Brentwood & Ongar Liberal Democrats

In Pilgrims Hatch, despite residents and councillors calling for action rubbish is left strewn around the area.

Cllrs David Kendall and Vicky Davies have demanded the council removes items as a matter of urgency, in particular:

• Harewood Road where there is a mattress, blankets and an assortment of other rubbish.
• In Sandringham road there are soiled baby's nappies blowing in the wind presenting an environmental hazard.
• Cllr David kendall said:
• "It is disgraceful that the council has not automatically cleared the area and we have demanded this is done without delay."

A Brentwood Gazette investigation into the casework raised by councillors has shown some pretty impressive statistics for Lib Dem councillors and some very poor results for the borough's Tories.

Casework records reveal that Conservative councillors, on average, have raised 14 cases each over nine months compared to 38 for the Lib Dems.

Liberal Democrat councillors have condemned the pay bonanza for top staff at Essex County Council.

The Liberal Democrats, who are the main opposition to the Council's ruling Conservatives, have uncovered shocking figures which show that the number of Council employees (excluding school staff) paid £80,000 or more has nearly doubled in a year.

The news that Brentwood will no longer be sharing joint Chief Executive Joanna Killian with Essex County Council has been welcomed by Lib Dem leader Cllr David Kendall and his colleagues on the Borough Council. The controversial County Partnership was supported by both Conservative and Labour councillors.

Here are just six examples of the effect Liberal Democrat MPs are having in government:

• Lifting a million of the poorest workers out of tax and cutting taxes: not for the rich but for 23 million basic rate taxpayers;
• Making the well off pay their share by raising Capital Gains Tax; a new £10bn bank levy and keeping the 50p top rate of tax;
• The most generous rise in the state pension for a generation;
• A revolution in the way we support the children who need help the most when it matters the most, in the crucial early years and throughout their school lives;
• More apprenticeships than Britain has ever had before;
• And from this April, the Youth Contract, an ambitious £1bn programme to make sure every 18 to 24-year-old has the opportunity to earn or learn.

2011 saw Brentwood North Lib Dem Cllrs successfully persuade the Highways Committee to approve extended residents parking hours until 9pm. This is important as we need to ensure that residents living on North Road Avenue can park their cars upon arriving home late when the William Hunter Way Development has been built.

As the refurbished clock was unveiled in Brentwood High Street on Wednesday (25/1/12) it was great to see that Jill Hubbard, former Lib Dem councillor for Warley, was there to see it happen.

It was Jill who saw the clock lying in a sorry state at the Council's Depot in Warley, alerted the press and asked for it to be returned to it's rightful place in the High Street.

Further to the Brentwood Gazette's claim that Brentwood North's Cllr James Sapwell is considering joining the Conservatives, Cllr Sapwell has issued the following statement:

"In light of the puzzling tip off - presumably recieved from the Conservatives - and published in the Brentwood Gazette today, I wish to confirm my 100% committment to the Liberal Democrats and their commitment to Brentwood.

The decision by Cllr Nigel Clarke to leave the Liberal Democrats and defect to the Conservatives has left me and many of his former friends and colleagues feeling very let down and disappointed because we have worked closely with him and supported him over a number of years and shared many highs and lows.