We realise that we will not be the ruling party on Bassetlaw District Council after the elections in May but here are the local issues we will fight to have implemented for the people of the area.

2 hours free car parking in all Bassetlaw District Council car parks.

Bassetlaw’s shopping areas are having to compete with Meadowhall, Lakeside in Doncaster & MacArthur Gen near Mansfield, all of which give free car parking. We need to encourage people onto our local shopping areas so that the shops & other businesses in the areas can thrive. The Council need to stop looking at car park fees as a cash cow and, by matching the free car parking offer, help revitalise our local retail economy

Town Councils for Worksop & Retford

Across Bassetlaw, local communities have Local, Parish or Town, Councils that run their local amenities, have a say in local planning and help decide the future for themselves. These councils cost the local resident a few pounds a year extra on their Council tax and in return offer a local voice for dealing with local problems.

It is time for the residents both Worksop & Retford to get the same rights as the other communities across the District and have a bigger say in what happens in their own town, it is time for Town Councils for both Retford & Worksop.

No Fracking or other Unconventional Gas extraction in Bassetlaw

Bassetlaw Liberal Democrats are opposed to any developments in the area that are linked to Fracking or other types of Unconventional Gas extraction. We have campaigned against Fracking both locally (though helping to set up the non-political Bassetlaw Against Fracking Group) and across the East Midlands Region (by getting a strong anti-fracking policy adopted by the Regional Lib Dem Party). It is dangerous to the local environment & water supplies and it will not provide local jobs. Bassetlaw doesn’t need fracking and our District Council should, like other around the country, make a stand against it.

Economic Development in the area

Bassetlaw is blessed with fantastic connections to the rest of the country with the A1 running through it and with the M1 & M18 close by. We are also on the East Coast Main Line and can be in London or Newcastle in under 1¾ hours. We also have some of the cheapest housing in the region.

We need to use this to bring economic development into the area. We have many derelict or under developed site that can be used for this without encroaching on greenfield sites. We should try to bring in more “Hi-Tech” industries to help keep our brightest & best young people in the town instead of seeing far too many of them leave Bassetlaw in search of better job prospects.

More affordable housing and better use of existing housing stock

As well as needing economic development, we need to build more houses in the District. However we must make sure that any developments include social housing and affordable homes so that young families can afford to stay in the area. Also rather than build these new developments on greenfield sites, more should be done to use empty plots within existing towns and villages. We also believe the District Council should make better use of the powers it has to bring empty dwellings (and at the last count there are over 2400 in Bassetlaw) back into use as family homes

 

This year we are standing candidates in the Blyth, East Retford West, Everton, Ranskill, Sutton & Welbek Wards. For more details on the candidates see their pen portraits at Candidates 2015.

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