Cheltenham Liberal Democrats

THE DECISION TO DOWNGRADE THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT AT CHELTENHAM GENERAL has been 'rushed and careless' according to Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood, who raised the issue today in Prime Minister's Questions. This follows the vote by local councillors on the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee yesterday to back the permanent overnight diversion of 'blue light' admissions to Gloucester. Conservative councillors from across the county voted down a bid by the two Liberal Democrat committee members to ask for the changes to be temporary while other options were explored. The meeting was then followed almost immediately by a joint statement from the Hospitals Trust (Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) and the new GP-led Clinical Commissioning Group announcing the changes would go ahead.

"We welcome today's announcement that work will start next week on surface dressing our county roads. We recognise this particular surface treatment to be the most economical way of sealing cracks and reducing the formation of potholes.

There is however a back-log of roads in which surface dressing may not be appropriate. Those roads that have already deteriorated go beyond surface dressing and need actual repair.

Gloucestershire County Council will vigorously defend the decision to refuse planning permission for a massive waste incinerator at Javelin Park, Gloucester. This is the outcome of a debate led by Liberal Democrat Cllr. Jeremy Hilton (Kingsholm & Wotton) at the first meeting of the new county council earlier today.

Gloucestershire County Council has weighed into the debate about the government's controversial plans to cull badgers in an effort to tackle bovine TB in cattle.

The Government is taking forward proposals for two pilot badger culls, including an area in Gloucestershire, to begin from the beginning of June.

Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood has condemned David Cameron's declaration today that Britain needs to replace the Trident nuclear deterrent. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, the Prime Minister cited the 'evolving threat' from North Korea among other reasons to spend £20 billion on like-for-like replacement of Trident, which could ultimately cost closer to £100 billion over its whole lifetime. Martin, who also chairs the Liberal Democrat parliamentary party's international affairs committee, has warned that Mr Cameron's comments pre-empt the cost-effectiveness study insisted on by Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Agreement.

Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood has issued the following statement on today's Budget: 'It's a great Budget for local jobs - with a huge new investment in infrastructure and really significant breaks for local firms in corporation tax and national insurance, plus a real boost for regional spending to help business.

THE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND (CPRE) has issued a powerful report warning that the way government planning policies are being implemented is undermining the coalition's stated commitment to localism. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was adopted by government last year and was hailed at the time as a victory for the green agenda. But today's CPRE report warns that 'the Localism Act has not resulted in more local control over planning decisions and that the NPPF is being interpreted primarily as a means to justify releasing more land for market housing. Development is increasingly being allowed to spread into precious countryside, with little provision of affordable housing and in the face of opposition from local communities."

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has closed the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference in Brighton by calling on members to spread the message of the Party's commitment in Government to deliver a stronger economy and a fairer society.

In his keynote Leader's speech, Nick paid tribute to the work of the Party in winning the Eastleigh by-election, beating the Conservatives into third place and squeezing Labour while campaigning on the Lib Dem record of delivering in Government.