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Give us our hospitals back!
Restore services at hospitals throughout East Lancashire, including the Accident and Emergency unit at Burnley General Hospital.
  Lib Dem TV


Manchester Rail Link Boost

Last Updated (Tuesday, 30 November 1999 00:00) Written by Martyn Hurt Thursday, 02 October 2008 10:29

Direct rail links between Burnley and Manchester got another boost on Thursday when the Lib Dem shadow Transport Secretary Norman Baker MP called for the re-instatement of the Todmorden Curve.
 
Burnley Council leader Gordon Birtwistle and other Lib Dem leaders from across the North West met party leader Nick Clegg and Baker on Thursday morning to discuss rail links.
 
Mr Baker said, "Passengers across the country and in Burnley deserve a better railway. But instead of investing in re-opening lines and building new stations, this Government is tinkering at the edges with a few extra carriages while cutting funding for the railways and pushing for higher fares.
 
"We propose that longer, rolling franchises are introduced so that it makes obvious financial sense to the rail companies to invest in re-opening lines like the Todmorden Curve instead of the fare payer having to foot the bill."
 
Progress towards re-establishing the link, just a few hundred yards of abandoned track, was made this summer after cost estimates were revised downwards.
 
Burnley Council leader Gordon Birtwistle said, "We're convinced that the way forwards for Burnley lies in real jobs - especially better paid, long term jobs in high tech industries.
 
"There are jobs in Manchester that can be done by Burnley people, and there will be jobs in Burnley that will attract people from outside the town.
 
"We believe that re-opening the curve will prove an important part of our jobs strategy and we're determined to see the plans succeed."
 
Success will depend on the Lib Dems convincing rail bosses and the Regional Development Agency that the scheme should be backed. Supporters say that the business case shows big returns for a low investment - probably as little as £4m. Journey times to Manchester could be reduced from around 90 minutes to as little as 40 minutes, making it faster than the X.43 and comparable with using a car.
 



 

Lib Dems In Control!

Last Updated (Saturday, 03 May 2008 10:25) Written by Martyn Hurt Friday, 02 May 2008 18:16

The Lib Dems in Burnley are celebrating tonight after winning 5 seats from Labour, meaning that they have taken Overall Control of Burnley Borough Council.

Your new Lib Dem Councillors are :

Linda White (Brunshaw)

Abdul Malik (Daneshouse with Stoneyholme)

Justin Birtwistle (Gannow)

Karen Heseltine (Rosehill with Burnley Wood)

Lynne Briggs (Rosegrove with Lowerhouse)

Bill Brindle successfully retained the Lanehead seat, after Cllr Ian Stanworth retired this year, and the three defending Lib Dem councillors, Bill Bennett (queensgate), Charlie Bullas (Coalclough with Deerplay) and Maggie Lishman (Briercliffe) all held onto their seats.

 

The full results were as follows :

Bank Hall    
Julie Cooper Lab 621
Asif Raja Lib Dem 571
Paul Coates Con 237
Lab Hold    

 

Briercliffe    
Maggie Lishman Lib Dem 912
Patricia Thomson BNP 326
Susan Nutter Con 219
Laurence Embley Lab 184
Lib Dem Hold    

 

Brunshaw    
Linda White Lib Dem 633
David Halsall Lab 451
Paul McDevitt BNP 384
Arthur Coates Con 233
Lib Dem Gain from Lab    

 

Cliviger with Worsthorne    
Michael Heys Con 923
Paula Riley Lib Dem 486
Steven Smith EF 254
Brenda Lambert Lab 214
Ben Smalley BNP 149
Con Hold    

 

Coalclough with Deerplay    
Charles Bullas Lib Dem 953
Scott Atkinson BNP 274
Joanne Whitaker Lab 205
Lib Dem Hold    

 

Daneshouse with Stoneyholme    
Mohammed Malik Lib Dem 1234
Shah Hussain Lab 1123
Lib Dem Gain from Lab    

 

Gannow    
Justin Birtwistle Lib Dem 544
John Cave BNP 473
Mark Townsend Lab 386
Sharon Everitt Con 212
Lib Dem Gain from Lab    

 

Hapton    
Sharon Wilkinson BNP 674
Jean Cunningham Lab 586
Alan Marsden Con 323
Vincent McCrae Lib Dem 162
BNP Hold    

 

Lanehead    
Bill Brindle Lib Dem 852
Peter Kenyon Lab 357
Michael Raistrick Con 309
Lib Dem Hold    

 

Queensgate    
Bill Bennett
Lib Dem
740
Abid Sharif
Lab 571
Brent Wittam
Con 246
Lib Dem Hold    

 

Rosegrove with Lowerhouse

   
Lynne Briggs
Lib Dem
637
John Rowe
BNP
491
Marion Smith
Lab 293
Peter Raistrick
Con 164
Lib Dem Gain from Lab
   

 

Rosehill with Burnley Wood
   
Karen Heseltine
Lib Dem
742
Colette Bailey
Lab 353
David Tierney
Con 316
Lib Dem Gain from Lab    

 

Trinity    
Tony Lambert
Lab 497
David Shapcott BNP 283
Martyn Hurt
Lib Dem
244
Thomas Picton
Con 147
Labour Hold
   

 

Whittlefield with Ightenhill
   
Peter Doyle
Con
1025
Joan Shapcott
BNP
307
Michael McHugh
Lib Dem
292
Angela Donovan
Labour
264
Conservative Hold
   



   

FALSE LABOUR LEAFLET WITHDRAWN

Last Updated (Tuesday, 30 November 1999 00:00) Written by Martyn Hurt Saturday, 26 April 2008 09:28

 
LABOUR have been forced to withdraw a controversial election leaflet which falsely suggested that Burnley Council intended to destroy "most" homes in the Daneshouse with Stoneyholme ward.
 
The leaflet also claimed that the Council intended to destroy a mosque and made false claims that Labour's candidate had provided funds and delivered a project to improve road safety.
 
Burnley Council have put out a statement saying that the claims about the destruction of homes are "false".
 
David Brown, Burnley Council's Director of Environment responsible for planning, told residents in a statement: "An election leaflet is circulating in your area containing incorrect information. There are no plans by Burnley Council to demolish the Mosque being built in Burns Street and it is factually incorrect to state 'most' of the houses will be
demolished."
 
The Liberal Democrat election agent in the ward, Darren Reynolds, said, "The police are considering an investigation because the leaflet makes false claims about a candidate, and that's illegal. The leaflet also has no 'imprint' to say which individual was responsible for making false claims. That's also illegal and could hinder any investigation.
 
"Amazingly, the false claims about the Council's regeneration plans are not illegal; they're just wrong. I think it should be illegal to make any false statements in an election campaign with the intention of unfairly influencing the result.
 
"I also have a problem with the withdrawal of the leaflet. Labour have withdrawn it, but that's the end of it. They're not going to go round collecting the leaflets up again, and they're not going to deliver a retraction through the letterbox. All they've done is tell the Returning Officer they are retracting the leaflet and that's the end of the matter. How that makes any difference I've no idea."
 
The area's regeneration earlier made the headlines when the town's Labour MP came out of maternity leave especially to generate publicity around a petition against the homes' destruction.
 
Coun Reynolds added, "I don't know whether the local Labour activists hoodwinked the MP or whether she knew the claims were false, but either way it is an affront to democracy. The Lib Dem-led Council is a listening Council. There is a genuine offer for people living in regeneration areas to give the Council their views on what they think should be done in their area. We are residents ourselves. We have changed the plans before in response to residents, and if that is what residents want, we will do it again."



   

Fix My Street!

Last Updated (Friday, 02 May 2008 16:55) Written by Martyn Hurt Sunday, 06 April 2008 00:00

We've all wondered in the past, who do we report that illegally parked car to, or the bags of rubbish that have been dumped on the park, or the pothole that you just ran over in your car, well there's now an easy way to do it.

A new website, Fix My Street, allows you to easilly report any issues you have by pinpointing it on a map, giving a description, and even a photo. The site then sends the report directly to Burnley Borough Council or Lancashire County Council to deal with (or any other Council as you can report problems anywhere).

We are so impressed with this site, that we've added a link to it in the left menu, which will let you report issues without leaving this website, so go on, try it today, and please let us know if your issue was resolved, as we want to know from you if this system really helps.




   

Burnley Lib Dems Announce 2008 Candidates

Last Updated (Thursday, 15 May 2008 19:43) Written by Martyn Hurt Thursday, 03 April 2008 16:23

Liberal Democrats in Burnley have launched their campaign for the 2008 Local Elections.

With one seat up for election in each of the 15 wards, we are proud to field a full team of candidates.

Bankhall Asif Raja
Briercliffe Maggie Lishman
Brunshaw Linda White
Cliviger with Worsthorne
Paula Riley
Coalclough with Deerplay
Charlie Bullas
Daneshouse with Stoneyholme Abdul Malik
Gannow Justin Birtwistle
Gawthorpe Denise Embra
Hapton with Park
Vincent McRae
Lanehead Bill Brindle
Queensgate Bill Bennett
Rosegrove with Lowerhouse Lynne Briggs
Rosehill with Burnleywood
Karen Heseltine
Trinity Martyn Hurt
Whittlefield with Ightenhill
Mick McHugh

 




   

Breaking Ground in South West Burnley

Last Updated (Friday, 21 March 2008 12:15) Written by Martyn Hurt Friday, 21 March 2008 11:50

The regeneration of Burnley, under the leadership of the Liberal Democrats, is well under way, and work on the first new houses to be built in South West Burnley under the Elevate Scheme has started, with the Breaking Of the Ground taking place on Thursday, March 20th.

Council Leader, Gordon Birtwistle (Pictured right), attended the site near Fielden Street, for the "breaking of the ground", along with local residents and representatives from Keepmoat, Hasllam Homes and  Burnley Borough Council.

Councillor Birtwistle said, "It's fantastic to finally see work starting here. I can't wait to see bricks finally going down."

The development, which will see 65 homes on the site, near Cog Lane, has been welcomed by residents, who have been campaigning for work to start as soon as possible.

This is probably one of the few developments where local people are likely to lie down behind the diggers, just to make sure they don't leave the site!

Work starts on new houses in South West Burnley
 

 




   

Lib Dem Campaigners Really Clean Up

Last Updated (Saturday, 15 March 2008 14:51) Written by Martyn Hurt Saturday, 15 March 2008 12:39

Campaigners across Burnley and Padiham have been busy making sure that the borough really is Cleaner, Greener and Safer by looking out for Grot Spots, and either reporting them to Streetscene, and making sure that the area is cleaned up, or by doing it themselves.

In Gannow, campaigner Justin Birtwistle has recently made sure that two Grot Spots near Dickson Street were cleaned up....

Read more: Lib Dem Campaigners Really Clean Up

   

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