Hinckley & Bosworth Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrats have condemned the budget passed by Leicestershire County Councils Conservative bosses yesterday.

Under the Conservative budget plans people will see a rise of 5.99% in Council Tax, the highest council tax rise for 15
years.

At the same time a raft of cuts were passed including proposals to close 24 children's centres in the county,
transport for children with special educational needs will be cut and rural bus services are under threat following
cuts.

Conservative Council bosses have unveiled their latest budget plans for our area. Buried within them
include proposals to increase car park charges for the town's council-run car parks.

We the undersigned call on the Conservative Councils to scrap plans to increase car park
charges and keep their promises to axe plans to bring in on-street parking charges.

Conservative Councillors on Leicestershire County Council are proposing to close 24 Children's Centres across the County.
This petition calls on them to change their minds and keep the Centres open.

Sure Start Centres are places where families with children 0-5 years old can access information, support and services. Activities include Baby Clinics, Stay and Play, Childminder Groups, Parenting Skills, and many more.

Campaigners have welcomed the latest proposals to build on a Hinckley nature feature being turned down again.

Hinckley and Bosworth's planning Committee voted to reject the latest plans to build 60 houses at the Big Pit water feature, near Asda in Hinckley.

Michael Mullaney the local Liberal Democrat County Councillor for the area attended the meeting he said "I'm delighted common sense has again prevailed and the planning committee has again rejected plans to build on the Big Pit. This site is totally unsuitable for development. There are huge concerns about flooding risks if the site is built on, there are also concerns that the plans as proposed will cause problems with parking.

1804 patients in Leicestershire have faced waits of half-an-hour of more in ambulances outside A&E so far this winter, Liberal Democrat analysis has revealed. Of these, 564 faced waits of over an hour. The figures were obtained for the University of Leicester Hospital Trust.

In the week to 31st December, 360 patients faced waits of over half an hour and 178 spent at least an hour waiting in ambulances outside A&E.

There are two development consultations which are currently being carried out. Both consultations are being promoted in our area by Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council.

Local Plan Review

This consultation is the first step to drawing together a new Local Plan for Hinckley & Bosworth which will cover the period up to 2036. This consultation runs until 4th March

Police in Leicestershire are facing a real-terms cut of £2million next year, the Liberal Democrats have revealed.

On Tuesday the government announced that core funding for police budgets will remain exactly the same as last year.

Taking into account inflation, that means Leicestershire Police will face a real-terms cut of £2million.

Figures from the Social Mobility Commision's State of the Nation Report 2017 show Hinckley and Bosworth is one of the worst places for social mobility in Britain. Hinckley and Bosworth came near the bottom of the league, 305th out of 324 places, for social mobility.

Leicestershire County Councillor Michael Mullaney raised the issue with the leader of the County Council at the recent County Council meeting. Michael said "All children and young people deserve a fair chance in life. Hinckley and Bosworth being near the bottom of the league for social mobility means many local young people missing out on opportunities to succeed in life.

Campaigners and Liberal Democrat Councillors have reacted with fury after Conservative County Councillors voted down a motion supporting the WASPI women's pension campaign.

WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) support women born in the 1950s who saw their retirement ages changed without adequate notice which meant many women did not have the time to prepare adequately for retirement. The campaign asks for transitional support for the women affected.

The latest plans to build houses on a Hinckley nature feature were voted down at Hinckley and Bosworth's Council's planning committee last night.

By a 12-4 vote the committee objected to a proposal to build 60 houses on the site.

The public gallery was packed with local residents who objected to the development on the Big Pit.

Speaking against the plans the local County Councillor for the area Michael Mullaney (Lib Dem: Hinckley De Montfort) said "The Big Pit is a totally unsuitable place for housing development. There is evidence going back hundreds of years of natural springs in the area.

"There are already problems with flooding in this part of Hinckley. It would be a massive mistake to build houses on this site."