it up” attitude, that demonstrates utter contempt for local people.
“We will be reviewing the detail of the Government instruction but it does look like Labour are intent on concreting over the Green Belt across Stockport and the wider GM region instead of supporting our Lib Dem plan for the much needed right homes in the right places.”
Cheadle and Hazel Grove go amber!
As the dust settles after a historic general election result, the Liberal Democrats are one of the major winners with a record seat total. Despite a Labour landslide, the Lib Dem’s have remained defiant with two huge wins in Greater Manchester.
In Cheadle, local councillor Tom Morrison, managed to win nearly 50% of the vote to romp home to victory and return Cheadle to the Liberal Democrat’s.
Leader of the council, and former Cheadle MP, Cllr Mark Hunter said,
“It’s excellent to see Cheadle return to the Liberal Democrat’s, and in Tom they’ve got one of the best around. In the time that Tom has been a councillor, he has become pivotal figure in the community, and I’m glad that the voters can see how well he advocates for his residents.
Thanks to Tom and Lisa’s incredible work over the last few years, Cheadle and Hazel Grove have put their faith in two Liberal Democrats who will be real advocates for their communities in parliament, a brilliant night to top off many years of hard work!”
Lisa Smart, another Stockport Liberal Democrat councillor, became the Hazel Grove constituencies first ever woman MP, gaining over 17,000 votes in the process.
Fellow Bredbury Green & Romiley councillor and Deputy Leader of Stockport council, Cllr Mark Roberts said
“I’m delighted Lisa has been elected by the people of Hazel Grove, when it comes to her campaigns for Stepping Hill Hospital, stopping companies dumping sewage in our rivers or for the local fire station, Hazel Grove has gained a brilliant local champion. I know there is no better person to fight for our interests in Westminster.”
Stockport Council’s Outstanding Performance Recognised at Local Government Chronicle Awards
Stockport Council has once again been commended for its outstanding work, this time by the prestigious Local Government Chronicle awards 2024.
The LGC awards is one of the most important events in the local government calendar which every year sees Council staff commended for the work of teams across local government. This year Stockport was nominated for Best Small Team, Best Medium Team, Rising Star and Childrens Services.
For the Best Medium Team, Events & Hospitality staff were nominated for constantly reinvigorating their approach to events to ensure Stockport remains one of the best wedding venues around. The Stockport Family, Drug and Alcohol court were recognised for their pioneering work based on parents and professionals collaborating together to make a real difference in families lives. Meanwhile Luke Green narrowly missed out on the Rising Star award for his work on ensuring children got back to learning amid the RAAC crisis in schools.
Cllr Jilly Julian said,
“It’s great to see that even though we didn’t win all the awards we were up for, that Stockport council staff are rightly being recognised as amongst the best in the country. It can often get lost how hard Council staff work to make the lives of local people better, be it through improving the area or by directly providing the help and support people and local organisations need. We work with our Council staff every day, so we know how brilliant they are, but its excellent that they are getting their plaudits nationwide.”
Stockport’s winner came from the ‘Best Small Team Award’ which saw the Mayoral Development Corporation team take home the prize- presented by Stockport’s own Will Mellor. The MDC team is responsible for overseeing the regeneration in Stockport Town centre, which amongst other things, saw the new Stockport Interchange bus station and Viaduct Park open in spring.
Leader of the council, Cllr Mark Hunter said,
“It’s fantastic to get independent recognition of our teams amazing achievements, we know how hard they work to provide the best for the borough, all you have to do is walk through the Town Centre to see how good they really are, so it’s fantastic to see that one of the most important awards in local government agree with us. The multi-million pound development across the town centre is completely transformative and they show no sign of stopping. Well done all!.”
Liberal Democrats launch manifesto
Today the Liberal Democrats released their General Election manifesto- ‘For a Fair Deal’. A fully costed policy programme that has the ambition needed to provide meaningful change to people across the country, while rejecting the divisive policies and rhetoric in favour of well-constructed policies designed to directly improve people’s everyday lives. This involves an ambitious plan to revive people’s faith in the NHS.
Cllr Mark Hunter, leader of Stockport Council said-
“We are delighted to present our manifesto to the public, who will be able to see fully costed policies that are central to rectifying the damage done by the Conservatives to our country. Nationally, confidence in the NHS is at a low point, whilst on our doorstep, the appalling condition of Stepping Hill hospital is obvious for anybody to see. The Liberal Democrats have a clear plan to invest in our NHS and prevent expensively firefighting crisis after crisis.”
The manifesto targets several other areas of failing infrastructure in the UK, including a guarantee to end the lack of access to dentists, to protect our environments from water companies dumping raw sewage into our rivers and lakes and measures to improve policing to make communities feel safe again.
Amongst these measures, however, is a clear personal priority towards improving the deal for both paid and unpaid carers, indicated by Ed Davey talking about caring for his disabled son, in the parties political broadcast released last week.
“Anybody who has watched our Party Election Broadcast will have been moved by Eds’ story, but it is a story that so many can relate to. In Stockport we have over 30,000 unpaid carers, and our plan will provide a fair deal for them, including paid carers leave and a statutory guarantee of regular respite breaks.”
The release of the manifesto comes as Stockport Liberal Democrat councillors and activists have been campaigning in prime target seats in the North West of Cheadle and Hazel Grove. Candidates Tom Morrison and Lisa Smart, both local councillors, are building on a clear second place finishes to the Conservatives in 2015, 2017 and 2019 and have been named the favourites to win the seats according to a New Stateman Forecast.
In the Stockport constituency itself, Cllr Wendy Meikle is also looking to build on a strong performance in the 2019 general election by joining her colleagues in campaigning for a fair deal for the people of Stockport.