http://www.cheltlibdems.org.uk/newsarchive.php Recent News Stories from Cheltenham Liberal Democrats en-GB Cheltenham Liberal Democrats http://www.cheltlibdems.org.uk/ Prater Raines Ltd http://www.praterraines.co.uk/ (c) 2010 Cheltenham Liberal Democrats 2010-03-10T05:36+00:00 United Kingdom http://www.cheltlibdems.org.uk/news/000327/martin_welcomes_nhs_bed_cut_rethink.html CHELTENHAM MP Martin Horwood has welcomed a rethink by the local NHS on the 200 bed closures threatened by the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that runs both Gloucester Royal and Cheltenham General. But he is pressing on with a summit meeting tomorrow with NHS Gloucestershire Chief Executive Jan Stubbings to discuss the financial situation in the NHS in Gloucestershire. 2010-02-25T16:42+00:00 http://www.cheltlibdems.org.uk/news/000326/martin_tells_minister_watch_out_for_warden_hill.html CHELTENHAM MP Martin Horwood today addressed the National Flood Forum's annual conference in Birmingham and called for a change in policy and in mindset from planners and politicians over flooding. He was speaking in his capacity as Lib Dem national spokesman on flooding to an audience including floods minister Huw Irranca-Davies MP and Environment Agency chief Lord Smith. Martin highlighted the nonsense of one government department - Defra - spending hundreds of millions of pounds to reduce flood risk, only for another - the Department for Communities & Local Government - to do the exact opposite. And he criticised the Conservative Party for missing the chance to back a change in the law governing building on flood plains. 2010-02-25T15:48+00:00 http://www.cheltlibdems.org.uk/news/000324/200_nhs_bed_losses_may_be_tip_of_the_iceberg_says_martin.html Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood has arranged an urgent meeting with NHS chiefs to discuss the planned loss of 200 beds from Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and Cheltenham General. Martin will be meeting NHS Gloucestershire chief executive Jan Stubbings on Friday 26 February at 12:00. The cuts were announced by the hospitals chief executive Dr Frank Harsent but it is NHS Gloucestershire that is in charge of spending government money on all NHS services in Cheltenham. 2010-02-19T16:38+00:00 http://www.cheltlibdems.org.uk/news/000325/martin_calls_on_councils_to_protect_countryside_for_all.html In a detailed submission to Tewkesbury, Gloucester and Cheltenham councils, Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood has called on them to rule out so-called 'urban extensions' that would threaten the countryside around Cheltenham. Martin was responding to the three councils' initial consultation on its Joint Core Strategy which will set out future plans on everything from new housing to renewable energy. The Joint Core Strategy will have to implement the government's controversial Regional Spatial Strategy unless it is scrapped after the General Election. 2010-02-19T16:26+00:00 http://www.cheltlibdems.org.uk/news/000323/air_quality_could_be_killing_500_a_year_in_gloucestershire.html UP TO 500 people a year could be dying in Gloucestershire because of air pollution, if national statistics uncovered today by Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood hold true for the county. The figure for Cheltenham alone could be in excess of 100 deaths a year from heart, lung and other diseases, while the national total could be as high as 50,000 a year - more than twice the previous estimate. 2010-02-09T22:00+00:00 http://www.cheltlibdems.org.uk/news/000322/floods_bill_votes_row.html CHELTENHAM MP and Lib Dem shadow environment minister Martin Horwood has welcomed the successful passage of the Floods and Water Management Bill through the House of Commons last night - but has criticised Conservative MPs for failing to support critical amendments on planning permission and insurance. Martin is his party's national spokesman on flooding. 2010-02-03T13:17+00:00 http://www.cheltlibdems.org.uk/news/000321/martin_commits_to_safeguard_the_legacy_of_holocaust_survivors.html Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood pledged his commitment to Holocaust Memorial Day by signing a Book of Commitment in the House of Commons to honour those who perished in the Holocaust. 2010-01-29T12:34+00:00 http://www.cheltlibdems.org.uk/news/000318/andy_pennington_remembered.html Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood has paid tribute to Andy Pennington, local councillor, campaigner and assistant to Nigel Jones, on the tenth anniversary of Andy's tragic death. Andy was killed on 28 January 2000 in the attack in Nigel Jones's constituency office, which also left Nigel himself badly injured. 2010-01-28T00:01+00:00 http://www.cheltlibdems.org.uk/news/000320/brizen_farm_plans_to_go_before_planning_committee_next_week.html Plans to build 350 houses plus and a 1,000 space Park and Ride on land at Brizen Farm, Shurdington Road which are due to be heard by a Public Inquiry later in the year are now due to go before Tewkesbury Borough Council's Planning Committee next week (Tuesday 02 February). 2010-01-27T15:39+00:00 http://www.cheltlibdems.org.uk/news/000319/residents_gather_to_protest_at_axing_of_bus_service.html Local residents on the Cleevemount estate met up with Cheltenham's Member of Parliament Martin Horwood today to express outrage at the decision by the County council to finally axe the 'W' bus service. 2010-01-25T11:45+00:00 http://www.cheltlibdems.org.uk/news/000317/government_uturn_on_water_bill_social_tariffs_welcome__horwood.html Millions of people could pay less for their water bills after the Government backed down on proposals for new social tariffs tabled by the Liberal Democrats. 2010-01-22T12:51+00:00 http://www.cheltlibdems.org.uk/news/000316/liberal_democrats_pledge_to_fight_on_over_flood_risk_powers.html ON the penultimate day of the Flood and Water Management Bill committee stage, both the government and the Conservatives have voted down a Liberal Democrat amendment that would have given farmers and landowners a right to maintain land that has been designated by a flood risk management authority without going through the bureaucracy of getting approval every time. 2010-01-20T18:05+00:00 http://www.cheltlibdems.org.uk/news/000315/martin_urges_help_for_haiti.html Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood has urged people to give generously to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal for victims of the Haiti earthquake or direct to charities like Gloucestershire-based rescue charity Rapid UK. The former Oxfam fundraising manager urged people not to be put off by stories of help not getting through. The magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti at 16:53 local time on 12 January. 2010-01-15T11:47+00:00 http://www.cheltlibdems.org.uk/news/000314/four_thousand_cheltenham_pensioners_missing_out.html Nearly four thousand local pensioners will miss out on Cold Weather Payments triggered by the cold snap, according to analysis of government figures by the Liberal Democrats. Cold Weather Payments of £25 a week are paid to people on low incomes who receive a qualifying benefit, such as Pension Credit. But Pension Credit is itself complicated and goes unclaimed by as many as 1.7m pensioners nationwide and an estimated 3,990 in Cheltenham. Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood has called for reform of the system but urged local pensioners to claim all their entitlements. 2010-01-15T10:41+00:00 http://www.cheltlibdems.org.uk/news/000313/empty_homes_policy_launch.html The Liberal Democrats today set out plans to bring a quarter of a million empty homes back into use, making homes available for people who need them and creating 65,000 jobs. 2010-01-14T22:45+00:00