Budget
We were asked on Wednesday evening at East Devon district council full council to vote on the budget for the coming year.
CER
5 Mar 2018
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
Trowbridge housing scheme thrown out
Another large housing development on the edge of the town has been refused by WC planners. The outline application by Taylor Wimpey for land between Ashton Road and Green Lane was refused for eight reasons: it would be against planning policy; it would impact protected species; accesses onto Ashton Road were poorly designed; as a site in the countryside it would have to be car-based so was 'unsustainable'; lack of a secondary school contribution; no archaeological assessment; impact on the appearance of the rural location; inadequate provisions for infrastructure.
5 Mar 2018
Labour rule has failed Exeter
As Exeter's MP steps in (Echo 1/3/18) to explain the bus station issues, it poses fundamental questions. Where is Exeter Council Leader Pete Edwards? Why do half the voters in the city choose the Labour Party to run affairs when they are so obviously failing? If people oppose austerity, why do they vote for a Labour Party whose over-riding priority for over a decade has been to build a premium swimming pool? Is this what people in hardship are asking for? If people vote for the Labour Party's vision of new facilities, do they feel let down? Even though they have spent big on a pool that the swimming club doesn't like and a smaller bus station that bus users don't like, Labour have failed to deliver any development at all and have lost both their partners for the pool and the wider development with millions of pounds of planning investment wasted. Businesses, shoppers and workers will be deterred from the city centre by the double whammy of U-turn permission for out-of-town shopping and a 13% hike in par
4 Mar 2018
Surprise as Conservative MP for NW Norfolk signs ultra hard-line Brexiteers' letter to PM
Letter to the Editor, Lynn News, Friday 2nd March
RC
4 Mar 2018
Got any awkward questions to ask the party committees?
One of the most important aspects of our party's accountability is the ability to question its powerful people.
CL
4 Mar 2018
Birmingham Council fining Ambulances is a new low
Responding to news that the West Midlands Ambulance Service is being fined 15 times a day for using bus lanes, LibDem Health spokesperson for the West Midlands, Lee Dargue, commented:
4 Mar 2018
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, called on the government to provide incentives for energy providers to develop solar power in the UK.
Mrs Hobhouse slammed the government for falling behind on meeting the UK’s renewable targets for solar energy capacity. The government plans to deploy 70 GW of solar power across the country by 2035. However, as of 2022, the UK had only installed 14.3 GW of solar pv.
Following a visit to a rooftop solar system installed by Bath & West Community Energy (BWCE) at Beechen Cliff School last year, Wera Hobhouse is keen to encourage the development of similar solar projects across Bath. The solar system is predicted to significantly cut the school’s fuel costs and reduce their carbon emissions by 52 tonnes a year.
In the House of Commons on the 27th February, the Bath MP noted that the UK is lagging behind the rest of the world in renewable energy investment, she urged the government to offer incentives to energy providers to improve solar capacity.
However, Andrew Bowie, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Energy Security and Net Zero, ignored Hobhouse’s proposals, failing to describe the ways in which the government could incentivise solar energy. Instead, Bowie said that the government’s Solar Taskforce would publish recommendations for solar power and reiterated the government’s target to deploy 70 GW by 2035.
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath and spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, commented:
“The Conservatives are falling dangerously behind on meeting our targets for renewable energy production. It is no good the government setting an ambitious 70 GW solar target if they are nowhere near reaching it.
“It is clear that they have no plan to get us back on track to reach Net Zero. Evidently, they are more than happy to dismiss perfectly good proposals like incentivising solar power. That is why I am so proud that Bath is home to many community energy projects like the solar system at Beechen Cliff School, so that we can lead the way in renewables.”
“It is not just our climate targets harmed by the Conservatives’ delay. Families in Bath and across the country are struggling to pay soaring energy bills which investment in renewables could curb. That is why we Liberal Democrats would build significantly more renewable energy, aiming to generate 80% of our electricity from renewables by 2030.”
Peter Capener, Managing Director of Bath & West Community Energy said:
“Our work with schools is really demonstrating the value of community energy in both addressing the climate crisis and reducing fuel bills. Rooftop solar installed last year has already saved local schools a combined total of £134,209 and has reduced carbon emissions by 224.3 tonnes, which is equivalent to 12,173 journeys from Bath to Edinburgh by train!”
