E-mail from David Lidington
Posted by David Lidington, MP for Aylesbury, at 07:50, Tue 3 July 2007:
I am writing to update you on my work as your Member of Parliament.
I explained in my last e-mail that Aylesbury Vale has had little choice but to follow Government demands in designating land to the south and south-west of Aylesbury for the construction of 9,000 new houses to meet Ministers’ housing targets. Meg Munn, Minister at the Department for Communities and Local Government, has since refused my request for the Government to extend the consultation period on the plans.
It is clear that the Government is not really interested in the views of local people. Ministers are only concerned with meeting arbitrary housing targets, regardless of the provision of jobs and infrastructure. I shall continue to argue that the Government’s goal of sustainable communities is threatened by its failure to provide the infrastructure Aylesbury needs to cope with massive housing development.
I was delighted to hear last week that Aylesbury Crown Court will be moved to a new, purpose-built courthouse by 2012. I visited the current building last year and was shocked by the standards of security and accessibility. A new courthouse should make a welcome difference to the efficiency of Aylesbury’s justice system.
Councillors from Bucks County Council came to Westminster to lobby Bucks MPs about a further threat to the Council’s funding, which could cost up to £3 million. Because of the way the Government’s council funding formula works, Bucks and many other councils in the South East may no longer receive extra money to pay for specific grants, such as the Carers Grant. But they will still have to provide the same level of support to residents, meaning there may be no choice but to cut services and increase council tax. The problem is particularly acute in the South East because many councils already receive the funding minimum as Ministers divert more and more money to other parts of the country. Please click on the link below to go to a diagram showing the impact of the change. http://www.davidlidington.co.uk/newspicture.asp?ref=231&photo=149
I also joined HRH Princess Royal at the official opening of the new Wendover Wing at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, a state-of-the-art project including 222 beds and an endoscopy suite.
I have visited Northern Ireland a couple of times recently in my Shadow Secretary of State. I visited the police chiefs in border areas to discuss the improvements they have seen on the ground since the agreement between Sinn Fein and the DUP. I also spent some time on patrol in North Belfast, talking to front-line police officers about their work.
On Monday (2 July) I spoke in the House of Commons about legislation that increases the relationship between the Northern Ireland police and local politicians and communities, in line with the principles of devolution.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me if I can ever be of any help, and feel free to respond to any of the short surveys that I have written on www.telldavid.com.
Yours sincerely,
David Lidington
Comments
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Posted by Margaret Cotton, 09:30, Tue 3 July 2007: (Is this post abusive?) #
I endorse everything our MP has said about the Government's cavalier attitude to this region, both in terms of house-building and the never-ending squeeze on funding support. There has to be a more equitable way of dividing the national cake than this and I fail to see how we can sustain standards of service if we are to have a major increase in housing without concomitant investment in social and physical infrastructure.
I have never been a natural Conservative but the cynical and reactive policies of the last ten years, combined with an apparent disdain for rural life, have driven me to despair and away from the party I have always voted for.