Extracts from UKIP Local Election Manifesto 2014

COMMON SENSE POLICIES

UKIP stands for much more than opposition to the European Union.

Government at local, national and European level has become too remote. The political class have forgotten they work for us.

Bureaucrats and professional politicians have taken over and the people are too often ignored.

UKIP will bring back power to the people. Decisions will be made locally, common sense policies will make people’s lives easier and government will do what is needed, but no more.

6 UKIP PRIORITIES

1. Local referendums

It's time to bring power back to the people. So major decisions should be subject to binding local referendums if the people demand it. On the petition of 5% of the population within 3 months, major planning and service provision decisions should be put to a local vote.

2. Regain control over development

Our housing, education, health and social services cannot cope with

constantly rising numbers of people coming to live and work here. The government is now riding rough-shod over local people’s wishes with mass house building that has become a ‘Developers’ Charter’ - without the new services to go with it.

3. Prioritising services for local people

We must end benefit and health tourism and give priority to local people for housing, education, health and social services. In planning, the local people's opinions should be respected and not overruled.

4. Moving government closer to the people

We will provide incentives to encourage enterprise, attract jobs and regenerate town centres, including developing empty properties and brown-field sites to meet local housing needs.

5. Spending our money at home

Our membership of the EU costs £55m a day – and another £23m a day goes out in foreign aid – while jobs, services and benefits are being cut at home. UKIP believes that we should save that money to help rebuild our debt-ridden economy.

6. Fighting crime and anti-social behaviour

Britain's communities suffer from an unacceptable level of crime and anti-social behaviour. We should overhaul the system to make sentences meaningful, rehabilitate offenders, deport foreign criminals, free up the police from excessive form-filling and tackle nuisance neighbours and anti-social behaviour.

UKIP Councillors are expected to follow the best interests of their constituents.

They do not just toe the party line, as the other parties do.

Democracy:

Introduce binding local planning referendums on major decisions, such as out-of-town or large-scale supermarket developments, wind turbines, incinerators, solar farms, major housing developments and transport schemes like HS2.

Economy and Enterprise:

Reduce tax and business costs to stimulate the local economy.

Make it easier for smaller and local businesses to tender for local authority contracts.

Environment, Planning and Housing:

Reduce the pressure on housing by ending open-door immigration.

Oppose the bedroom tax, but provide incentives to re-use empty homes.

Protect our green spaces by directing new housing and business developments to brown-field sites.

Stop preferential treatment to special groups such as travellers - rules should apply equally to us all.

Education:

Improve access to quality local education and create more grammar schools and technical skills colleges, encourage vocational apprenticeships, give parents the right to choose where their children go to school, protect rural schools and support home schooling.

Public Health and Social Care:

Put local communities at the heart of health care.

Oppose health tourism and cuts to front-line doctors, surgeons, dentists and nurses, but reduce the number of managers and executives.

Transport and Roads:

Improve road maintenance as a priority.

Mending potholes should take priority over council vanity schemes.

Upgrade public transport, especially maintaining and reinstating rural bus routes that many communities depend on and which feed town-centre businesses and markets.

Increase provision of free parking to regenerate town centres and boost business.

Oppose any introduction of tolling on our roads and motorways.

Bin Collection:

We are opposed to the loss of weekly bin collections and will restore it in councils where the majority of residents seek for it to be returned.

Culture and Heritage:

Preserve our public libraries and develop a local buildings listing programme to allow communities to protect buildings of local importance.

Safer Communities:

Keep real police officers on the beat and stop the

scrapping of front-line police jobs.

Adopt a zero tolerance approach to anti-social

behaviour and crack down on nuisance neighbours.

Energise the voluntary sector: UKIP believes that the best decisions are decisions that are made locally. Community groups and volunteers are often better placed to run facilities and services than the State. By ensuring that these groups are supported, empowered and energised much more can be achieved.

Here are just some of the ways we will save your money:

·       Cut councillors’ excessive allowances and expenses.

·       Slash excessive pay deals for senior council staff.

·       Limit the number of highly-paid council employees.

·       Cut the councils’ advertising and self-promotion budgets.

·       Build partnerships to reduce costs.

·       Abolish non-essential and politically-correct jobs and red  tape.

·       Leave the EU and save £55 million every day.

·       Drop the EU Landfill Directive to cut refuse disposal costs.

·       Control immigration to ease the burden on local services.

·       Close unnecessary central government departments and quangos.

·       End wasteful EU and UK subsidies to ‘renewable energy scams such as wind turbines and solar farms.

·       Require all visitors to show adequate health insurance at the point of entry into the UK.

·       Make it easier for schools to sack bad teachers.

·       Reduce bureaucracy in the education system.

·       Sell unused state-owned property and assets.

·       Oppose EU directives adding artificial and detrimental costs.

Published and promoted by Stephen Crowther on behalf of the UK Independence Party,

Lexdrum House, Unit 1, King Charles Business Park, Heathfield, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ12 6UT.

Printed by Printbridge, 16 Castle Street, Bodmin, PL31 2DU.

A £50,000 Election Bribe (and a waste of money)

As promised – a blog post about the £50,000 which is going to be spent on a Village Make Over.

Prior to the article appearing in the Bolton News on Thursday 27^th February, there had been no hint or mention of this proposal. It hadn’t even been worthy of a mention at the Area Forum on the 3^rd February although all three Labour Councillors knew all about it.

This is the text of the Bolton News article:-

A VILLAGE high street is to get a £50,000 makeover.

Bolton Council bosses will spend the money supporting schemes in Little Lever as part of this year’s action plan.

New block paving, costing £33,200, will be installed in Market Street, on the precinct side of the road.

It will match the repaving, which was carried out between Haywood Street and the library just over four years ago.

An £11,500 traffic island will be installed in Stopes Road to make the road easier for pedestrians to cross. It will mean the road will be made narrower to improve safety by encouraging motorists to drive my slowly.

In addition, £3,912 will be spent on replacing the benches in the town’s precinct with new, more durable seats, and £1,000 will be spent on the refurbishment of cast iron bins.

Cllr Maureen Connell said: “We are always trying to make the centre pleasant for the people who live in Little Lever.

“Stopes Road is such a wide crossing that people don’t like using it very much, so I think the traffic island will make a big difference to the safety of our residents.

“When I’m out and about in Little Lever, people have said to me ‘We could use some new benches’ and I agree with them, which is why we’re bringing these new benches in.”

Cllr Anthony Connell added: “Stopes Road is quite a dangerous place. There are cars racing through and it needed to be made narrower. As for Market Street, the resurfacing of the pavement will improve the safety of the public, as block paving is less slippery.

“We have had funding for years to enhance the centre of Little Lever. Hopefully this is a long-term investment and we have spent the money as best as we can.”

Other projects being included in the Little Lever plan are the installation of drainpipes in the Market Street precinct, a general clean-up of the precinct and small scale improvements, such as replacing drainpipes.

The area gets the cash every other year from Bolton Council’s District Centre Improvement Fund — Horwich, Westhoughton and Farnworth also get a share of the money.

Other work that has recently taken place in recent years includes installation of the Little Lever Manufacturing Arch at the Memorial Gardens and some new bins and bollards.

Little Lever is the smallest town or village centre in the borough, with a population of 12,799.

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Alongside this article were comments from shopkeepers.

Michael Howarth (Managing Director of Howarth’s Jewellers) – “I think the money should go towards regenerating the shops in Little Lever. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the pavement in my opinion”

Liam Barber (of Village Barbers) :- I don’t think it’s needed. Where’s the money to do up places for children instead of them hanging around outside here all night?”

Luke Brabin: - I’d give the money to people who really need it – the council areas like council estates need doing up”

Christine Fitzsimmons (Manager of Bolton Windows store):- It’s just a waste of money. It will probab;y look more aesthetically pleasing, but more money should be spent on keeping the whole of Little Lever clean. Business rates should go down as well. The rents are too high”

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The article prompted me to write the following letter to the Bolton News which they duly printed with minor editing.

Dear Sir,

With a sleight of hand worthy of a conjurer, Councillors Mr and Mrs Connell produce £50,000 from our cash strapped Council to spend on tarting up the Village Centre and some traffic management on Stopes Rd.

This District Centre Improvement fund last saw the light of day in 2009 but the tranche due in 2011 was axed due to economies.

In 2009 there was much debate in community forums about how the money should be spent resulting in a Presentation at the Area Forum. The decision however had already been made and 63% of the money available was spent on ripping up a perfectly serviceable tarmac pavement and replacing it with block paving.

At that time Councillor Connell stated it would cost in excess of £70,000 to do the same on the Precinct side of the road.

This time round there has been no consultation and no debate. The subject didn’t even warrant a mention at the Area Forum a mere three weeks ago. As with other Forum expenditure it is apparently all done behind closed doors nowadays.

Half the width of the pavement as well as the drainpipes are private property, so I assume that after years of stating that the Council can’t spend money on private property they have now changed their minds.

In any event, it’s a waste of money at a time when so many other useful things could be done with it.

It could perhaps have been better spent on supporting the Little Lever Playgroup on Victory Rd which is now closing down. This is on parkland owned by the Council and they want it back.

A cynic might say this is so they can sell it to Tesco as the location for their much mooted petrol station.

Another cynic might say that the Local Elections are only twelve weeks away and Labour are running scared.

Paul Richardson

Ripon Close

Little Lever.

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I was still puzzled as to where this money had come from since as far as I knew the District Centres Improvement fund had been scrapped in 2010 as part of the cuts. Consequently I e-mailed the Finance Director.

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Dear Mr Arnfield

Please forgive my impertinence in bringing the following to you attention and seeking some clarification.

The Bolton News this week carried a large article on the sum of £50,000 to be spent on Little Lever Village Centre and some traffic calming on Stopes Rd.

The Bolton News identified the source of this money as been the District Centre Improvement Fund.

Little Lever last received monies from this fund in 2009 but I was under the impression that for reason of economies this fund was scrapped after the 2010 allocations.

Try as I might I can find no trace of a Report regarding the re-institution of this Fund on the Council website.

In any event, if the money is actually from a re-instituted DCIF, since such monies can only be spent within the Village Centre Boundaries, it could not be spent on Stopes Rd.

If the money is not from DCIF then the question arises ‘Where is it from?’ since under the present budget constraints I cannot envisage such an amount being budgeted for such a low priority purpose.

There is a possibility of course that this is Section 106 money. If so, it cannot be from a Little Lever development since the Cricketers View £90,000 has been spent on the Meccano Bridge and the Tesco £30,000 isn’t yet due to be paid.

The question would then arise upon whose authority was Sec 106 money diverted from its source area to be spent in Little Lever and why.

Perhaps you could clarify this.

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I then got this reply.

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Dear Mr Richardson

Thank you for your email.  Mr Arnfield has now left Bolton Council therefore your email has been passed to the Borough Treasurer, Sue Johnson.

On the 24^th February 2014 a report titled Little Lever  Town Centre action plan was approved by Executive Cabinet Member - Leader's Portfolio.  I have attached a link to the report for your ease:

http://www.democracy.bolton.gov.uk/cmis5/Meetings/tabid/73/ctl/ViewMeetingPublic/mid/410/Meeting/12371/Committee/3154/Default.aspx

The funding for this particular scheme was part of a separate allocation approved as part of the budget 2013/14.  I can confirm that DCIF has not been reintroduced and that the scheme has not been funded using S106 monies.

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I can only conclude that this money has been spirited up as an Election bribe by the Labour Councillors after 4 yrs of doing nothing for the Village.

The problems remain as follows:-

• That part of the pavement which lies under the Precinct canopies is private land and not adopted as a highway.

• Since the Council cannot spend money on private property, I assume that this part of the pavement will not be block paved.

• This is the part of the pavement that is actually in disrepair.

• The public highway part of the pavement which I assume is that which is going to be blockpaved  is in good condition and doesn’t need replacing.

• Since it cost £31,000 in 2009 to block pave a smaller area of pavement across the road, it is difficult to see how this much larger area can be block paved for £33,000.

• As with most things emanating from the Council, it just hasn’t been thought through. 

Promoted by Edith D Sexton, 69 Chester Ave, BL3 1XE on behalf of  Paul Richardson, 24 Ripon Close BL3 1EQ

Rydal Rd - A complete re-surface required ?

With living on the Racecourse Estate, I’ve never had much occasion to drive down Rydal Rd which runs parallel to Church St between Dearden St and Fearneyside.

    

However, when I did go down there the other week I was taken aback by the state of the road surface.

Notwithstanding the speed ramps which were put there some time back, the rest of the road is either potholed or badly patched up.

It struck me that the £19,200 Highways budget allocated to the Area Forum for 2013-2015 wouldn’t even sort this one street out. This is why we need more of our £5million per year Council Tax back for us to decide what it is spent on.

This road is already used as a bit of a rat-run to avoid trying to get out of Dearden St, something that may increase when Lever St is made one-way.

(Even Eric Hyde hasn’t been seen looking into this.)

Joking apart, this needs sorting. We shouldn’t have road surfaces like this in Little Lever in the 21^st Century.

             Promoted by Edith D Sexton, 69 Chester Ave, BL3 1XE on behalf of  Paul Richardson, 24 Ripon Close BL3 1EQ

The Two Faces of Bolton

We are constantly reminded in the Bolton News and Bolton Scene of the wonderful things which are happening to the town at the behest of the Labour Council and in particular the Department of Development & Regeneration. (Chief Honcho – Mr Keith Davies)

·        The new Cinema and Restaurants at the (nearly empty) Market Place

·        The new £48m bus station behind St Pat’s. (a further 500yds from the Market)

·        The changing of Newport St to a European Boulevard (no doubt so the East European beggars will feel more at home, our home grown wino’s can share in the European joy of drinking outside and shoppers will be able to dine al fresco on Gregg’s Pasties)

·        The £4.8m refurb of the ‘award winning’ Bolton Market (see above)

·        Etcetera –etcetra –etcetera.

Mr Davies in fact has been recently awarded an Honorary Degree by Bolton University for his 'Contribution to the town of Bolton'

Whilst all these projects are no doubt laudable, for visitors to reach them they have to pass by some sights which the Council is keen not to mention.

Perhaps I could point some of them out.

 
 

Perhaps it is best summed up by this Advert on the side of the Hen & Chickens Pub

More about the state of Bolton in a later Blog Post

Promoted by Edith D Sexton, 69 Chester Ave, BL3 1XE on behalf of  Paul Richardson, 24 Ripon Close BL3 1EQ