Mayor's SoupFest Thanks
Mayor Dave Hodgson has congratulated everyone involved following another successful SoupFest event to raise money in support of the homeless locally.
28 Nov 2018
Wera Hobhouse MP urges government to incentivise solar power
29 Feb 2024
Bedfordshire Day Greetings From Mayor Dave!
Mayor Dave Hodgson has wished everyone a Happy Bedfordshire Day, and declared that he is 'proud of Bedfordshire and proud that Bedford is the county town.' The Bedfordshire flag has been flying from Borough Hall all day and, at Mayor Dave's suggestion, the staff canteen has been serving Bedfordshire Clangers and Chocolate Toothpaste!
28 Nov 2018
Lib Dem Women
97000 People Per Year
Throughout the 16 days of activism we are highlighting different aspects of gender based violence across different media hoping to raise issues with the largest possible audience.
28 Nov 2018
Third runway at Heathrow Motion to Southwark Council from Councillor Graham Neale
Motion to Southwark Council
28 Nov 2018
Westbury Christmas railway works
Network Rail will be working from 00:40 on Sunday 23 December - 04:00 on Friday 4 January to renew the track at Westbury North Junction.
28 Nov 2018
Every Letter Counts!
"Last Saturday a group of committed and stalwart Liberal Democrats joined in the national day for demanding a "peoples vote" on the final deal. Pictured are two of us waiting for the stand to arrive. It was such a miserable wet, cold day and even the Xmas lights on the tree failed. It was a very interesting morning. Alas the "deal" is not a deal but a wish list of suggestions for future negotiations. Nothing is as good as the deal we already have with Europe. We will be poorer, apparently we will lose the economic might of the whole of the Welsh economy or the City of London. The rich will be fine, as they always are but the poor will suffer. There will be no Brexit dividend. The continuing negotiation of the UK's future relationship with Europe will continue for many years distracting the government from resolving the many issues facing us which are all to do with national policy; affordable housing, better wages, up skilling the workforce, funding local policing, looking after the NHS and caring for our eld
28 Nov 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!”
