Wiltshire Council's Conservative administration wants to increase the number of houses they've allocated for the Trowbridge side of Elizabeth Way from 205 to 355. They say it's to make more efficient use of the land. The proposal will be agreed by the WC 'cabinet' on Tuesday May 15th.
By now you'll have heard the results of the local elections in Woking. Woking Liberal Democrats held the seats we were...
At the local elections on Thursday Janet Whitehouse was re-elected in the Epping Hemnall with a majority of 602 votes.
Lib Dem campaigner Robert Plimmer has been continuing to campaign alongside residents in his Cippenham Meadows ward and across Slough.
As the Labour controlled council propose plans to open up Putney Road at its junction with Aylestone Road, local people in Aylestone are concerned this new road scheme will have a detrimental effect on the community in terms of extra traffic, congestion and pollution. Cyclists and pedestrians could be less safe and journey times will increased due to the additional junction on Aylestone Road.
Six months after Liberal Democrat Candidate and Eyres Monsell resident Tony Faithfull-Wright secured 30% of the vote in Eyres Monsell's by-election he has called upon Labour run Leicester City Council to work tirelessly for a solution in the stalemate of the development in The Exchange and the current Post Office arrangements citing the open and derilict position as both a security risk and an access problem.
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!”
