Pensioners ignored

In July Gordon Brown handed out £43 billion to public services but completely ignored pensioners, points out David Harding-Price, Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesman. Although there has been bluster at the Labour and Tory party conferences, there is still a very clear difference between Liberal Democrat policy and the other two other parties.

Pensions policy at a glance
The Liberal Democrats Fair Deal

  • £5 per week for pensioners under 75.

  • £10 per week for pensioners aged 75-80

  • £15 per week for pensioners aged over 80

  • Change the way pensions are uprated every year so that pensioners receive a fair increase

Labour ignore pensioners

  • 75p increase this year

  • no other increases promised - rises to be linked with the Sept inflation figure!

The Tory Con Trick

  • Increase pensions by between £5 and £10 but take away free TV licences, winter fuel payment and other benefits leaving pensioners an average of just 43p per week.
  
   
 
 
 
 
     
 

Town Centre News

The Liberal Democrat controlled Town Council has acted as a catalyst for the Town Centre Forum. Following a successful public meeting in June, a steering group has been established to discuss the immediate priorities for the town centre. The Town Centre Forum will campaign to ensure that the Town Centre continues to be a dynamic and attractive place for local people to visit. The involvement of the District and County councils as well as Civic Society, traders and local users has meant that the steering group will campaign for town centre improvements.
"Ensuring the vitality of the town centre, when the new Co-op store is built, will be crucial," comments Brendan Haigh. "We have a diversity of shops in the town which is very unusual - we want to keep these features as well as having better facilities for local residents."
The Town Centre Forum has already looked at proposals for improving pavements in the town centre and making pedestrians safer. A Public Meeting is to be held at the Minster Visitors' Centre on    Nov, at 7.30pm.

 
   
 
 
 
 
     
   
     
   
     
 

Plastic Recycling in Southwell report

 
   
   
     
   
     
  Plastic recycling in the town for an experimental period has been hugely successful. However, every full container costs the town £10 to empty - because of the collection costs involved. Please squash all bottles and remove the caps, as this will keep the costs down. We are increasing the number of bins and the collection  frequency - but if the banks are full, please do not leave plastic around and take it home until the next time.
The new Plastic Recycling Bank keeps the town at the leading edge of environmental improvements - the Liberal Democrat led Council was the first in the area to install Paper Banks over fifteen years ago.