More Council spending should be done at a local level

It is wonderful when residents attend Council meetings to give their views on how their Council taxes are being spent.

What is sad though is that there are too few people attending meetings because the process seems to not want people to have their say. The Liberal Democrats are the only party in Ealing Borough to be proactive to want views and act up on them, raising these matters in Council meetings.

A great example of this is where the Labour party cut the number of local ward meetings (where local issues are discussed) from 4 to 2. The Southfield Liberal Democrats made a commitment to fund two additional meetings so we still have four meetings a year. In fact, we are the only party who have done this in our borough!

Some of the successes that we have shared and developed with residents include:

• New lighting across over half the ward.
• Stopped cuts to the local police team.
• Additional play equipment in local parks to encourage more children and adults to exercise and not put on weight.
• Working with local residents' groups and the police team to make the area safer and more attractive.
• Many initiatives to help support cyclists.
• Lighting across well used parks to reduce the attacks and the fear of crime particularly reported from women.
• 20 mph traffic scheme to reduce accidents to pedestrians, cyclists and car drivers.

One of the problems we face is that Labour-run Ealing Council has made cuts so that people are not consulted in a way that is acceptable to many. This is especially true of planning matters where many residents have not been informed apart from a notice on a lamppost away from where they live.

Liberal Democrats want to see more decisions taken locally at a ward level or clusters of wards. To do this, it would not require any more money, but simply the decision making powers are taken at a more appropriate level which means more residents can be involved in the decision making process.

The areas of decision making could be some of the following:

• Street lighting
• Pavement repairs 
• Road resurfacing
• Tree planting sites
• Improvements to parks
• Road safety schemes

This would lead to a greater openness. Many council decisions are taken in meetings that are either not public or not publicised. It would be great to open up Council meetings having a live feed for important meetings. Advertising should be looked at to see if this is feasible. Many local companies would pay if they knew a controversial debate was taking place about a planning issue or concerning a possible new Controlled Parking Zone scheme.

Liberal Democrats are proud that we constantly want to know what is important to residents and then act to improve our local area.

Liberal Democrats will treat vulnerable residents as a priority

In the run up to the local and European elections many residents in our seven town centres will be making the decision as to how they might vote.

The coalition government with Vince Cable’s assistance has turned around the economy with not only growth, lower levels of inflation and importantly more jobs.

Councillor Gary Malcolm

Locally while more people are gaining employment we see the current Labour administration continue to fail in a number of areas:

• Closing day centres which means that many profoundly disabled or other vulnerable residents will suffer
• Over the past few years it was reported that Ealing Council has fined residents £24 million in parking fines. Many residents contact me to say they were fined and when I investigate the cases I often find that they should not have received a parking ticket.
• Too many people are kept waiting to get through on the phone as well as being forced to use the internet for many services when some elderly residents do not have a computer
• Allowing our streets and parks to be un-swept and dirty. The recent re-negotiation means that the contractor gets the same money for doing less!

The Ealing Liberal Democrats have been active in making sure that we promise only what we can deliver. The Conservative party promise the earth and often do not follow through with positive actions.

One example was where the Conservative party in Ealing have twice refused to sign up to measures that would reduce the number of deaths for cyclists. Liberal Democrats want to see our streets safer for all users. Sadly this does not appear to be true for the Conservatives who will allow dangerous trucks to be on our roads.

Alongside the backdrop of the elections is the need to continue the campaign to protect our hospitals that residents across the borough use. Having saved the Accident & Emergency wards in Charing Cross and Ealing hospitals we need to carry on the fight.

So the Labour party have failed in Ealing. What would my party, the Liberal Democrats do? We have our published manifesto but a summary is listed here:

• Freeze Council Tax for the next four years
• Invest more in our roads and pavements
• Remove the garden tax and improve recycling facilities
• Sell the Southall car park to fund vital projects
• Protect our day centres
• Get our streets and parks clean, free from uncollected waste
• Make the Council easier to contact

Ealing Council has been selling off our day centres, left our streets and park s dirty and charged for collecting our garden waste. The Liberal Democrats will be tough as nails, with contractors who are providing a poor service and we will freeze Council Tax for the next four years to give some stability to residents' finances.

We are the only party who treat our vulnerable residents with a priority.

Only the Liberal Democrats would sort the waste contractor out and only a Liberal Democrat Council would be cleaner, safer and fairer.