Stockport Liberal Democrats

Stockport Liberal Democrats are warning that the borough is in danger of becoming a target for developers and get-rich-quick land owners, following the publication of the draft Greater Manchester Spatial Framework yesterday. The plan put forward by the ten Greater Manchester local authorities details a number of locations across the conurbation where new housing development could take place.

Although no definitive decisions have been made, and the plan will shortly open for an eight week public consultation period, Cllr Mark Hunter, Deputy Leader of the Lib Dem Group at Stockport Town Hall, is concerned that Stockport is already earmarked to take more than its fair share of new housing. When a call for potential sites was made earlier in the year the Greater Manchester Combined Authority reported that, of 640 sites identified across the city region, fully 20% (128) were in the Stockport borough – including several in the Green Belt.

Cllr Hunter commented “We already knew Stockport is an attractive place to live and work so it is no surprise that developers are targeting our area but we must be robust in our defence of the Green Belt and explore every other avenue before we even contemplate building there. At the moment there are too many sites where derelict buildings remain untouched and others where planning permissions have been granted but no houses have been built and these must be utilised first.”

“Liberal Democrats recognise the need for new homes in our borough, particularly to help those who are struggling to get a first foot on the housing ladder, but it cannot be a blank cheque for developers and land owners to concrete over the Green Belt”, Cllr Hunter concluded.

Stockport Lib Dems have condemned today’s government announcement that the Community Pharmacy budget is to be cut by more than 7% over the next two years. According to the government’s own figures, up to 3000 of the smaller pharmacies will now become non-viable and close.

Speaking after the announcement, Cllr Laura Booth, Lib Dem Shadow Spokesperson for Health, said: “This is going to hit the small, local pharmacies at the heart of our communities. It’s madness to make it more difficult for people to get advice and treatment from a pharmacist. It will put more pressure on GPs and Accident and Emergency departments.”

“Only a few months ago we were being told that an extra £350m a week could be made available to the NHS if we voted for Brexit. Once again we call on the government to properly fund our NHS, especially those parts which help avoid more costly hospital admissions, such as public health and community pharmacies.”

With 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.”

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.”

Stockport 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.

Stockport 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.”