Durham Liberal Democrats

In his keynote speech to the Liberal Democrat Conference, Party Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has outlined his goals for the Government and the country over the coming years. He reiterated his commitment to liberal values on the environment and human rights and his determination to ensure a fair chance for every child, saying "every child can do good things, great things, if only we give them the opportunities they deserve."

A clean up is due to take place under ElvetBridge in the middle of Durham.

Local councillor David Freeman (Lib Dem) will allocat funding from the local Neighbourhood Fund in order to secure the clean up. The clean up will also include the back street behind the bridge. Cllr Freeman said: "It is time we got rid of all the rubbish bins under the arch and found a way to store them out of sight. The backstreet that runs down to the river bank is a mess at the moment. We're working to renew the street surfaces and make it a pleasant route to the river."

Campaigners across County Durham are fighting plans by Labour's Council bosses to close sport centres. Sport centres at Sherburn, Ushaw Moor, PityMe, Crook, Ferryhill and Coxhoe are proposed for closure.

COMMUNITIES FIGHT THE CLOSURE PLANS

In Sherburn a community group has been setup to fight the plans - and find a way of keeping the centre open. Local councillor Carol Woods said: "The centre is a huge asset to our village. Everyone is determined to keep it."Local councillors in Pity Me, Amanda Hopgood and Mark Wilkes are also working with a community group there to keep the Abbey Centre open. Cllr Wilkes (Lib Dem)said: "The centre is very well used and we must force the Council to work with us to save it."

Government plans to award the contract for building new high speed trains to North East based Hitachi-led Agility Trains consortium have been welcomed. The decision to award the Intercity Express Programme (IEP) to Hitachi has been hailed as the biggest investment in the North East since Nissan.

MASSIVE BOOST FOR NORTH EAST JOBS

Thousands of hard-working people across County Durham will be better off - thanks to the Liberal Democrats.

At the General Election, the Liberal Democrats pledged to raise the income tax threshold - taking millions of hardworking people out of income tax and give millions more a tax cut.

By joining the coalition Government, the Lib Dems are now delivering the first phase of this policy.

Local councils are celebrating after the government doubled extra funding
for pothole and road repairs to £200m, with the rural counties receiving the
largest amounts due to the size of their road network. County Durham is
receiving £2.3m and Northumberland £3.1m and North Yorkshire £6.6m due to
the size of their road network.

Mark Wilkes, Lib Dem County Councillor for Framwellgate Moor Division in
County Durham commented "This is excellent news for our area. More than
double the funding the last Labour government gave to help, thanks to a lot
of pressure from Lib Dem councillors up and down the country."

"This should also take pressure off the funding for repairing footpaths,
which in many parts of the county are in a really poor state. I am
discussing with the council where this new money is to be allocated."

Lib Dem councillors have been putting pressure on both locally and
nationally to protect and increase funding for road and footpath repairs.

Fellow Lib Dem councillor Ben Ord, Spennymoor commented "I have now written
to government ministers on numerous occasions asking for extra help and it
is good to see that they are listening. Durham County Council has failed to
invest properly in road repairs for years and this is a welcome boost from
the coalition government.

"I expect the council to make sure that the repairs are properly carried out
and sealed to avoid repeatedly repairing the same defects over and over
again."

The extra funding will be welcomed by motorists who nationally face auto
repairs of over £1m every day from poor quality roads, and is in addition to
current government funding of over £870m already paid to councils from the
government each year.

On 5th May you have a choice. You can keep the discredited First Past the Post system to elect our MPs, or you can choose a new and fairer system - Alternative Vote (AV). Back the campaign for change at www.YesToFairerVotes.org

AV is a small change that makes a big difference.

Saying YES! to Fairer Votes Means:

Councillor Mark Wilkes has today welcomed the Coalition Government's Budget, which delivers the key Liberal Democrat manifesto commitment of cutting taxes for those on low and middle incomes and raising the poorest workers out of paying Income Tax altogether.

The Budget also scraps Labour's planned fuel duty rise, gives real help for local businesses and creates thousands more apprenticeships.

Durham County Council Liberal Democrat Group today unveiled their proposals to support hard-pressed families across the county as part of the Council's Budget Setting Meeting on Wednesday this week.

In particular the Liberal Democrats will be proposing

• Scrapping County Durham News, which is little more than a Council propaganda sheet,
• Stopping Labour's proposed scrapping of the Welfare Rights Unit,
• Stopping Labour's proposed cut in grant to the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) in County Durham, and
• A package to subsidise home to school/college transport for over 16s living travelling more than 3 miles to study.

County and Parish Councillors in Sherburn Village have expressed their determination to fight Labour plans to close the local Leisure Centre.

Cllr Stuart Walton, Chair of the Parish Council and long-time campaigner for play and leisure equipment in Sherburn, said " I am horrified that I have to read about these proposals in the newspaper. Sherburn Leisure Centre is well used by people in the village and the surrounding area. We will fight to keep the facility open."