LIB DEM SUCCESS – LLEW TOPS THE POLL!

In Thursday’s AVDC election in Winslow Ward Llew Monger topped the poll and gained a seat for the Lib Dem’s from the Conservatives. unfortunately Llew’s running mate, Trish Cawte, was a little behind and the second Winslow seat was retained by the Conservatives. (Full result below)

It was a bad day for the Buckingham Constituency Tories overall who lost three seats in total with Waddesdon falling to Llew’s Lib Dem colleaugue David Vick and one of the Buckingham South seats falling to Labour candidate Robin Stutchbury.

Commenting on the result Llew said, ” Obviously I’m delighted with my result, though sad that Trish didn’t take the second seat. Although the results are not declared separately it was clear that we were both well ahead in Winslow but the Conservatives polled higher in Padbury and Adstock which allowed them to take the second seat. I want to thank all those who supported me and will now get on with the job of representing Winslow Ward at AVDC and ensuring that our voice is heard in Aylesbury.”

The full result for Winslow was,

Bates, Jonathan	UKIP	245
Cawte, Trish	Liberal Democrat	773
Gomm, Phil	UKIP	238
Monger, Llew	Liberal Democrat	982	Win
Renshell, Susan Linda	The Conservative Party Candidate	918	Win
Strain-Clark, Peter Edmund Dixon	The Labour Party Candidate	251
Wigley, Duncan Charles Alan	The Conservative Party Candidate	832

GOOD MORNING, TODAY YOU CAN MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE.

Good morning. I hope we didn’t wake you too early while delivering our final campaign message this morning – if we did then sorry.

There are three good reasons why you should vote Liberal Democrat today.

1. Llew and Trish work hard all year round for Winslow as members of the Town Council. They’re not just here at election times. Both live in Winslow and are easy to contact for help and advice.

2. Neither Labour nor UKIP can win here today. They rarely field candidates and when they do they are always at the bottom of the Poll. Neither of these candidates live in Winslow

3. We have been badly let down by Conervative Councillors who have failed to attend important meetings. The new candidate doesn’t even live in Winslow.

The other way you can make a difference today is by voting YES in the Referendum. The change to AV is a small step that would make a big difference.

VOTE LLEW MONGER AND TRISH CAWTE FOR AVDC AND YES IN THE REFERENDUM

Tory Tales

Tory Tales 1

One of the Tory Candidates is telling voters that the Town Council is going to build a noisy Skateboard Park on land at the Winslow Centre. This is quite untrue and causing undue concern to residents in Park Road and Avenue Road. The Town Council do hope to provide a new multi-use games area at the Winslow Centre but this will not include a Skateboard Park. We’d really like to be able to provide such a facility but can’t find a suitable piece if land where the noise levels wouldn’t cause annoyance to local residents.

Tory Tales 2.

The same Tory candidate is allegedly telling people that the Lib Dems stopped her from being co-opted to Winslow Town Council when there was a vacancy. Well, the fact is that the Town Council is non-political, she doen’t even live in Winslow and the interview panel felt there was a better local candidate with much wider experience. Hopefully that’s what voters will think on Thursday 5th too!

Shipton enquiry delayed again.

The Public Enquiry into Gladman Developments proposal to build 175 houses on land between Little Horwood Road and Shipton hamlet will not now resume until 3rd May. The enquiry should have concluded this week but a decision was awaited in a case which could have an impact nationally. Although the judgement was given on 9th February the legal teams for Gladman and AVDC need time to consider its impact and prepare their case. It appears that the case in question may go to the Court of Appeal so there could be a further delay in our enquiry beyond May3rd.

How should our town grow?

Here’s your chance to have your say about future housing development in Winslow.

The Coalition Government is changing the method of planning for future growth so that communities get to have a far greater say in the level of new housing development. Because of this Aylesbury Vale District Council is just starting to create a new long term development plan for the next twenty years which will reflect what local communities like Winslow say is reasonable. If we assume that there will be approriate improvements to infrastructure (roads, schools, local employment. leisure and health facilities) what do YOU think would be acceptable? Please complete my survey in the right hand panel of this page and if you want to give more detail write to me at llewmonger@btinternet.com .

Roadworks, roadworks, roadworks. What’s going on?

You can’t have failed to notice that there are quite a lot of roadworks going on in Winslow at present. All of the work is ‘off-site highways improvements’ related to the Banner Homes development off Verney Road. As part of the planning consent for the development Banner are obliged to pay for these works which are designed to compensate for the extra traffic which will be generated from the development. They are not allowed to sell any houses until the works are completed and paid for.

The main works are in Verney Road, Vicarage Road and Burleys Road with some additional work in the High Street and on Buckingham Road. New parking bays in Verney Road and Burleys Road and a traffic island where Burleys, Verney and Vicarage Roads meet are part of the plan as well as a slight widening of Vicarage Road and two pedestrian refuges at crossing points. On Buckingham Road there will be a Vehicle Activated Sign to remind drivers of the 30mph limit and some re-alignment of the road markings to give the impression of the road being narrower which apparently slows down traffic. Let’s hope it does. The parking protection ‘build-outs’ on the High Street are likely to be the most contentious parts of the work. The highways engineers believe that these works together with new white-lining will slow and improve traffic flow on the High Street. It will also make it much safer to be on the pavement outside the Co-oP and the butchers. If the Co-oP delivery vehicles go to the rear of the store which they could, and should, then the scheme should be to everyone’s benefit.

The work will stop on 6th December and start again on 10th January and is expected to be finished sometime in March. Only when all of the work is completed will we be able to judge how successful it is so let’s be patient and hope that the highways engineers have got it right.

Fight goes on for Buckingham voters

Local Liberal Democrats are continuing to press the case for all of the major political parties being able to field a candidate in the Speakers constituency at General Elections. There were protests across Buckingham constituency when the main parties followed the convention of mounting no challenge to the Speaker at last year’s General Election. Over 1000 voters spoiled their ballot papers in protest.

Buckingham Lib Dems are determined to make sure that this never needs to happen again. We raised the issue at the national conference in September and received support from Lib Dems in parliament. At our recent Regional Conference in Oxford we gained overwhelming support for our proposal to award the Speaker an honorary constituency so that electors in his former seat would be able to vote for the party of their choice.The full text of our motion was as follows.

Restoring democratic rights to vote in general electionsConference welcomes the progress being made by the Coalition Government in the area of constitutional reform including the moves towards an elected second chamber, fixed term Parliaments and the introduction of the Alternative Vote system for future elections. However, Conference believes that further reform is necessary on the effective disenfranchisement of the constituency represented by the Speaker of the House of Commons. Conference notes that:1. This year, the main parties followed the Parliamentary convention of not standing against the Speaker. Consequently, thousands of voters were denied their democratic right to vote for the party of their choice. 2. There were 1067 spoilt ballot papers in the Buckingham constituency in the recent election. This is massively more than the average in other seats.3. The Buckingham local party were inundated with letters and emails from local people angry that their democratic right to vote for the party of their choice was being withheld from them by an archaic convention. Conference therefore urges the Coalition Government to add a provision to the constitutional renewal bill which would automatically appoint the Speaker as MP for an honorary constituency, freeing his former constituents to exercise their democratic right to vote for the party of their choice.The motion was proposed by Buckingham Lib Dem member Bette Melling and summated by Cllr Llew Monger and received overwhelming support. We will now be working with Liberal Democrats in Parliament to take this idea forward in an amendment to a Bill which is expected to come to forward in January.

A NEW KIND OF POLITICS – LIBERAL DEMOCRATS JOIN CONSERVATIVES IN GOVERNMENT

Below is an extract from a statement issued by Nick Clegg commenting on the formation of a Liberal Democrat – Conservative coalition government.

‘’I hope this is the start of a new kind of politics I have always believed in. Diverse, plural, where politicians with different points of view find a way to work together to provide the good government for the sake of the whole country deserves.

“That was what we were asked to do by the people of Britain in the General Election last Thursday and that is what we will deliver.

“I want to thank David Cameron for the very open, constructive and workmanlike way in which we have come together to make this agreement on how we can come together in this coalition government. We are obviously politicians from different parties. I believe we are now united in seeking to meet the immense challenges that now face the country and to deliver a fairer, better Britain.

“Of course there will be problems along the way; of course there will be glitches. But I will always do my best to prove that new politics isn’t just possible – it is also better.

“I’d like to say something directly to the nearly seven million people who supported the Liberal Democrats in the General Election last week. I am now acutely aware that I carry your hopes and aspirations into this coalition agreement.

“I am sure you have many questions, maybe many doubts. But I can assure you I would not have entered into this agreement unless I was genuinely convinced it was a unique opportunity to deliver the changes you and I believe in.

· Fair taxes.

· A fair start in life for every child.

· A new approach to our discredited banking system and the prospect of green and sustainable economic growth.

· And new, open politics which you can trust once again.

“So I hope you will now keep faith with us let us prove to you that we can serve this country with humility, with fairness at the heart of everything we do. And with total dedication to the interests and livelihoods of everyone in this country.”

NOW LET’S CHANGE THIS CRAZY SYSTEM

Liberal Democrats will be putting electoral reform at the top of the list in discussions about working with either of the other two parties now that we have a hung parliament. There are several options for proportional representation but on a straight share of the vote basis we should have had 150 seats rather than the 59 we did win.

Reform for the Speakers seat too. Local Liberal Democrats are pressing the party leadership to include reform of the ‘convention’ that the main parties do not stand against The Speaker in General Elections. At our annual conference last year we secured support for the idea that the Speaker should become the MP for an honorary constituency so that electors in his former constituency could have their full democratic rights restored. Now is the time to put this support into action. Over 1,000 electors spoilt their ballot papers as a protest in the Buckingham constituency in Thursday’s election and we have received countless emails, texts and phone calls calling for change.

You can register you support for such a change at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=118598158159917

No Lib Dem candidate for Buckingham in General Election

The Buckingham Lib Dem’s website is receiving a steady stream of emails from local electors disappointed to find that there will not be a Lib Dem candidate at the General Election. Locally we wish we did have a candidate but the Party, along with the Conservatives and Labour are observing the convention that they do not contest the Speaker’s seat. Once someone is elected Speaker they are obliged to withdraw from ‘party’ politics to preserve the independence of the post. This is entirely reasonable but it leads to the effective disenfranchisement of electors in the Speakers constituency.

To counter this situation local Lib Dems put forward a proposal to the party’s annual conference last September that the Speaker should automatically become the Member for the honourary constituency of St Stephen’s and his, or her, constituents would be the members of parliament. (St Stephens is the name of the entrance to the House of Commons used by MP’s). This would then allow a by-election in the Speakers former constituency which would enable electors to vote for the party of their choice without restriction. Changes such as this take time to bring about and the few changes to the electoral system which might have been passed by the outgoing government have just been scuppered by the Tories so we will have to hope that the new parliament will bring about the change. All of this is very frustrating for us and for local electors. However, there is some consolation in that Speaker John Bercow has said that he will only serve for two parliaments so even if the system isn’t changed at least Buckingham will not be disenfranchised for ever.