Hinckley & Bosworth Liberal Democrats

Plans for a single Council for Leicestershire have been slammed at a meeting of Leicestershire County Council.

Cllr Michael Mullaney Lib Dem Finance spokesman said "The plans for a single Leicestershire Unitary authority are dead in the water. There is huge opposition to them including amongst Tory MPs and Tory Borough Council leaders. People in Hinckley don't want planning applications for our area decided by a Unitary authority in Glenfield.

Tory County Council bosses have been condemned after they voted to reduce the number of Full County Council meetings from six a year to just five.

Responding Lib Dem Finance spokesman County Councillor Michael Mullaney said "The Tory leadership have taken an axe to accountability and democracy. We have a Cabinet system that concentrates power in the hands of a small number of cabinet members.

Residents in Hinckley are being encouraged to participate in an appeal on proposals to build 60 houses on a Hinckley nature feature. Orbit Housing wish to build 60 houses on the site of the Big Pit water feature behind Ashby Road in Hinckley.

The plans had previously been voted down by Hinckley and Bosworth Council but Orbit have taken the case to appeal. The appeal is to be decided by a government Planning Inspector.

Controversial plans to have one Unitary authority for the whole of Leicestershire and to abolish the existing seven Leicestershire Boroughs and Districts will be debated at this Wednesday's Leicestershire County Council meeting. This is despite the County Council's Conservative leadership not wanting the issue debated until the December Full Council meeting.

Speaking at the Annual Lib Dem conference Hinckley County Councillor Michael Mullaney called on the Tory led Leicestershire County Council to drop plans to scrap Hinckley and Bosworth and the other Boroughs in Leciestershire.

Michael Mullaney said "Decision making over controversial issues such as planning developments should be taken at a local Borough level not imposed by a remote single Leicestershire authority.

The Liberal Democrats have published a comprehensive blueprint for replacing the broken business rates system, cutting taxes for businesses by 40% in Hinckley and Bosworth

Local Liberal Democrat Councillor and parliamentary candidate Cllr Michael Mullaney has described the plans as "exactly the sort of policy we need to boost local investment and ensure businesses in Hinckley and Bosworth thrive".

The report - Taxing Land, Not Investment - calls for the abolition of business rates and its replacement with a tax on land values, the Commercial Landowner Levy (CLL).

The levy would remove buildings and machinery from calculations and tax only the land value of commercial sites, boosting investment and cutting taxes for businesses.

Liberal Democrats in Hinckley and Bosworth have selected local Councillor Michael Mullaney to be their parliamentary candidate. Michael, the County Councillor for Hinckley De Montfort, has previously stood at the last three elections for the Lib Dems in Bosworth. At the last general election he secured the highest number of votes for any Lib Dem candidate in the entire Midlands.

Residents living near a proposed development in Hinckley are furious after a Freedom of Information request revealed that Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council objected to there being a public hearing about plans for development on the site.

For many years residents living near the Big Pit water feature, behind Ashby Road in Hinckley have fought attempts to develop on the site.

Six Sure Start Children's Centres that were due to be closed by the Conservative County Council have now been saved thanks to campaigns from residents and Lib Dem councillors.

24 Children's Centres in Leicestershire were due to be closed by the Conservative County Council. Hinckley Lib Dem County Councillor Michael Mullaney tried to amend the County Council budget earlier this year to save the Children's Centres but this was voted down by Conservative County Councillors who voted to close them.