St Peter's Liberal Democrats

Plans by your local Labour councillors to cut hundreds of thousands of pounds from the library service could mean big changes ahead at South Library in Essex Road.

The council is currently consulting residents on possible service changes. You can give your views here: www.islington.gov.uk/libraries.  You can also fill in a paper copy at South Library.

Labour councillors have refused to rule out reduced opening hours and staffing levels at the library which has already been closed on Wednesdays.  Other options might include charging for some services, massive increases in the charges they already have, or even fewer libraries!

Although they have said no libraries will close for now, local Liberal Democrats believe Labour plans to set up a trust to run the Council’s libraries would mean they were free to close libraries in the future with no accountability to the public.

Click here to sign our petition.

David Sant and GLA candidate Bridget Fox inspect disused building at Angel

The battle to safeguard Islington’s high streets and independent traders has reached the House of Lords.

Islington has a long and proud tradition of distinct shopping parades with independent local traders.  Streets such as Camden Passage, Upper Street, Goswell Road, Essex Road, Caledonian Road, Holloway Road, Fonthill Road and Highbury Barn have a wealth of ‘Islington’ stores serving the community.

The onward march of supermarkets, convenience shops and chain stores has endangered many of these independent traders and even put some out of business in the borough.  The problem is nationwide and many councils are now uniting to fight back.

Islington Liberal Democrats have now joined the campaign to give local authorities legal powers for the local community to promote the shops they want and resist those that they believe will harm local neighbourhoods.  Liberal Democrats have now tabled an amendment to the Localism Bill in the House of Lords to make this law.

Essex Road and Angel Town Centre residents David Sant said:

“One of the best things about Islington is its very diverse mix of retailers so the range of goods on sale is very wide.  They serve an area which is very diverse and the shops are mostly in small units which suit independent traders.

“But we’ve all seen local traders go to the wall over the years while the number of supermarkets and convenience stores grows all the time.  It is vital that Islington has the power to keep its diversity through these changing and challenging times.

“We need legislation to be able to protect the individuality and character of our streets. We want to be able to choose, with our communities, who should have a place in our shopping centres.  We don’t want identikit, clone high streets in Islington looking the same as everywhere else.”

Fact File

1. Under the Liberal Democrat amendment to the Localism Bill in the House of Lords, councils could produce a retail vitality and diversity scheme for an area in consultation with local communities that would set out what mix of independent and multiple traders was desirable, as well as the range of unit sizes and classes of use.
2. Councils would be required to consider this plan when considering applications for retail use or change of use in the area where it applied.

Liberal Democrat Leader Terry Stacy with his local police team

Moves by London Mayor Boris Johnson to axe four Islington police sergeants and by the council to cut fourteen police community support officers have been condemned by local Liberal Democrats.

The loss of four sergeants is part of a London-wide review by the Metropolitan Police to cut costs which will see 150 fewer police sergeants across the capital.  The remaining Islington police sergeants will be expected to double up in eight parts of the borough.

There are also fears that new ‘flexibility’ will mean each of Islington’s sixteen local areas being left with just one police constable and one police community support officer on the beat.  Liberal Democrats on the London Assembly voted against the Mayor’s plans.

Labour councillors nodded through cuts to the council-funded police community support officers.  Fourteen PCSOs have now been laid off and no longer walking the streets of Islington.

St peter’s campaigner David Sant, said:

“We have already lost officers on the beat when the council axed fourteen community support officers.  Now the Mayor is taking another four police sergeants off the streets of Islington and St.Peter’s will have to share its sergeant.

“The moves to give the police extra ‘flexibility’ are especially dangerous.  This could mean local areas being left with just one police officer and a community support officer.  This is not acceptable when fear of crime is residents’ number one concern in Islington.

“Liberal Democrats are calling on the council to monitor the impact of these changes and if necessary plug the funding gap to ensure each area of Islington has enough police officers.”

Fact File

1. Safer Neighbourhood policing was introduced in Islington in 2005 as a localised approach to tackling crime and community safety issues.
2. There are 16 Safer Neighbourhood Teams in Islington each based on council wards.
3. Each Safer Neighbourhood Team consisted of 1 police sergeant, 2 constables and 3 police community support officers.
4. The Metropolitan Police Authority carried out a review of the Safer Neighbourhood Teams.  The proposals were agreed in June 2011.
5. The eight areas of Islington which will share a police sergeant across two wards are: Mildmay/Highbury East; Barnsbury/Caledonian; Junction/St.George’s; Canonbury/St.Peter’s.
6. In July 2010 the Labour council axed all 14 council-funded Police Community Support Officers.
7. The council-funded PCSOs were introduced by the then Liberal Democrat council as a direct result of the fatal stabbings of Martin Dinnegan and Nassirudeen Osawe in 2007.

Local Lib Dem campaigners have welcomed news that the UK Payments Council has reversed its decision to scrap cheques.

The campaign to save the cheque was led by Lib Dem MPs and was backed by thousands of people across the UK.

We want to say a huge thank you to all the local people who signed the Lib Dem petition to save the cheque.

” Being able to pay by cheque is especially important for our small businesses, community groups and older people here in the area. Cheques remain a popular way to pay for millions of people across the UK. Over a billion transactions were made by cheque last year alone.

“This is a great victory for people power and common sense, and proves that the banks cannot afford to ignore the views of their customers.”

Calls by local disabled campaigners for the council to get a grip on Islington’s ‘obstacle course’ high streets have been backed by local Liberal Democrats.

Disabled, elderly groups and parents using pushchairs and buggies have complained that some local businesses are making walking and mobility difficult by placing advertising boards on the pavement – sometimes even in the middle of the footway.

Islington Liberal Democrats are now calling on the council to carry out proper inspections of problem areas and work with traders to remove potential hazards. In the longer term, campaigners want to see keeping the pavement clear to be part of future licensing conditions for Islington businesses.

Local resident, Phil Stevens, said:

“Disabled people find these boards a real menace.  It’s impossible to get along the road easily when you have all these obstructions in the way.

“It’s difficult enough when you have a disability but all these advertising boards blocking your path make it almost Mission Impossible.  The number of boards plonked in the middle of the pavement is getting out of control.

“The council needs to get a grip and clear the pavements of clutter.  They now have the powers to take action and they should work with community groups to sort this problem out in partnership with local businesses.”

Islington Liberal Democrat Equalities Spokesperson, councillor Terry Stacy, said:

“Trying to walk down some of Islington’s high streets is like navigating an obstacle course.

“We all know local businesses are struggling in the recession and they need to advertise but this needs to be done sensitively.

“The disabled, elderly and parents with buggies deserve better than feeling like they’re on a racing track chicane dodging these boards.”

Fact File

1. Transport for London was, until recently, responsible for the enforcement of street furniture along roads it manages such as Upper Street and Holloway Road red routes.
2. Powers were transferred to Islington Council on April 1^st to allow local enforcement action along these streets.

1. At the council elections last May, Liberal Democrats came second to Labour in St.Peter’s ward. Labour scored a total of 6,290 votes, the Liberal Democrats 4,512 votes and the Conservatives came third again with 4,151 votes.
2. There were just 361 votes between the third Labour councillor elected and the Liberal Democrats on a record turnout of 64% of the electorate.
3. David is the only candidate todate that has stood in the ward before, most recently in May 2010, where he polled 1,530 votes
4. At the last council elections in May 2010, Labour won 35 seats and the Liberal Democrats 13 seats. There are no Conservative councillors in Islington.
5. David Sant is the only by-election candidate who lives in St.Peter’s ward; he lives in Rotherfield Street, and is a local school governor.

Islington Liberal Democrats have picked a local resident, for the by- election in St.Peter’s ward. The election has been caused by the
resignation of Labour councillor Shelley Coupland, who became the fourth Labour Councillor caught up in the expenses row.

David, who lives in Rotherfield Street, is the only candidate resident in St.Peter’s ward and he has never stood in any other ward in Islington. David stood for the Liberal Democrats in the council elections in St.Peter’s ward last year.

David is a lawyer by profession. He is a Londoner born and bread and has lived in Islington for over ten years. He got married locally at St John the Evangelist in Duncan Terrace and is a school governor at New North Community School in Popham Road.

As the only candidate who has stood in St.Peter’s ward previously, David has already helped many local residents with their issues. He now wants to carry on the fight to ensure that residents’ voices are heard by the Labour council.

David said,

“Residents feel let down by Labour after only 12 months in charge of the borough, we have seen Labour return to their old ways. Blaming everyone else for their incompetence, while they waste St Peter’s residents’ Council Tax on their pet projects. We need councillors who are more interested in standing up for our neighbourhood, instead of awarding themselves additional allowances, and employing more spin doctors”

Islington Liberal Democrat leader, Councillor Terry Stacy, said,

“David Sant will be an excellent councillor for St.Peter’s ward after the former Labour councillor had to resign in disgrace.

“He is the only candidate who lives in St.Peter’s ward so he knows the issues and the people already. He is not a carpet-bagger and only wants to represent his neighbours on the council.

“Only the Liberal Democrats can beat Labour in St.Peter’s and in Islington. We came second to Labour in St.Peter’s last year and there are no Tory councillors in Islington. With such a huge Labour majority on the council, local residents need and want a local campaigner committed to the local area and with a proven track record.”

The choice is simple on the 11th August – Local Resident DAVID SANT or Labour’s Cally Road Candidate.

Islington Liberal Democrats have welcomed the news that the Government will be handing control of millions of pounds of funding back to Islington.

Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, recently announced that councils will be given back control of business rates.  It is calculated that this move will mean that Islington Council can keep more than 80% of the revenue it collects and be able to spend it locally, compared with less than 50% currently.

Islington Council collected £161 million in business rates last year all of which was then passed to the Treasury, who gave the council back just £140 million in government grant funding.  This means that Whitehall kept more than £20 million collected from local businesses by the council.

Local Liberal Democrats have also warmly welcomed the announcement that councils will be given the freedom to borrow against future growth in their business rate income.  This could mean a significant boost to council coffers if the council can attract new businesses to the borough.

Islington Liberal Democrat Finance Spokesperson, councillor John Gilbert, said:

“This will be a significant step in returning power to local communities.  Islington is set to gain considerably from these new freedoms.

“I am also very pleased to see that there will be protection for more deprived areas – we have a cast iron assurance that no local authority will receive less funding than they do at the moment when the new rules are introduced.

“We had 13 years of endless interference from the previous control-freak Labour government.  All governments have just used councils as a cash collection service and then taken the cash off them.  These are major steps forward for genuine local control and choice. ”

Liberal Democrat councillors are demanding the council use some of its spare millions to tackle the recent knife crime epidemic in Islington.

In the last two months alone there have been six stabbings in Islington and knife crime is up by more than a third in the past year, according to police figures.  On 26^th June there was a fatal stabbing on the Andover Estate.

Liberal Democrats have highlighted several projects axed or reduced as part of the council’s recent budget cuts that could impact on knife crime in the borough:

• youth advice services
• youth work services
• police and community support officers at local schools
• parenting programmes
• youth offending team

In a letter to the Leader of the Council, Islington Liberal Democrats are now demanding the council uses some of the millions sitting in the council’s reserves to re-instate these services and fund other measures to tackle knife crime.  The council reported recently that it had spent £7million less than planned this past year.

Islington Liberal Democrat leader, councillor Terry Stacy, said:

“Labour promised that they would crack down on knife crime.  Yet in the last two months alone we have seen six stabbings in Islington and now one tragic knife-related killing.

“But while the council has said and done hardly anything about knife crime, the council has just announced it spent £7 million less than it planned to this past year on services such as community safety.

“I urge Labour councillors to respond to the community’s real fears that knife crime is spiralling out of control in Islington.  I am calling on the Leader of the Council to urgently release some of this money it is sitting on to tackle the scourge of knife crime in the borough.”

Nine thousand Islington households, including residents here in St Peter’s have had their recycling bins rummaged through by council officials since April, shock new figures have revealed.

Islington’s Labour councillors introduced a surprise compulsory recycling policy in April. Despite Labour politicians claiming the initiative would not lead to ‘bin snooping’, councillors were last week shown figures highlighting that in less than three months, 9,000 Islington residents’ recycling bins have been inspected by council officers. These residents will then be contacted by the council reminding them of their duty to recycle and fined if they do not.

Liberal Democrat campaigner David Sant said,

“The fact that thousands of local residents’ bins have been rummaged through in less than three months is extraordinary given that the council is saying that it’s hard up.

“To make matters worse, the council lavished £45,000 on a publicity campaign to promote this scheme but the Government has since announced that fining residents for not recycling properly will be illegal.

“Labours compulsory recycling in Islington has been an expensive waste of time. Labour councillors should concentrate on properly thought-through ways to boost recycling levels now that they have stalled on their watch. Rooting through people’s bins should not be the council’s priority right now.”