I am planning to spend a proportion of funds allocated to me by the County Council for local community projects on replacing roadside trees in Kingsley. I have put forward a list of locations where trees have been lost and the Council are looking at each site in turn before suggesting which sites should be a priority. Roads where there is space for new trees include Kettering Rd, Park Avenue North, Kenmuir Avenue, The Drive, The Crescent and Kingsley Rd. Trees in local streets make our environment much more pleasant, sadly, too many roadside trees have been lost and not replaced.

I will be consulting local residents on the proposed locations. Meanwhile, is you know of any other sites where a tree could be planted, let me know.

Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg has sent a message of congratulations to Liberal Democrats in Northampton celebrating a year of success in turning round Northampton Borough Council.

“It has been a fantastic year and I am very proud of the achievements of our councillors” writes Nick Clegg “The Council has made enormous progress in the last 12 months.”

A year since the Liberal Democrats took control of Northampton has been described as a year of solid achievement by Leader Cllr. Tony Woods “We inherited a council in a mess. A year ago Government inspectors had rated the council as one of the worst in the country, with weak political leadership and failure to deliver services people have a right to expect.”

“Three things stand out from our first year” said Tony Woods.

(1) The Council’s finances are under firmer control, with no cuts in this year’s budget.

(2) Day to day services such as planning, revenues and benefits, and housing management are at last showing real signs of improvement.

(3) We are setting in place firm foundations for the long term with progress on the Grosvenor centre and other key town centre projects.”

“We still have a long way to go” said Tony Woods. “We have more to do to persuade the people of Northampton that the council is improving. That will be our task in the year ahead.”

‘Putting the Pride back in Northampton -A year of Achievement’ A full briefing on the first year of Lib Dem run Northampton Borough Council can be downloaded from www.northamptonlibdems.org.uk

The Council have announced plans to resurface Kettering Rd from the White Elephant to Chaucer St. Work is due to start in July, depending on the weather and progress on other work. It is expected that the work will be done over three weekends, Fridays, Sundays and Mondays (not Saturdays). On mid-week days work will be done on resufacing the road in Milton St.

Traffic will be diverted at certain times while work is underway. Northbound traffic will be sent via Kingsley Rd, Fairway and Kenmuir Avenue, southbound via Park Avenue, Abington Avenue and Abington Grove. It is expected that the restrictions will be lifted outside working hours

Despite residents objections, it has been announed that Queens Park Post Office will close.

Originally the Post Office were not due to announce the decision on closures till March – they have taken less than a month since the consultation closed on 10th January to decide. This suggests to me that the whole process was a sham. It became clear to me during the consultation process that actually the Government’s plans for 2,500 closures across the country was being stuck to and regardless of local opinion, local circumstances and opposition offices would close.

The Post Office has failed to recognise Northampton’s position as growth area and the opportunity has been missed to secure a valuable community facility for the future.
Other post office closures announced include:

Boothville, Both Lane North
Broadmead Avenue, Eastfield
Brookside Centre, Billing Brook Road, Lumbertubs
Campbell Square, the Mounts
High Street, Weston Favell

I would like to thank all of you who signed the petition or sent in comments to try and stop the closures. These were all handed into the Post Office – it is a pity they didn’t listen.

Despite public opposition it has been confirmed that Queens Park Post Office will close.

Clearly by announcing these closures earlier than originally planned the Post Office has ignored the case put by local people to keep these offices open. The whole consultation process appears to have been a sham – less than a month has been taken to look at people’s responses and decide which looks suspiciously like a decision that had already been made.

It seems that the Post Office was simply running a ‘numbers game’ where people don’t matter. How hollow their current advertising slogan now sounds.

The Labour Government clearly wanted to close 2,500 across the Country and that means closing offices in Northampton despite the strong cases made to keep them open. Labour MP Sally Keeble has supported her Governments plans for the Post Office in Parliament yet campaigned against the closures in Northampton. Clearly she has misled people by making them think there was a chance to change her Government’s plans – when there was not. She needs to explain her position.

Local Lib Dem Councillors will continue to do all we can to fight these closure plans.

At the request of local residents the Council are looking to put a recycling facility in Arthur St for people who live in the flats. This is good news, and I hope it will be used by people who live in the Webbs factory too. When the site has been agreed, the council will inform residents by leaflet.

Happy New Year

This seems like a suitable point to review 2007 - a successful year for Northampton Liberal Democrats - and look forward to some of the challenges that face us.

The 2007 local elections saw us achieve control of Northampton Borough Council for the first time – making gains from both Labour and Conservatives with 26 Councillors. A truly magnificent result.

But now we have to prove ourselves running the Council. A council that has many long-standing problems – that under both Labour and Conservatives had been rated one of the worst in the Country. It is a heavy responsibility for us Liberal Democrats to take this on – in many respects we hold the hopes of Northampton people in our hands – and a challenge to restore their faith in politics by proving that we are able to make a difference.

It will take time and involve us making unpopular but necessary decisions but in the longer term our town will be a better place to live in and Northampton should take its place rightfully as one of the Britain’s leading locations.

What we have done since May:

· Appointed a new Chief Executive

· Strengthened the Council’s Democracy with enhanced Scrutiny and increased accountability of the Cabinet

· Put the Finances onto a sounder footing whilst working within a restricted budget inherited from the Conservatives

· Kept open some public toilets previously planned for closure by the Conservatives

· Restored funding to provide some Christmas lights

· Cut Sunday car parking charges, introduced pay on foot in two car parks and free Sunday parking in two others

· Signed Heads of Agreement on the Grosvenor Centre/Greyfriars development

· Commenced work on plans for the Market Square and Abington Street.

2008 sees further challenges to improve the Council

· Agreeing the first Liberal Democrat Budget in February in a situation where Government funding has only increased by 1.2%

· Putting the Balloon Festival onto a sounder footing and agreeing long-term strategy

· Getting a further report from the Audit Commission in March 2008, which we expect, will show how things have improved.

· Improve the Council’s services across the board, making them more ‘customer focused’ and responsive to the needs of residents.

Turning round a poorly performing council will take time. We have made a start. However, it will take two or three years to put in place all of the changes and improvements that are necessary.

We have an excellent team in place to deliver the changes required and above all we will make sure the residents of Northampton are fully involved in that progress.

Have a happy 2008.

Cllr Tony Woods

Liberal Democrat Leader

Northampton Borough Council

The County Council are funding repairs to footpaths across the Racecourse. Work will start in the new year to improve the main footpaths used to cross the park. This follows on from the upgrade of lighting in the park 2 years ago. This is good news, and is another step towards making the park a safer and more inviting place for people of all ages.

The Healthy Living Hub project is a plan to create a future for the Racecourse as a community base for helthy living, including walking, cycling, sport a community cafe and green gym. Visit their website .

Andrew Simpson and Richard Church are invloved in the Friends of Northampton Racecourse community group which brings together local resdients and users of the Racecourse as well as the Racecourse Partnership, which brings together public bodies and voluntary groups with an interest in the future of the park.

The pavement in Kingsley Rd is to be resurfaced on the odd numbered side from No. 33 to No. 125 (from Murray Avenue to the end). Work will start in the new year and is expected to take six weeks, depending on the weather. Cotact Stephen Cross at Atkins (the contractors) for any information before the work starts on 01604 883449 and Tony Gale on 01604 654644 for detailed information regarding progress on site or access when work has started.

It’s good news that at last some work is being done on the Kingsley Rd pavements, but there is much more to be done, and what a shame elderly people will no longer need it to get to the Queens Park post office once it has closed.

Queens Park Post Office on Kingsley Rd is one of 8 Post Offices in Northampton set to close. Queens Park is used by many residents in Kingsthorpe, and is a result of Government policy to close thousands of post offices nationally. Lib Dem councillors will be campaigning strongly against these closures. Andrew Simpson is organising an online petition here