Kingsholm & Wotton
Councillors Jeremy Hilton and Isabel Brazil represent Kingsholm & Wotton Ward on Gloucester City Council.-
Article: Dec 7, 2018Gloucester MP Richard Graham has apologised after again making derogatory comments about immigrants.
Mr Graham spoke out against the principle of the right of EU citizens to have the freedom of movement to live anywhere in the European Union.
He used the example of a pregnant domestic abuse victim in his constituency who was worried her former partner - an EU citizen - would come looking for her when he is released from prison.
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Article: Nov 15, 2018Two public events are being held in November about plans for a new roundabout on the A40 northern bypass.The Innsworth Gateway Project has been proposed to facilitate the houses that will be built in Innsworth.The scheme will provide an upgrade to the Longford roundabout, which will increase its capacity to accommodate predicted future traffic flows and assist in relieving existing congestion.
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Article: Nov 9, 2018The Liberal Democrats are developing a set of radical policies to reverse the Conservatives' Vanishing Council and kick-start the regeneration of Gloucester.
Underpinning this will be the pledge to relocate the city council offices from the Docks to the King's Quarter.
They also want to see a new civil justice centre built there as part of the project.
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Article: Oct 30, 2018The Liberal Democrats are calling for a new People's Budget to heal the divided country - as it becomes clear there will not be a "Brexit dividend".
Under the party's proposals there would be a three-step Budget plan, which involves stopping Brexit, fairer taxes and funding public services.
Chancellor Philip Hammond may have claimed that "the era of austerity is coming to an end" but austerity cannot be ended without difficult decisions involving an increase in taxation, according to Gloucester Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate Dr Rebecca Trimnell.
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Article: Oct 17, 2018
The Liberal Democrats have once again called on Conservative MP Richard Graham to apologise over his flippant use of the term "foreigners".
The Gloucester MP was speaking in the House of Commons on Monday during a debate on Universal Credit when he referred to the "quite high number of foreigners claiming food bank vouchers".
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Article: Oct 8, 2018Speeding motorists travelling on along Sandhurst Lane in Kingsholm and Wotton are a menace say local Lib Dem councillors, Jeremy Hilton and Isabel Brazil.
A survey carried out between the 16th and 22nd July by Gloucestershire County Council found that 80% of southbound motorists were speeding as they approached St. Oswald's Road.
The survey was requested by county councillor Jeremy Hilton. It was taken at the midway point between Rivermead Close and Greville Close along the built-up section of Sandhurst Lane.
Cllr. Jeremy Hilton said: "The results confirm what many of us already knew that far too many motorists are speeding along Sandhurst Lane. They are breaking the 30mph speed limit and risking the lives of pedestrians walking on the narrow footways.
"There is a clear road safety issue here that the county council must resolve. I have asked the county traffic manager to propose a solution that will help reduce traffic speeds to below the 30mph limit.
"Even though the results suggest northbound vehicles are not breaking the limit have seen motorists accelerate aggressively as they pass by Rivermead Close."
Cllr. Isabel Brazil agreed and said: "Speeding vehicles are a menace, particularly on a lane with narrow or non-existent footways. The county council must do something."
Over the seven days of the survey the volume of traffic averaged out at 2,047 vehicles per day.
Southbound survey results
The survey found that 80% of southbound drivers were travelling at a speed greater than the 30mph limit. The average speed was 39mph with 85% of vehicles travelling at speeds of 47mph or less.
Northbound survey results
Only 2.5% of northbound vehicles were travelling above the 30mph speed limit. The northbound, traffic kept within the speed limits with an average speed of 21mph and with 85% of vehicles travelling at speeds of 25mph or less.
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Article: Sep 20, 2018There are calls for Gloucester to get its fair share of a £2 billion Government fund to build more social housing.
Prime Minister Theresa May announced that housing associations can bid for a share of the funding, which runs from 2022 until 2028/29.
Now Gloucester Liberal Democrats are demanding that council bosses make sure the city gets its fair share of the funding - after it missed out on previous Government housing cash.
Only last month it emerged Gloucester did not get a penny of a previous £2 billion social housing allocation, which was announced at last year's Conservative Party conference.
The money was targeted to areas where there was a large discrepancy between the cost of renting in the open market and that offered in the social rented sector.
If, like Gloucester, the gap is under £50 a week, local authorities get nothing.
"At the beginning of 2017 there were 3,846 families in Gloucester on the housing waiting list," Councillor Jeremy Hilton, leader of Gloucester Lib Dems, said.
"It means that many families in Gloucester will never get the chance of a home to call their own.
"We need to build many new homes with secured social tenancies and it is absolutely vital that Gloucester gets a fair share of this new funding."
Councillor David Brown, Liberal Democrat housing spokesman at Gloucester City Council, said: "I shall be asking questions of Councillor Colin Organ, the cabinet member for planning and housing strategy, about this cash at the next meeting of city council.
"I will be seeking reassurances that Gloucester will not be missing out like last time.
"There are too many people in Gloucester who will never ever be able to call a house a home. People should not have to live in fear of receiving a couple of months' notice to vacate a property."
During her speech to the National Housing Federation, the prime minister said people who live in council houses should be made to feel proud of their homes.
Councillor Hilton added: "I welcome the language the Prime Minister used about residents who live in social housing.
"The Prime Minister is right they are not 'second-rate citizens' and should not feel marginalised or overlooked.
"But it should also be remembered that it was Margaret Thatcher who introduced the right to buy policy in the 1980s which saw thousands of local authority homes sold off and not replaced."
A Lib Dem Government would end the voluntary right to buy pilots that sell off housing association homes and the associated high value asset levy.
They would also lift the borrowing cap on local authorities and increase the borrowing capacity of housing associations so that they can build council and social housing. -
Article: Sep 18, 2018Gloucester Liberal Democrats have reiterated calls for a new secondary school to be built in the north of the city.It comes after forecasts prepared by the Department for Education reveal a shortfall of 477 secondary school places in Gloucester by 2023/24.Across the country 130,000 children are at risk of missing out on a secondary school place over the next five years, according to the Local Government Association. -
Article: Sep 5, 2018Liberal Democrat councillors have questioned Gloucestershire County Council's decision to close its household recycling centres one day a week.The Conservative-run county council has announced from the end of October changes to the opening hours of the five household recycling centres it owns.These are Fosse Cross near Cirencester, Hempsted in Gloucester, Wingmoor Farm at Bishops Cleeve, Pyke Quarry near Horsley and Oak Quarry near Coleford. They currently open at 9am and close at 6.15pm 12 months a year. -
Article: Sep 5, 2018Liberal Democrats in Gloucester will be taking their campaign to remain in the European Union to Gloucester Pride on Saturday when party members will be handing out cards encouraging everyone to support having a People's Vote on the final Brexit deal.This campaign will proceed a major debate at the county council when councillors will be encouraged to support a Lib Dem motion calling for a People's Vote on the Brexit deal.