Amanda Taylor

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Making Cambridgeshire a better place to live: the Liberal Democrat programme

by admin on 4 April, 2013

We in Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have launched our manifesto for the forthcoming County Council elections, which sets out how we would make the county a better place for people to live in its cities, towns and villages.

We would do so by providing better basic services, making it easier for people to get around, and looking after our environment, in stark contrast to the Conservative administration.

Leader of Cambs Lib Dems Cllr Kilian Bourke explained: “Cambridgeshire’s economy depends on quality of life more than any other shire county in England, and the Conservatives just do not get this.

“Unlike the coal industry, which tends to stay near where the coal is, an economy based on knowledge and research requires people and companies to choose to come here and to stay here as well. If their needs and desire are not being met they can and will go elsewhere.”

“The crucial economic role of local government in this equation is to maintain and enhance quality of life by providing good public services, which is something that the local Conservatives have comprehensively failed to do.”

He said that although the Conservatives talk of being “open for business” they neglect the very services a Council is supposed to provide to its citizens and businesses, citing as evidence of this the £2M being spent on interest payments for the Guided Bus and the equivalent cuts being made to local bus services, the botched streetlight replacement program, a waste recycling plant that doesn’t work, the serious shortage of local childcare places, cuts to Adult Mental Health budgets and our crumbling roads and pavements.

“To this end the Liberal Democrats would provide better basic services, which would include improving our primary school buildings and ensuring that there is a sufficient supply of nursery places locally, as well as repairing our pavements.

“We would make it easier for people to get around the county by stopping the Tory cuts to our bus service, creating a rail link to Wisbech, and building the Chisholm Trail in Cambridge and strategic cycle links around the county.

“To fund our proposals we would sell the County’s overgrand HQ, which costs £1M a year to maintain poorly, and invest in renewable energy sources that would bring in £2.5M each year to fund basic services.”

“In this way we would ensure that the County Council played its part in improving quality of life for all of Cambridgeshire’s residents, and help to build a stronger, greener and more socially just local economy.”

Download the 2013 manifesto here: cambridgeshire-lib-dem-manifesto-2013

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