Hertfordshire Liberal Democrats

Controversial plans to switch off some street lights in St Albans at night - part of a wider scheme being rolled out across Hertfordshire by the Conservative-run County Council - will go on display at the District Council following intervention by our local Lib Dem councillors.

Street maps showing the lights set to be switched off in the City will also be available for the public to view at the Liberal Democrat office (9 Hatfield Rd, St Albans AL1 3RR - above the Kashu Restaurant) on Saturday 18th February from 10 a.m. till 1 p.m., when a County Councillor will be on hand to answer questions and listen to residents' views. The period to receive feedback has also been extended, thanks to Lib Dem pressure, to allow more residents to be consulted.

As part of the Conservative-run County Council's efforts to reduce expenditure, they have implemented a policy of 'part night lighting'.

They are rolling out a one-size-fits-all approach which will see the lights go out at midnight in most areas. Currently the only exceptions to this are where the lights have been kept on for safety reasons, for example around traffic calming measures and CCTV.

Following the agreement on the fiscal treaty by the heads of government of 25 member states, the heads of the three leading pro-Europe organisations have petitioned the European Parliament.

The petition by the Presidents of the Union of European Federalists (UEF), the Young European Federalists (JEF-Europe) and the European Movement International (EMI) asks the European Parliament to use its newLisbontreaty powers to initiate a further revision of the European Union treaties with the objective of creating a full fiscal union with a reformed financial system.

'Europe is nearing its federal moment - the time to decide on whether it wishes to become more united or not. The growth of the federal movement in Lithuania is therefore greatly to be welcomed'- he said.

On 3 February Mr Andrew Duff, the president of Union of European Federalists (UEF), attended the constitutive meeting of a branch of UEF in Lithuania. The meeting, which took place in the Lithuanian parliament, was widely covered by the national media and was attended by a large group of the organization?s founders, among which there are a number of MPs, academics and other well-known figures.

It looks as though the long wait for the final decision on the proposed lorry terminal in Park Street will soon be over.

The witnesses at the most recent Public Inquiry into Helioslough's proposal and other interested parties have just received a letter from the Department for Communities and Local Government which says:

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Last week a Mr Bailey wrote about the cancellation of Welwyn Hatfield council's most recent meeting due to lack of business. This is not entirely accurate as the LibDem group had submitted a question to the council leader about a little-known change to council tax benefit which will mean many residents losing 25% of their benefit. I am pleased to say that on this occasion, leader John Dean has agreed with us.

Reacting to the European Council Conclusions on Growth this evening, Guy Verhofstadt,
President of the ALDE Group in the European Parliament said:

"EU leaders have failed in the only area where they could have made concrete progress today. Instead of decisive action they again chose procrastination. After 40 years of waiting, an agreement was found last year on a European patent but we still have to wait another six months for Member States to agree on the seat of the court causing further delay and costing jobs across the Union at a crucial moment."

The first ever review of a County Council Cabinet decision, which had been demanded by the Liberal Democrats, ended in disappointment as the Conservative majority refused to refer the issue back to Cabinet for re-consideration. The one-day meeting highlighted the lack of information which had been given to local groups throughout the process. and raised concerns about the level of uncertainty faced by the groups, even as the County Council continues its plan to sell off the land at the Ariston Works site on Harpenden Rd, St Albans.

Attempts to prevent 12 staff from being made redundant to save just £41,000 were scuppered this week after the Conservatives voted to get rid of the Schools Library Service.

During the debate on the cabinet decision at a scrutiny meeting on Wednesday 25th January, the Liberal Democrat group highlighted that the closure of the service had been agreed without any reference to the County's own Education and Skills Cabinet Panel, despite the service being used exclusively by Hertfordshire's schools.