Lib Dems disappointed that Stepping Hill Hospital has second most expensive parking nationally

Stepping HillWith a minimum charge of £3.50 since the price rises in September, Stepping Hill Hospital has become the second most expensive hospital in the country for short-stay parking.

Speaking of the increase Cllr Jon Twigge said: “The price for a 2-hour stay was put up by 40% from the 1st September. It is shocking to see that it is more expensive to park at Stepping Hill than at almost every other hospital in the country. Only the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford has a higher charge, and only the Hereford County Hospital charges as much as Stepping Hill does for short stays.

“Some 60% of hospitals have not increased their parking charges over the past year and some have actually cut them. Residents living near to Stepping Hill are badly hit by people trying to avoid these charges, to the extent that they often cannot park in their own street or access their driveway.”

Tracey Nicholls, a resident of Dial Park Road, said “From 7am when the first shift workers arrive until after 9pm when visiting hours end, my road is just full of cars. These are frequently covering the pavement. I paid to have the kerb dropped for a driveway at my house and people regularly park across part of it, but the police won’t act unless it is completely blocked. I have invited people from the hospital to come and see the chaos on several occasions , but they are not interested.”

Tracey added “When I hear how expensive parking is at Stepping Hill Hospital, it is no wonder visitors are choosing to park on the local roads instead. But it is now causing such a bad problem on my road that we are in the process of organising a petition. Something needs to be done.”

Cllr Laura Booth said: “Our NHS is supposed to be free at the point of use. England is the only part of Great Britain where hospitals routinely charge patients and visitors to park, as charges in Scotland and Wales were abolished in 2008. These exorbitant charges are a tax on the sick and those who care for them, and are being used as a sticking plaster for the inadequate funding our NHS receives from the Conservative government.

“Yes, more money than ever is being spent on the NHS but this comes nowhere near meeting the ever increasing demand placed on this vital public service. We call on the government to properly fund the NHS and to abolish hospital parking charges in England.”

Lib Dems keep top spot in by-election success

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The Liberal Democrats are celebrating more by-election success, taking the number of net gains since May to 20.

Labour have a net loss of six seats and the Tories are down 13. No-one else has gained more than one seat.

“Where people have their say at the ballot box, they are voting for the Liberal Democrats up and down the country,” said Cllr Iain Roberts, leader of the Lib Dems on Stockport Council. “The Liberal Democrats are the only party fighting for our health service and sticking up for businesses abandoned by the Tories.”

Have your say on Labour’s three-weekly bin collection plan

img_0343Stockport Liberal Democrats are urging residents to complete Stockport Council’s consultation on Labour’s budget proposals.

“The Lib Dems are strongly opposing Labour’s plan to only collect black bins every three weeks,” said Cllr Mark Hunter. “We believe it’s a bad idea. The council will have to borrow money over 20 years to pay for new bins when t is only five years ago that all households were given a brand new black bin as part of a well thought out, comprehensive recycling scheme.

“Despite still being one of the best in the country, Stockport’s recycling rate has dipped.   We believe that keeping the existing waste collection system, supported by investment in the recycling team who did so well to support Stockport residents through the initial roll out in 2011, is the best way to get our recycling rates back up to the very top levels.

“This is an entirely wrong-headed approach which, at best, represents a massive gamble of an established and successful service and, at worst, is a reckless waste of council tax payers’ money. ”

“Labour are presenting three-weekly bin collections as a saving,” said Cllr Lisa Smart, “but the saving comes from getting Stockport residents to recycle more, not from collecting the bins less often. Stockport residents are already some of the best recyclers in the country and these numbers just don’t add up. There are much better and cheaper ways to boost recycling rates.”

Please give your views on the council’s official consultation site here.

Lib Dem concern at hospital parking fee confusion

Stepping HillStockport Liberal Democrats have received complaints from residents that the NHS website has out of date information about parking charges at Stepping Hill Hospital, which has caused them inconvenience.

Cllr Laura Booth, Lib Dem spokesperson for Health issues, said “We have had complaints from residents that the NHS website is several months out of date. They have used this to check how much change is needed to park at the hospital, only to find that the charges have gone up. Stepping Hill Hospital’s own website is correct, and we are calling on the NHS to ensure they are giving the right information to hospital users.”

Cllr Lisa Smart said “The Conservative Government is underfunding our Health Service and this is just the latest symptom of a very serious, long term condition.”

Residents have also reported a sharp rise in street parking in the areas around the hospital, making it hard for them to park in their own street and even leaving some unable to access their driveways.

Cllr Mark Weldon said: “This is exactly the situation I was trying to avoid when I invited a manager from the hospital to a resident’s meeting with me over the summer. Once again I call on the hospital to take seriously their responsibilities as a corporate neighbour and to work constructively with us to try to help residents regain peaceful enjoyment of their own parking areas.”

Stockport Liberal Democrats oppose Labour’s waste collection proposals

img_0343Stockport Liberal Democrats are opposing Labour plans for black residual waste bins to only be collected every three weeks.

At its Meeting on Tuesday 4th October the Labour Executive will be considering a draft business case to change the black bin “residual waste” collections across Stockport.

Speaking about this proposal, Cllr Iain Roberts, Liberal Democrat Leader of the Opposition on Stockport Council said: “When we introduced the current waste collection and recycling system in Stockport we promised residents that food waste would be collected weekly and that the potentially smelly black bin waste would be collected fortnightly. Now the current Labour administration want to change this.

“We are very concerned that this proposal will cause inconvenience to our residents, will see an increase in fly-tipping and spilled waste from over-full bins as well as smelly bins through the summer months which will only be collected every third week.

“We are not convinced that these changes will lead to more recycling and we do not believe that they will save money. The risks of increased fly-tipping is even acknowledged in the draft business case, though the controls on this through communications and enforcement are not costed.”

Cllr Mark Hunter, Liberal Democrat Shadow member for the services including waste collection, said: “It is only five years ago that all households were given a brand new black bin as part of a well thought out, comprehensive recycling scheme. Now all the existing black bins are to be disposed of and the council plans to buy 123,000 slightly larger and more expensive ones, to be delivered to every household next year.

“Despite still being one of the best in the country, Stockport’s recycling rate has dipped but the answer is to invest in the recycling team who did so well to support Stockport residents through the initial roll out in 2011. By working again with primary schools to make our children act as recycling champions and by providing targeted support, we believe that keeping the existing waste collection system is the best way to get our recycling rates back up to the very top levels.

“This is an entirely wrong-headed approach which, at best, represents a massive gamble of an established and successful service and, at worst, is a reckless waste of council tax payers’ money.”

Details of the proposals can be found here:

http://democracy.stockport.gov.uk/documents/s102610/Business%20Case%20Waste%20-%20adjustment%20to%20residual%20waste%20collections.pdf

Lib Dems celebrate election success and record membership

by-election-winsThe Liberal Democrats are celebrating an amazing run of by-election wins that has seen the party take more seats than all the rest put together.

Since May 2016, the Lib Dems have gained 18 seats in local by-elections and lost none. The Tories have a net loss of 11 seats with Labour down 3 and UKIP down 2.

The Lib Dems have won seats across the country from both Labour and the Conservatives.

The victories have gone hand-in-hand with a massive increase in Lib Dem membership to over 80,000  – higher than at the peak of the Iraq war protests.

“With Labour becoming a pressure group more interested in internal fighting than taking on the Tories, it’s the Lib Dems who are offering the real opposition to the Conservative government.” said Cllr Iain Roberts, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Stockport Council.

New members can join the Liberal Democrat family here.