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Camden Labour breaks main manifesto promise to residents

Posted by leebakerlibdem on August 5, 2010

Labour was elected to run Camden Council again in May after it campaigned to “stop the council home sell-offs”. Now, Labour is already breaking its main promise to residents.

Many Cromer St flats got their first refurb in decades thanks to the Lib Dems

The Camden New Journal brought the news that Camden Labour has ditched its promise.

The Lib Dem-led council was forced to sell a handful of empty, derelict council properties to raise money to do up all Camden’s council homes. The Labour Government had REFUSED to give any money for improvements. Many have had no work done for four decades, so suffer from faulty wiring, leaks, draughts, mould and crumbling kitchen work tops.

The Lib Dems were elected in 2006 to do up our council homes after decades of Labour neglect. The Lib Dems kept their promise. We improved 10,000 council properties by selling  50 empty, derelict council properties. That’s 10,000 homes that are now safe and in a fit state for living. In 2010, the Lib Dems promised to finish the job and do up 7,000 more homes.

Residents told local Lib Dems they needed work done but Labour said 'take the money away'

Labour shamefully promised to take the money away for this work. Its 2010 manifesto promised to “stop the council housing sell-offs immediately and work with tenants and leaseholders to develop an improvement programme”.

It hasn’t taken Camden Labour long to break their manifesto promise. They are now planning to sell properties to pay for vital improvements. So they agreed with the Lib Dems all along.

They knew central Government would be hard up. The Labour Government refused to give Camden money for our homes even when there was lots of public money. Now, thanks to Labour and the banks, as a nation we spend more on debt interest than on housing.

This means that Camden Labour won power on a false promise. Labour said anything to get elected, and are now doing what they like. That’s unfair to the residents who trusted them.

Did they “work with tenants and leaseholders to develop an improvement plan” as promised? No. They made their decision to rip up their manifesto behind closed doors. They don’t care what people think. Labour’s letting us all down.

Posted in Housing | 1 Comment »

Labour says one thing to get elected, then does the opposite

Posted by leebakerlibdem on August 1, 2010

HOW depressing to see that, barely three months into office, Labour are ditching promises they made to voters in King’s Cross.

Labour said anything to get elected; now, Labour's breaking one promise after another

The Camden New Journal has revealed that Labour is going to sell the 1970s Town Hall annex, which need major repairs. The Lib Dems said it would be unfair to spend £15m of council taxpayers’ money on doing up offices for Town Hall officials. Labour councillor Jonathan Simpson said he disagreed.

Cllr Simpson wrote in the local paper and in leaflets that he would fight the project. The council was “selling off the family silver” and allowing “a skyscraper” to be built on the site, Simpson said.

He said if it must be sold, there should be “a cap on the height” of any building replacing it. He agreed with the local Lib Dems that the council must “actively consult with residents,” and promised to fight for a detailed planning brief “so we can all agree what would be good and bad for the site”.

Now it seems residents were conned. It seems Labour agrees with the Lib Dems after all that it’d be waste of taxpayers money to spend £15m doing up council offices. But some people voted for Labour because of their campaign against the Town Hall annex sale.

Where’s the consultation Simpson demanded? The planning brief saying what can and cannot be built on this site? And where’s the cap on the new building’s height?

Labour says one thing to residents on the doorstep and in their leaflets, now they’re running the council, they’re doing another. That shows contempt for the residents who believed what they said and voted them in. Labour’s letting us all down.


Posted in Planning | Leave a Comment »

Labour dooms work on our council homes

Posted by leebakerlibdem on June 1, 2010

Camden Labour is saying that it has “saved our council homes”. But not a single home has been saved; thousands of homes have been doomed.

Camden Labour offers residents no plan, no money, no hope

To raise the money to do up every single council home in Camden, the Lib Dem-led administration sold 50 empty, derelict council properties. These weren’t homes, because nobody was living in these properties that Labour left standing empty for years on end.

Labour now has no plan for doing up our council homes, many of which have had no improvements for 40 years. Either Labour will have to sell something else off, or the work will not be done.

What will they do? Residents must be told. Will they flog off Camden Council’s shop units? These bring in money that keeps our council tax down. Selling them would force unfair council tax hikes.

Out on the campaign trail, we met one woman whose kitchen had barely any work surface left after decades of neglect. She demanded to know when improvement work would be done on her home. Labour, it’s over to you.

Posted in Housing | Leave a Comment »

Have your say on bar/club plan for our area

Posted by leebakerlibdem on May 21, 2010

Thank you to all of you who supported our campaign to become the new councillors for King’s Cross. Many new people backed us, and we were only 136 votes away from winning in this seat long held by Labour.

We’ll continue to fight the good fight for our area, and provide a much-needed opposition to the Labour council.

New plans that would will affect our neighbourhood and St George’s Gardens have just been handed to Camden Council. We want everybody here to have a say on them.

The plans for the old Dairy site include an arts club, hotel rooms and a bar, offices and housing. The developer says that they would benefit our area. But we want to be satisfied that the enjoyment of your homes and the gardens is not affected.

How will the extra traffic be dealt with? Will there be more noise? Will the gardens lose their quiet, secluded feel? And will residents get to use the new facilities?

We’d like to hear what you think, so do get in touch. We’ll be going through the plans with a fine toothcomb to make sure that our neighbourhood is protected. We’ll let you know when there are any updates.

Posted in Planning, Protecting green space | Leave a Comment »

King’s Cross and Bloomsbury need real change

Posted by leebakerlibdem on May 1, 2010

With less than a week to go to the election, more and more people are switching to the Lib Dems – backing our campaign for real change.

Lee Baker, Yuan Potts and Huw Prior campaigning for our area

We are standing to be your local Lib Dem councillors. Round here, it’s a straight choice between more of the same old letdowns from Labour or positive action from the hard-working, local Lib Dem team.

We want the best deal for local residents. The Lib Dems on the council have kept their promises, freezing council tax and starting the first improvements to many council homes for 40 years.

We will always put you first. We will not rest until our roads have been safe for everybody, and the funding for a local secondary school is secured.

You deserve real action, not Labour scare stories and empty promises. If you choose us to fight your corner, we pledge that we will be different. We will:

  • Meet you on your street. We’ll knock on your door to hear what’s on your mind all year round, not just before an election.
  • Listen to you, not tell you what you should be angry about.
  • Fight your corner. We will hold regular surgeries at times and places good for you – including out on your streets.
  • Campaign for real change. We won’t just sit in committees – we will get out of the Town Hall to campaign for you.
  • Keep in touch. We will write to tell you every time about the issues that affect your street.
  • Fight Town Hall bureaucracy. We’ll push for Council officials and the police to get out and ask you what you think – and take action.

Back us on 6th May for real change.

All best wishes,

 
Lee, Yuan and Huw

Posted in Community | Leave a Comment »

Giving every child in King’s Cross the best start

Posted by leebakerlibdem on April 16, 2010

As Nick Clegg is arguing, giving all our children the best start in life possible must be our top priority. No child must be left behind.

Jo Shaw, centre, and Lee Baker, Yuan Potts, and Huw Prior want every child to have the best start

That’s why the King’s Cross Lib Dems have been pushing for a new secondary school for south of the Euston Road. After decades of inaction by Labour, the Lib Dem-led council has made a good start over the last four years.

Labour failed a generation of children here when it was in control of Camden Council for 35 years. But under the Lib Dems, the council has finally acted. A site has now been earmarked, and officers have been ordered to review the forecasts of pupil numbers in the future.

The Lib Dem manifesto 2010 commits the party to make the case to Government for the capital funding required for a new secondary school in our neighbourhood.

Lib Dem campaigner Huw Prior said: “We need a secondary school sooner rather than later.  If elected, the King’s Cross Lib Dems will keep this right at the top of the council’s agenda, and make sure residents are involved every step of the way.”

Posted in Education | Leave a Comment »

Lib Dems demand action on dangerous King’s Cross roads now

Posted by leebakerlibdem on April 9, 2010

The King’s Cross one-way system is one of the most dangerous roads in Camden, according to figures obtained by local Lib Dems.

The King's Cross action team says make our roads safe now

The figures show that the Tory Mayor of London and the Tory traffic chief for Camden are wrong to make other areas bigger priorities. The local Lib Dem team are fighting to get traffic tamed on our roads.

In the last three years, there have been 63 crashes on the King’s Cross one-way system that killed one pedestrian and hospitalised another 16 people. This shows what the Mayor did not want to admit – that our local streets are now more dangerous than most ‘A’ roads in Camden. We are demanding action now – not more empty promises.

The Mayor has given one busy A road in north London a 20mph limit controlled by traffic lights. He claimed this was a special case. But our roads are just as dangerous.

So far all we have heard from the Tory Mayor on our roads has been empty words – saying last year that he would “not rule out” a 20mph limit on Acton Street, Swinton Street, King’s Cross Road and Gray’s Inn Road. The Labour Mayor of London before him did no better – he did nothing about traffic here during his eight years in power.

Local Lib Dem Yuan Potts said: “We knew that our roads were dangerous to walk around, but we had to take our fight to City Hall to find out the truth about just how dangerous.”

“These figures show that the Mayor of London and his local Tory traffic chief should stop talking, and start acting. The Lib Dems say enough is enough: stop dangerous driving now.”

You can add your voice to the hundreds of residents backing our campaign to tame traffic here by offering everybody a 20mph limit if they want one. Sign our petition by clicking here.

Posted in Road safety | Leave a Comment »

Local Lib Dems fight to stop developers getting their way

Posted by leebakerlibdem on April 2, 2010

GREEDY developers tried to get money-making plans for our area rubber-stamped last week. Local Lib Dems were there to stop them.

Residents here without gardens rely on this special space

At a planning inquiry into plans to build a large student block right next to St George’s Gardens in Bloomsbury last week, people hired by the developers told a Government inspector to wave through their plans. The Passion Group tried to argue that our area is not residential, but a bustling commercial area.

Local Lib Dems Lee Baker and Elizabeth Stanton Jones were there to point out it is densely residential, with 500 people living on Regent Square and on Sidmouth Mews alone.

The developer said that the gardens do not need protection from noise, because in central London “vibrancy” is only to be expected. But the local Lib Dems, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Friends of St George’s Gardens, told the inquiry that this was wrong.

Lee Baker told the inspector that it is one of the few spots in King’s Cross away from traffic and crowds. He urged him to reject the developer’s claims.

The Passion Group, stung by criticism that its block would harm our listed gardens and conservation area, even had the gall to say that the pile of rubble currently on the site “makes no positive contribution” to the conservation area.

Now we are in the hands of the inspector. The local Lib Dems have fought these plans all the way. The Labour councillors, meanwhile, were nowhere to be seen. Labour is letting us all down.

Posted in Protecting green space | Leave a Comment »

Vince Cable visit boosts King’s Cross campaign

Posted by leebakerlibdem on March 20, 2010

The shadow Chancellor Vince Cable accused Labour of being complacent about rising unemployment on a visit to King’s Cross last week.

Local campaigners Lee Baker, Huw Prior, Jo Shaw, Nazia Gafur and Yuan Potts welcome Vince Cable to King's Cross

As new figures revealed that youth unemployment across Camden had rocketed by 42% this year, Vince Cable said our “top priority has to be proper job creation”.

The Liberal Democrats would make £15bn in savings to both help young people get jobs, and reduce Labour’s massive deficit.

Vince Cable would axe unaffordable defence contracts such as Eurofighter and new Trident nuclear missiles, and end tax credits for high earners. Frontline services are already being cut by Gordon Brown because of Labour’s failure to end all this wasteful spending.

Vince Cable said at the event in King’s Cross: “The Government is trying to present itself as the party of spending, but indiscriminate cuts are already starting to happen under Labour. Growing numbers of college and university staff are currently being sacked.” This is hitting universities in Bloomsbury hard.

Across Camden, there are now 830 young people left unemployed by Labour’s recession, and this figure is still rising. The Government should not sit idly by. Lib Dems would offer young people paid internships to get a foot on the career ladder. Labour is letting us all down.

Posted in The recession | Leave a Comment »

Good news on the push to make our area better

Posted by leebakerlibdem on March 19, 2010

Good news. After hundreds of you backed our local campaign to give most streets here a 20mph limit, the Lib Dems across Camden have listened.

Camden Lib Dem campaigner Jo Shaw hears from a King's Cross resident

We told our colleagues across the borough that residents here feel unsafe walking round because traffic’s too fast. Drivers trying to beat a traffic light or save a few seconds on their journey are making life difficult for the most vulnerable.

Local Lib Dem campaigners say "enough is enough" to dangerous drivers

It’s noisy and stressful, and it’s not easy crossing the road. Even zebra crossings often feel unsafe. The one-way streets of Swinton Street and Acton Street are the worst, but there’s speeding on many roads here when there’s less traffic, including Judd Street, Harrison Street, and Argyle Square.

It has been difficult making the case. Due to the multi-billion bank bail outs, councils like Camden will have less money over the next few years. But, thanks to your support, we have won the argument!

Our colleagues have been impressed by the strength of feeling on this here in Bloomsbury and King’s Cross. That’s why the Lib Dems have agreed to promise to offer all residents 20mph limits. This can be done without humps.

Thank you for your support. We now need to win the argument with the Mayor, who controls some of our roads. You can sign our petition here if you haven’t already. Thank you. We’ll keep you updated.

Posted in Road safety | Leave a Comment »

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