Liberal Democrat Opposition Councillors have hit out at an "over complex" set of rules that the Conservative administration agreed at the Highways & Transport Cabinet Panel on 14th September, 2021. There will now be significant delays bringing in any new 20 mph speed zones.
Liberal Democrat Opposition Councillors have hit out at an "over complex" set of rules that the Conservative administration agreed at the Highways & Transport Cabinet Panel on 14th September, 2021. There will now be significant delays bringing in any new 20 mph speed zones.
The latest Lib Dem newsletter for Matlock and Tansley has been published.
Gloucester Liberal Democrats have announced their candidate for the forthcoming by-election in Longlevens. Community campaigner and Longlevens resident Sarah Sawyer will be the challenger to the Conservatives. The by-election, which will be held on November 4, has been caused by the sudden resignation of Conservative councillor and Sheriff of Gloucester Clive Walford - just five months after he was re-elected. Sarah, who is well known in the Longlevens community, stood for the Liberal Democrats in May's local elections and was just 62 votes from being elected. Three councillors - including Liberal Democrat Linda Castle - were elected to represent the area on the city council with Sarah finishing fourth. The married mother of three has a strong record of community activism. Sarah set up the Friends of Elmbridge group and raised £60,000 to build a children's play area in Armscroft Park. During the pandemic, Sarah raised £1,000 to feed local school children and received an award from the Mayor of Gloucester to t
Liberal Democrats from across Surrey came together on Saturday last week to join in Pride in Surrey celebrations in Godalming. Led by local Parliamentary Spokespeople Zöe Franklin, Alasdair Pinkerton and Paul Follows, councillors and activists took part in the parade and hosted a stall at the event.
The Lib Dems have called Surrey County Council's draft County Deal for Surrey bid a 'power gr ab'.
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!”
