News - Mid Sussex Liberal Democrats

Conservative education policy will destroy local accountability for schools

For anyone with children, worries about which school they will attend will often be a key issue in any discussion about their futures. We all want a good school for our child. Too often politicians' talk of 'choice', when all parents want is a high quality local school. The problem with choice is that some schools will under achieve, leaving children stuck in poor performing schools, whilst others will be oversubscribed leaving disappointed parents. We need all schools to be of a high standard, rather than have a marketplace where those that are lucky, or can afford to go private, get a good school.

14 Oct 2009

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Bankers would be given a free ride under the Conservatives

If you rely on the state be afraid of a Conservative government - unless you are a banker; that was the underlying message of David Cameron's attack, not just on big government but government itself. "It is more government that got us into this mess" he claimed without mentioning once in his keynote speech to the Conservative conference, the role of financial markets or banks in creating the current recession.

11 Oct 2009

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Churchill's legacy on human rights disavowed by the Conservatives

Conservative enthusiasm for human rights it seems now extends to repealing the Human Rights Act and replacing it with an ill-defined Bill of Rights as one their key priorities for any new government. Its seems the Human Rights Act which enshrined the European convention on human rights, which was signed by the UK in 1951, and inspired by Winston Churchill, are far too radical for today's Conservative Party. Which rights are they against - freedom of expression, a prohibition on torture, a right to a fair trial?

9 Oct 2009

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Downland Housing Association in latest mega merger mania

Whilst the dedication and enthusiasm of Downland Housing Association staff in promoting resident involvement and discussing issues in an open and honest way is clearly evident, gaps still exist in some areas of practice as the association is merged yet again to become the more nationally focused Affinity Sutton Housing Association. The former Mid Sussex Housing Association which took over the local district councils housing stock was subsumed within the larger organisation, and a series of mergers has led to this latest national merger of housing associations.

6 Oct 2009

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Yes to Europe

The 67% Irish vote in favour of the Lisbon Treaty is a vote against the Conservative and UKIP politicians who tried to urge a no vote and who would like to see us withdraw from Europe at the cost of local jobs. The Conservatives are tied to their Eurosceptic wing who forced David Cameron to withdraw his MEP's from a mainstream caucus in the European Parliament, and instead to align themselves with a handful of east European extreme right wingers. It is no coincidence that the Conservative who described the NHS as "a sixty year mistake" is an MEP representing the same strand of rightwing Eurosceptics that seem to want to see us out of Europe whatever the cost to our economy.

4 Oct 2009

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Conservative Council plans to dump new housing on Burgess Hill

Mid Sussex District Council seems intent on imposing the bulk of the housing required under the government's housing targets onto Burgess Hill, having issued a press release outlining its favoured sites without consultation or discussion with any of the district's three town councils. It proposes 3,800 or 82% of the identified houses to be built to the north and north west of Burgess Hill (the 'Northern Arc'), as well as 570 houses on land to the west of East Grinstead (Imberhorne Farm) and 275 houses at Hurst Farm, Haywards Heath.

3 Oct 2009

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Survey reveals 2,000 schools may be unable to balance their books

Thousands of schools are already experiencing a funding squeeze and are expecting to be unable to balance their books by the end of the year, research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. At a time when public expenditure is under increased scrutiny it appears some schools are already struggling to cope.

28 Sep 2009

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Tories give council chief massive pay hike

Local Tories running Mid Sussex council have given the Chief Executive a massive pay hike. According to council figures, his basic salary in 2008 was £125,000. Now they have hiked it to £147,000 for 2009.

23 Sep 2009

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Council fouls up on dog fines

Why does it take ages for Mid Sussex District Council to implement its own council's decisions. In July 2008 the Council agreed to use the powers available to it under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act, such as warnings and spot fines for those who allow dog fouling and loose dogs in public places, and issued a press release that it had now agreed to introduce these changes.

11 Sep 2009

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Action on climate change - new 10:10 campaign launches

10:10 is a new all party campaign supported by the Liberal Democrats and launched this month to reduce the UK's domestic greenhouse gas emissions by 10% during 2010. By signing up, any individual, school, business or organisation pledges to do their best to reduce their emissions by 10 per cent during the year 2010. It's easy to feel powerless in the face of a huge problem like climate change, but by uniting large numbers of people and institutions around immediate, effective and achievable action, 10:10 enables all of us to have the potential to make a meaningful difference.

8 Sep 2009

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Mid Sussex Council needs to stop giving small scale housing developers a free ride

New housing sites can often occur when larger gardens or other small sites are redeveloped, these "windfall" housing sites provide several hundred new houses a year, yet our Conservative District Council has failed to ensure developers of these sites pay any contribution to local infrastructure. Normally new housing developments are required to contribute towards the cost of new community infrastructure (known as s106 contributions) to help pay for improvements to roads, schools, libraries, community facilities and social housing. Yet Mid Sussex currently excludes new developments of under 15 houses of having to contribute towards new social housing, and developments of five or less houses do not have to make any contribution to local infrastructure (unlike some other local councils). This gives an incentive to developers to redevelop single back gardens such as Folders Lane in Burgess Hill with piece meal development that avoids them having to make any contribution - despite providing dwellings in this road

1 Sep 2009

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Triangle planning campaign has won!

At the District Council Planning Committee meeting, last Thursday, Thornfield's application to build a DIY store on the Triangle car park was REFUSED.

6 Aug 2009

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