walton 300
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FOCUS www.peterboroughlibdems.org.uk
WALTON RESIDENTS' NEWSLETTER
CONTACT FOCUS
By phone: Call local Liberal Democrat councillors Nick Sandford – 01733 268460 – or Asif Shaheed on 0792 951 3865. By post: Cllr Nick Sandford or Cllr Asif Shaheed, Town Hall, Bridge St, Peterborough PE1 1HG By e-mail: nick.sandford@ Peterborough.gov.uk or asif.shaheed@ peterboroughlibdems.org.uk Or at the councillor ‘surgery': 6:00 to 7:00 pm, first Friday of every month in Community Centre, Mountsteven Avenue.
FIND US ON FACEBOOK: Search for ‘Walton FOCUS team’
Cinema Central Walton's community cinema
Every other Friday Voyager School
Check Walton Focus Team Facebook page for programme news
Gunthorpe Friendship Club
for older people
Wednesdays at Paston and Gunthorpe Community Centre
Contact: Miriam on 01733 564 185 or
Adelene on 01733 575 762
Issue 300
300 EDITIONS OF FOCUS! This is the 300th edition of FOCUS, your local community newsletter
which has been serving the Walton ward for almost 30 years. We wondered how to celebrate the 300th edition. A glossy full colour issue
perhaps? A high profile celebrity endorsement?
But in our regular surveys, local people tell us they like FOCUS just as it is. So
let’s just consider a few facts:
FOCUS is the only community newsletter delivered regularly across the
Walton ward.
It is produced by the Lib Dems but is delivered entirely by volunteers about
ten or eleven times throughout the year.
We do include some political content but most of FOCUS is about local
news and about how your local Lib Dem councillors are working to
improve the area.
We are pleased to advertise and support local voluntary services and events
whenever we can.
You only get leaflets from the Conservatives when there is an election on -
and Labour hardly bothers at all.
All in all, we think it is a record of service and action second to none. We hope
you agree but please let us know if you have any ideas or suggestions for future
editions.
Walton Lib Dems pick Nick for 3 May Local Liberal Democrats have chosen popular local councillor Nick Sandford to be our
candidate in Walton in the city council elections on Thursday 3 May. Nick is leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on the council and has served as Walton
councillor for 16 years. He works for the Woodland Trust and has a particular interest in
environmental issues. Over the years has been a strong champion for improving the environment
in Walton: pressing the council hard on such issues as local bus services, the state of the
pavements, damage to grass verges and traffic noise.
Fellow Walton councillor Asif Shaheed said: “Nick and I work really well together and I hope
local people will elect him again to continue serving them. Walton is a great area to live and we
need councillors who will work hard for the ward and stand up for the rights of local people.”
Nick added: “It is an honour to serve the people of Walton. The Lib Dems have spoken out
against wasteful expenditure by the Tory council on such things as waste incinerators, water
taxis and other pet projects. We called for a freeze in the Council Tax - but the Tories put it up.”
Local Lib Dems have selected Nick Sandford as their candidate for the city council elections on 3 May.
LOCAL ISSUES
AND ACTION Local Lib Dem councillor
Nick Sandford has received
complaints about the
development on the site of the
old Royal Oak in Lincoln Road.
Residents in Arundel Road
find that the new houses (some
of which are three storeys high)
will have large rear windows
looking into the gardens of their
properties. One resident said to
Nick: “It will completely take
away my privacy.”
Planning permission was
granted nearly five years ago
but the developers have not
implemented it until now. Nick
is looking into what can be done
to address people’s concerns.
An elderly resident in
Lincoln Road found that
visitors who were coming by car
to help her with her shopping
had difficulty in exiting safely
onto the main road. Lib Dem
councillor Nick Sandford has
persuaded the council to put up
a warning sign.
Here’s a great app for
smartphone users!
‘Fix my street’ allows you to
take a photograph of any issues
in your area such as graffiti or
an out of order street light and
e-mail it straight to the relevant
council department.
Your e-mail will be
acknowledged and the council
will request feedback once the
work is complete. This means
there's usually a quick
turnaround on problems raised!
If you want more information
please contact local Lib Dem
councillor Asif Shaheed.
Local Lib Dem councillor
Nick Sandford has been asked
by shop keepers in Warwick
Road if a sign could be put up
in Arundel Road telling drivers
that the shops are there.
Any boost to trade in these
difficult times would be very
welcome. Nick has asked the
neighbourhood manager to see
if funds can be found for this.
.
WALTON FUNDS ‘STOLEN’? In a recent edition of FOCUS we revealed how the developers of the
Brotherhood Retail Park on Lincoln Road are contributing nearly £1 million
towards local services through what is called a Section 106 agreement with the
city council. Or at least that is what we thought….. Local Lib Dem councillor Nick Sandford has had a number of concerns expressed to
him about the potential for massively increased traffic from the new development,
which will include a large new Marks and Spencer store. Nick challenged the council’s
head of planning to tell him how the £1 million from the developer will be spent.
The good news is that some of it could go towards replacing or upgrading the
Rhubarb Bridge which spans the roundabout junction between the parkway, Lincoln
Road and Bourges Boulevard.
But Nick was shocked to find that much of the £1 million may not be spent in Walton
at all.
£450,000 is being allocated to help improve the city centre. Of the remaining
£500,000, 65 per cent will go to ‘city-wide strategic projects’, which could include
highway schemes in other parts of the city. That leaves about £175,000 which will be
spent by the Northern Area Committee….but this covers Walton and three other wards.
So…wait for it….only around £40,000 may actually be spent in Walton.
Nick said: “Once again our Tory council is trying to divert money which should have
come to Walton into projects in the city centre and other parts of Peterborough. Local
people can be sure that my fellow Lib Dem councillor Asif Shaheed and I will be
fighting this as hard as we can to ensure that Walton gets its fair share of the money.”
YOUR VIEWS IGNORED Towards the end of last year, pressure from Nick Sandford and the Lib Dems
forced the Tory-run city council to think again about its scheme to remove over
a third of the trees in Bridge Street in the city centre. A council scrutiny committee asked it to run the public consultation again, using
fairer and less biased questions. The results of the new survey showed just under 60 per
cent of people responding wanted to keep the trees. On top of this, 200 people signed a
petition pleading with the council to save the trees from the chop.
But did our council listen to people’s views? Of course it didn’t and at the beginning
of March twelve large healthy trees were cut down, ground up and disposed of - at a
cost to local tax payers of over £13,000.
Nick commented: “This is now no longer an issue about trees …. it’s about how our
Tory council carries out sham consultations and then ignores what people say. That’s
what has made many people across the city so angry - and with every justification.”
Printed by P’boro Lib Dem Printing Soc c/o 37 Swift Close, Deeping St James PE6 8QQ. Published and promoted for and on behalf of the Liberal Democrats by Peter Chivall, 88 Elmfield Rd, P’boro PE1 4HB