Newcastle upon Tyne Liberal Democrats

We believe that the Labour Council in Newcastle was elected last year largely because of national factors, and it's taking our city backwards.

• Back to the days of decisions being taken in secret.
• Back to top-down, unaccountable, partisan politics
• Back to a lack of leadership on economic development
• Back to the days when the last Labour Council ignored environmental sustainability

Councillor Sarah Cross has welcomed proposals from the coalition government to remove tax breaks for second home-owners. Currently, Councils are legally obliged to give a second home council tax discount of up to 50%. The Government plan to end this benefit which will affect nearly a quarter of a million people, forcing them to pay hundreds of pounds more a year in council tax.

There have been ongoing problems with anti social fires, underage drinking and other anti-social behaviour acrossDentonwhich are of great concern to residents and councillors. The Council has been approached on a number of occasions asking for more closed circuit television cameras to be installed.

Councillor Sarah Cross says: "I am pleased to say that theDenton ward Committee has agreed to contribute funds towards the purchase of replacement redeployable cctv units for shared use in the wards in the outer west of the city with the ability to transmit images live to the 24 hour control centre at the civic centre. There will also be scope for extra cctv units based on each ward's needs."

Letting Boards Latest

Regular readers will know that we have been campaigning for some time to stop the streets of Jesmond being defaced by the scourge of multiple letting boards, left up for months on end - and that the council is finally taking steps to deal with the matter.

Councillor Breakey attended the most recent meeting. He comments: "I was grateful to those residents, student representatives and local landlords who took the time to attend. We were able to make it clear - and this was supported by representatives from all of the relevant groups - that the preferred solution is to have no letting boards unless planning permission has been granted. This is the option which council officers are now working on.

In the last North Jesmond Focus we were pleased to report a large increase in financial support for Operation Oak from Newcastle University. We can now report that Northumbria University has agreed to double its annual contribution from £4,000 to £8,000. Peter Breakey writes: " We have had a productive series of meetings with the universities. It was very helpful that representatives from the JRA (Jesmond Residents
Association) and GANRA (the Grosvenor Avenue Residents Association) were there too.

The current economic environment does not allow the Labour Party to tax and spend as they have generally done in the past - often recklessly. This year they were forced to make some cuts. The result will be a reduction in some services and an increase in many costs.

Clearly savings had to be made, but the Lib Dems proposed a series of budget amendments which would have meant no charges for brown bins and no reduction in the Park Ranger service. We would have cut far less from the Neighbourhood Services budget. To help pay for our proposals, we would have cut the council's energy bills, got rid of a hugely expensive senior management post and cut the money which the council pays to fund trade union activities.

Local action has saved the sauna in the Outer West Pool. A petition was raised by local people against the proposed closure. The council had wanted to turn the space into a dance studio instead.

"Funding from West Denton Ward Committee and other neighbouring wards has supported an alternative plan" says Denton Councillor Sarah Cross. A customer user group supported by officers and Councillors identified an alternative scheme to refurbish the existing provision and to convert an adjoining community room into a dance multi- use studio.

Dangers to Children in our Area

Dog fouling continues to be a real problem. People don't seem to realise that children can go blind as a result of contact with dog mess. New measures are being taken by Council staff to identify dog owners who don't clear it up, warn them of the penalties and prosecute them. Fines of £1000 can be faced by people who fail to clear it up.

On 3rd May you also have the chance to vote in a referendum for an elected mayor for Newcastle. Denton Activist Kevin Brown says: "An elected mayor is the wrong approach for Newcastle - it puts too much power in the hands of one person, it costs much more and there's just no evidence that mayors perform better for their areas.

The Labour Council's hamfisted proposals for housing development in the city - approved for consultation in secret - have been the subject of huge opposition by residents with thousands of letters and signatures on petitions, forcing the council to scale back plans for building on the Green Belt.

They have mysteriously discovered scope for extra homes in "brownfield" site areas but they still propose to build over 5500 homes in the Green Belt over the next 20 years. Labour has been forced to reduce the scale of the huge proposed Callerton Park "Strategic Growth Area" from 4000 homes to 2500-3000 homes by 2030. This was after after thousands complained about adverse impact on wildlife; loss of recreation amenity; impact on the existing road network and increased congestion, whilst putting existing services, infrastructure and facilities under pressure; increased pollution; the detrimental impact on village/local character and identity. They are also now proposing to reduce development east of Walbottle School Campus to around 700 homes "to be delivered in the long term". Other elements are some sites discounted in Gosforth and Lemington, but others retained in Throckley (north and south) and additional capacity proposed in Newbiggin Hall.