The Pegswood Division

Liberal Democrats

Focus Summer 2015 edition Focus The Neighbourhood Plan completed - now we await a decision on a Local Referendum

On 1 June the Morpeth Neighbourhood Plan was completed and handed over to County Council. This plan will now be subjected to an independent examination. It is then expected to go a local ‘Yes/No’ referendum later this year. The development policies in the Plan apply to Morpeth and the surrounding civil parishes of Hebron, Hepscott, Mitford and Pegswood. These policies replace those in the Local Plan that had become dated and disregarded over time. Other parishes in the former Castle Morpeth area will be relying on the County Council’s Local Plan scheduled for completion in Autumn 2016. David Woodard Praise in particular, for working so hard over a three

year period, must go to the chairs of the steering Lib Dem membership increases group and plan preparation group and the volunteers from the community who came forward with their In the week following the general election over 7,000 specialist skills to prepare the consultations, analyse new members joined or re-joined the Liberal Democrats. the responses and then produce the plan. Another 9,000 have joined since. In recent years areas of open countryside outside “I want us to rebuild Liberalism and I realise that the the Morpeth town boundary have been targeted only place to do that is from within the Liberal Democrats.” . . . member re-joining the party with controversial housing development applications. Despite local refusal developers have appealed and “I was appalled by the national election result and felt that the only way to make a difference been granted permission by the Secretary of State. was to get involved in politics myself. The The Neighbourhood Plan recognises the future need Liberal Democrat constitution resonated with for housing in the plan period to 2031. It says clearly my own values, putting people at the heart of policy and not merely serving as the engine of where that future housing should go and by doing so commerce." . . . new member from Pegswood protects other areas from development. “I believe the Liberal Democrats are best-placed to lead When a referendum is held later this year the a progressive politics in this country.” . . . new member Morpeth Neighbourhood Plan deserves the For information on Liberal Democrat membership visit strong support of residents. For more details www.libdems.org.uk/membership-faqs www.themorpethneighbourhoodplan.org.uk/

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS locally . . . Keeping in touch Reporting back . . . All year round . . . Year after year www.wansbecklibdems.org.uk www.davidwoodard.uk

General Election Comment The local voting

The general election result has surprised many people. Some have realised for Con - 16,603 - 4,914 majority the first time that the ‘first past the post’ system used at the general election is unfair and fails significantly to reflect the way people vote. Lib Dem

1. UKIP and the Green Party each won just one seat polling 3.88 and 1.68 Lab million votes respectively. UKIP 2. The SNP polled 1.45 million votes and won 56 seats Green with only 4.7% of the total votes cast.

3. The Liberal Democrats polled 2.42 million votes and won 8 seats with 7.9% of the votes. Berwick-upon-Tweed

4. Labour won 232 seats with 30.4% of the votes. Lab - 19,267 - 10,881 majority 5. The Conservatives won 331 of the 650 seats with 36.9% of the votes but the support of less than a quarter of those eligible to vote.

The ‘first past the post’ system used at the general election is the reason we have heard a Tory Queen’s speech, a Tory budget and have five years of Tory Con UKIP law making ahead of us. It is no surprise that Labour and Tory MPs are not keen to see a change because, as this election demonstrates more than ever before, Lib Dem ‘first past the post’ suits them. Green

Other electoral systems are used which take a fuller and fairer account of how Wansbeck Constituency people vote. Examples are elections to the European and Scottish parliaments, the National Assembly for Wales and the London Assembly.

Julie Pörksen worked very hard to poll 11,689 votes and 28.9% of the total votes, but didn’t manage to retain Sir Alan Beith’s Berwick-upon-Tweed seat.

Labour won in Wansbeck with 50% of the votes with 50% going to the four other party candidates.

The result for Britain is that the Conservatives are dominant in the South of , Labour in the North and the Scottish National Party in Scotland. This is not the best outlook for unity over the next five years.

Berwick-upon-Tweed Constituency Electing a new leader

On 19 June at the Royal Station Hotel in Newcastle Pegswood ED Liberal Democrat party members attended an election hustings to listen to and ask questions of Norman

WANSBECK Lamb and Tim Farron the two leadership contenders. Constituency Several members felt the general election campaign had been uninspiring and the party had not been fully appreciated for its achievements in a coalition government. They were however positive about future national and local election success if members worked and campaigned on the party’s fundamental values.

Norman and Tim spoke with great passion. They will both devote themselves to rebuilding the party and to reminding people of the values the party stands for - liberty, justice, fairness and compassion. PEGSWOOD Electoral Division The election result will be announced on 16 July. Labour’s ‘ill thought out’ plan for County Hall

Eighteen months ago Northumberland County Council’s Labour leader wrote to all staff and every county councillor to tell them of a proposal to move staff from County Hall in Morpeth to a new HQ building in town centre.

To fund the plan County Hall and the land around it would be sold for housing development.

Major planning applications for housing approved in this area of Morpeth are expected to increase the demand for school places. A new school built on land at the County Hall site would therefore be far more appropriate.

Reports attempting to justify Labour’s proposal have so far not provided a convincing financial case. It has yet to be proved that County Hall is too expensive to maintain and The latest news is that the estimated costs of the scheme needs to be replaced. If that was the case there is county continue to rise. The scheme is now ‘on hold’ since the land owned brownfield land nearby on which a new more in Ashington required for car parking has not been acquired. efficient building could be built - still leaving enough space The Tory approach is different. Conservative councillors it for a new school to be built. seems oppose any significant sum of money being spent in There are also doubts about Labour’s claim that new County south east Northumberland as a matter of principle. They HQ built in Ashington town centre will regenerate the town. called the new Leisure Centre in Ashington, which opens later this year, a Liberal Democrat ‘vanity project’, despite the very For all the reasons given above Liberal Democrat county sound business case we made for it. councillors have not been able to support Labour’s plan. Regrettably Labour councillors seem committed to making Improvements in Pegswood a political decision at Northumberland taxpayers’ expense. Improvements in Pegswood The brand new and larger Co-op on Front Street, which opened recently with fifteen parking spaces behind it, is a The Wansbeck Valley Food Bank welcome development. We now wait to see what Welbeck Estates plan for the building that the Co-op vacated. The Wansbeck Valley Food Bank has distribution centres in Ashington, Lynemouth, Morpeth, Newbiggin and The relocated post office and the local shops refurbished by Pegswood. It recently announced their four thousandth Welbeck Estates on De Walden Terrace, are to be better client had received a food parcel from them. signposted. The redundant ‘opencast sign’ on Longhirst Road is to be removed and a new sign erected. Local people in crisis are identified by care professionals such as doctors, health visitors, social workers and Citizens Advice Bureau staff, amongst others, who issue them with a Food Bank referral form.

Food is donated through the generosity of individuals, groups, schools, churches and local organisations. Food is also collected from supermarkets. People can donate an extra item from a list and leave it on their way out.

This organisation, which Pegswood Parish Council is supporting, is looking for more volunteer help. It can be contacted by telephone on 07841 908 477 or by email at [email protected]

“The Liberal Democrats exist to safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community and in which no one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.” To find out more about what the Liberal Democrats stand for, visit www.libdems.org.uk/constitution News and views from the local FOCUS team

TheThe FOCUSFOCUS EditorialEditorial

Truly Independent?

I have found over the years that Independent councillors often:-

1. have strong and often hidden political beliefs.

2. are reluctant team players with an exaggerated belief of what they can achieve as individuals.

But at County Hall Independent councillors are propping up a Labour Work starts on the Morpeth Northern Bypass administration by voting with them. Labour with 32 councillors in a total It is some time since the Lib Dem led Northumberland County Council committed of 67 has been given majority control. a 30% share of the funding for a Morpeth northern bypass. Work on site has now started and the road is expected to be completed and opened in November 2016. Who are these councillors? Hebron will be relieved of the heavy traffic coming off and accessing the A1 using One is a former Labour county the narrow unclassified road through the village. Morpeth will see a reduction in councillor, deselected by Labour in through traffic, with Newgate Street and Bridge Street no longer being required 2008, elected in 2008 and 2013 as to be an alternative route for A1 traffic when the need arises. an Independent to represent Bywell.

One is the former Conservative county councillor for Stocksfield and Broomhaugh. Deselected by the Tories prior to the May 2013 election she won the seat as an Independent.

One is a former Lib Dem councillor re-elected in 2013 as a Lib Dem to represent Morpeth Stobhill. Very soon after the election he left the Lib Dems after not accepting a group decision.

These councillors receive extra responsibility allowances for positions allocated to them by Labour. They have consistently supported Labour for the past two years. The photograph above looks west from the roundabout at the top of Whorral Bank. Be careful in the future if you are The road is being constructed to the north of the Howburn ancient woodland, on thinking of voting for an Independent the horizon, and south of Phase II of the Community Park at Pegswood Moor. candidate. You may not get what To read more news and views and see previous editions of the you think you are voting for! Pegswood Division FOCUS newsletter visit www.davidwoodard.uk

Promoted & published by David Woodard on behalf of Wansbeck Liberal Democrats at 11 The Croft, Ulgham, Morpeth NE61 3BB Printed by Azure printing, Unit 1 F, Pegswood Industrial Estate, Pegswood, Northumberland, NE61 6HZ