Stockport Liberal Democrats

Stockport 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

The 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.

Labour is a proud party with a long history. Recent Labour governments have done much that the Lib Dems disagree with – the Iraq war and attacking civil liberties to name two. But Labour have done much we in the Lib Dems support too: minimum wage, tax credits, civil partnerships, investing in new schools and more.

Since May the Liberal Democrats have been winning. We’ve won more local by-elections than every other party put together, taking seats from Labour, Tories and UKIP with big swings. We are the only UK-wide pro-EU party. We know we’ve got a long, hard fight ahead to topple the Tories but we’re up for it.

Under Corbyn, the Labour Party is turning into a far-left pressure group unable to win power. It’s more unpopular than it’s ever been in opposition. As Neil Kinnock said “Not just in my lifetime but stretching back to the 1930s, by any examination this is the greatest crisis that the Labour Party has faced.”

In the hours after the Labour leadership announcement, more than a thousand new members jined the Lib Dems. If you are a Labour supporter who thinks this country needs an open, tolerant and united party that will fight the Tories instead of fighting itself, join the Lib Dem family.

Join the Liberal Democrats today.

 

 

Stockport Lib Dem leader Cllr Iain Roberts has described the resignation of Government minister Jim O’Neill as a “hammer blow” to the Northern Powerhouse project.

O’Neill, an internationally respected economist, was one of two ministers driving the Northern Powerhouse forwards. He was brought up in Gatley, Stockport.

“It’s difficult to under-estimate just how much opposition there is in parts of Government to devolution and the Northern Powerhouse project,” Cllr Roberts said. “Without Osborne and O’Neill pushing, it would never have got off the ground. Now both are gone, there seems to be no-one fighting for the North and for Greater Manchester down in Westminster.”

The Liberal Democrats are calling for more powers to be passed down to local areas.

“We know the problems and we can do a better job than central government of fixing them,” Iain said. “But unless there’s a real and genuine commitment to the Northern Powerhouse from Government, it isn’t going to happen.”

The news has been reported by the Manchester Evening News here.

Liberal Democrats are urging residents across Stockport and Greater Manchester to have their say in the GMP consultation over how the public will be able to contact the Police in future. The survey can be found here.

“There are just a few days left to respond to the survey,” said Lib Dem leader Cllr Iain Roberts. “It’s absolutely essential that we are able to contact the Police effectively.”

As part of the Community Engagement part of last night’s Full Council Meeting, Superintendent Jo Rogerson of Greater Manchester Police spoke to councillors about forthcoming changes to the way policing will be organised across Stockport.

Greater Manchester Police are in the middle of a review into their Police Enquiry Counters – the places where members of the public can go and speak to someone about a problem, and most are where those on police or court bail can make their formal “appearance” to meet their bail conditions. There are 22 of these across Greater Manchester, with two in Stockport.

The most heavily used in Stockport is at Cheadle Heath Police Station, and this is likely to remain after the review. The other is on the ground floor of Fred Perry House, co-located with the Council customer enquiry reception. The police have found that their service is very lightly used and cannot carry out the full range of functions available at other Enquiry Counters, such as bail appearances. It looks quite possible that this will close.

Supt Rogerson also gave councillors an update on changes to policing across Stockport. Police will now be organised into 8 policing teams, each focused on one geographic area. Pairs of policing teams will be based in “deployment stations”, the local police stations in Reddish, Cheadle Heath, Marple and Hazel Grove. Some of these have recently been (or are about to be) refurbished to be fit for purpose.

Each policing team will provide 24/7 cover through teams of Inspectors, Sergeants, Police Officers and PCSOs and whilst they will be tackling the full range of police work, key priorities will include domestic abuse, anti-social behaviour and hate crime.

Councillors were given the opportunity to ask Supt Rogerson questions about these proposals and thanked her for a very clear presentation.

• Experienced Trafford councillor and NHS worker, Jane Brophy, selected by Greater Manchester Liberal Democrats for the mayoral election.
• Cllr. Jane Brophy: “Looking forward to being a fresh voice for Greater Manchester residents.”
• Cllr Iain Roberts: “I have worked closely with Jane. She is experienced, enthusiastic and passionate. Greater Manchester needs a Mayor who will fight for us and Jane is that person.”

Jane Brophy won the nomination to be the Liberal Democrat Candidate for the elected Mayor of Greater Manchester on Wednesday evening. This followed a hustings meeting in the city centre and a ballot of the party’s members across Greater Manchester.

Cllr. Jane Brophy said: “I am absolutely delighted to have been selected by the Greater Manchester Liberal Democrat members.

“I’m looking forward to being a fresh voice for residents living in Greater Manchester, and campaigning on issues that will make a big difference to our world class city.

“I will be working tirelessly to highlight issues such as improving public transport, reducing air pollution, ensuring quality affordable housing and improving hospitals and health across the city.”

At the packed out meeting on Wednesday, which saw a record turn out for the city-wide party, Ms Brophy said that she would prioritise transport, environment and mental health if elected as Mayor of Greater Manchester; areas she has extensive experience in.

She also works for the NHS as an Allied Health Professional in the field of dietetics, public health and nutrition.

Stockport councillor  Iain Roberts said “Jane and I have worked closely together and I am certain she is the best choice for Mayor of Greater Manchester. Jane has the passion and the vision to lead our great city.”

Ms Brophy has been a councillor in Trafford for 16 years, most recently securing 52% of the vote in the 2016 elections.

Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “I am so proud to have Jane representing the our party in this Greater Manchester mayoral election.

“Jane is an experienced and hard-working councillor who has won stunning victories against the odds, and this election is an opportunity for her to do it again.

“Jane Brophy and the Liberal Democrats offer a fresh and exciting alternative to ‘more of the same’ in this election, and I know Jane and her team will campaign hard on issues that matter to local residents.

“I can’t wait to join Jane, John and the rest of the Manchester team.”