FOCUS www.peterboroughlibdems.org.uk

WALTON RESIDENTS' NEWSLETTER

CONTACT FOCUS

By phone: Call local Liberal Democrat councillors Nick Sandford – 01733 268460 – or Asif Shaheed on 0792 951 3865. By post: Cllr Nick Sandford or Cllr Asif Shaheed, Town Hall, Bridge St, Peterborough PE1 1HG By e-mail: nick.sandford@ Peterborough.gov.uk or asif.shaheed@ peterboroughlibdems.org.uk Or at the councillor ‘surgery': 6:00 to 7:00 pm, first Friday of every month in Community Centre, Mountsteven Avenue.

FIND US ON FACEBOOK: Search for ‘Walton FOCUS team’

Cinema Central Walton's community cinema

Every other Friday Voyager School

Check Walton Focus Team Facebook page for programme news

Gunthorpe Friendship Club

for older people

Wednesdays at Paston and Gunthorpe Community Centre

Contact: Miriam on 01733 564 185 or

Adelene on 01733 575 762

Issue 300

300 EDITIONS OF FOCUS! This is the 300th edition of FOCUS, your local community newsletter

which has been serving the Walton ward for almost 30 years. We wondered how to celebrate the 300th edition. A glossy full colour issue

perhaps? A high profile celebrity endorsement?

But in our regular surveys, local people tell us they like FOCUS just as it is. So

let’s just consider a few facts:

FOCUS is the only community newsletter delivered regularly across the

Walton ward.

It is produced by the Lib Dems but is delivered entirely by volunteers about

ten or eleven times throughout the year.

We do include some political content but most of FOCUS is about local

news and about how your local Lib Dem councillors are working to

improve the area.

We are pleased to advertise and support local voluntary services and events

whenever we can.

You only get leaflets from the Conservatives when there is an election on -

and Labour hardly bothers at all.

All in all, we think it is a record of service and action second to none. We hope

you agree but please let us know if you have any ideas or suggestions for future

editions.

Walton Lib Dems pick Nick for 3 May Local Liberal Democrats have chosen popular local councillor Nick Sandford to be our

candidate in Walton in the city council elections on Thursday 3 May. Nick is leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on the council and has served as Walton

councillor for 16 years. He works for the Woodland Trust and has a particular interest in

environmental issues. Over the years has been a strong champion for improving the environment

in Walton: pressing the council hard on such issues as local bus services, the state of the

pavements, damage to grass verges and traffic noise.

Fellow Walton councillor Asif Shaheed said: “Nick and I work really well together and I hope

local people will elect him again to continue serving them. Walton is a great area to live and we

need councillors who will work hard for the ward and stand up for the rights of local people.”

Nick added: “It is an honour to serve the people of Walton. The Lib Dems have spoken out

against wasteful expenditure by the Tory council on such things as waste incinerators, water

taxis and other pet projects. We called for a freeze in the Council Tax - but the Tories put it up.”

Local Lib Dems have selected Nick Sandford as their candidate for the city council elections on 3 May.

LOCAL ISSUES

AND ACTION Local Lib Dem councillor

Nick Sandford has received

complaints about the

development on the site of the

old Royal Oak in Lincoln Road.

Residents in Arundel Road

find that the new houses (some

of which are three storeys high)

will have large rear windows

looking into the gardens of their

properties. One resident said to

Nick: “It will completely take

away my privacy.”

Planning permission was

granted nearly five years ago

but the developers have not

implemented it until now. Nick

is looking into what can be done

to address people’s concerns.

An elderly resident in

Lincoln Road found that

visitors who were coming by car

to help her with her shopping

had difficulty in exiting safely

onto the main road. Lib Dem

councillor Nick Sandford has

persuaded the council to put up

a warning sign.

Here’s a great app for

smartphone users!

‘Fix my street’ allows you to

take a photograph of any issues

in your area such as graffiti or

an out of order street light and

e-mail it straight to the relevant

council department.

Your e-mail will be

acknowledged and the council

will request feedback once the

work is complete. This means

there's usually a quick

turnaround on problems raised!

If you want more information

please contact local Lib Dem

councillor Asif Shaheed.

Local Lib Dem councillor

Nick Sandford has been asked

by shop keepers in Warwick

Road if a sign could be put up

in Arundel Road telling drivers

that the shops are there.

Any boost to trade in these

difficult times would be very

welcome. Nick has asked the

neighbourhood manager to see

if funds can be found for this.

.

WALTON FUNDS ‘STOLEN’? In a recent edition of FOCUS we revealed how the developers of the

Brotherhood Retail Park on Lincoln Road are contributing nearly £1 million

towards local services through what is called a Section 106 agreement with the

city council. Or at least that is what we thought….. Local Lib Dem councillor Nick Sandford has had a number of concerns expressed to

him about the potential for massively increased traffic from the new development,

which will include a large new Marks and Spencer store. Nick challenged the council’s

head of planning to tell him how the £1 million from the developer will be spent.

The good news is that some of it could go towards replacing or upgrading the

Rhubarb Bridge which spans the roundabout junction between the parkway, Lincoln

Road and Bourges Boulevard.

But Nick was shocked to find that much of the £1 million may not be spent in Walton

at all.

£450,000 is being allocated to help improve the city centre. Of the remaining

£500,000, 65 per cent will go to ‘city-wide strategic projects’, which could include

highway schemes in other parts of the city. That leaves about £175,000 which will be

spent by the Northern Area Committee….but this covers Walton and three other wards.

So…wait for it….only around £40,000 may actually be spent in Walton.

Nick said: “Once again our Tory council is trying to divert money which should have

come to Walton into projects in the city centre and other parts of Peterborough. Local

people can be sure that my fellow Lib Dem councillor Asif Shaheed and I will be

fighting this as hard as we can to ensure that Walton gets its fair share of the money.”

YOUR VIEWS IGNORED Towards the end of last year, pressure from Nick Sandford and the Lib Dems

forced the Tory-run city council to think again about its scheme to remove over

a third of the trees in Bridge Street in the city centre. A council scrutiny committee asked it to run the public consultation again, using

fairer and less biased questions. The results of the new survey showed just under 60 per

cent of people responding wanted to keep the trees. On top of this, 200 people signed a

petition pleading with the council to save the trees from the chop.

But did our council listen to people’s views? Of course it didn’t and at the beginning

of March twelve large healthy trees were cut down, ground up and disposed of - at a

cost to local tax payers of over £13,000.

Nick commented: “This is now no longer an issue about trees …. it’s about how our

Tory council carries out sham consultations and then ignores what people say. That’s

what has made many people across the city so angry - and with every justification.”

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