03Oct 2019 by Phillip Mackin
Whole Council Elections for Amber Valley

Whole Council Elections for Amber Valley

Local News
Potential Move to Whole Council Elections Read the consultation Read our full response Amber Valley Liberal Democrats have responded to a consultation from Amber Valley Borough Council, regarding the possibility of whole-council elections, rather than the current system of elections-by-thirds. We would be opposed to this change for a number of reasons, but chiefly because of the difficulties in finding larger numbers of candidates for a whole-council election, and also because of the democratic deficit for young voters turning 18 between elections. You can find our full response attached above, as well as a link to the original consultation on Amber Valley Borough Council's website. This issue will be debated and decided at the next full council meeting on 13th November. 
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29Apr 2019 by Phillip Mackin
Greenbelt Consultation Response

Greenbelt Consultation Response

Local News, News
Green Belt Consultation Response Amber Valley Liberal Democrats have responded to the public consultation on Green Belt Amendments and Additional Site Allocations. Read our full response here. We have been opposed to development on the Green Belt since the battle for Lily Street Farm, Swanwick, in the early 1990s, as the Conservative Borough Council has lost the ambition to ‘conserve’ anything.  New housing development is about the most destructive thing we can do to the environment .  There is real pressure for growth, not least because more people are living singly, and more older people want to downsize. We demand the Council removes its blinkers on Brownfield sites – in Belper a specific study for the Neighbourhood Plan has shown these are more than adequate to meet projected demand.  A…
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02Mar 2018 by Amber Valley Liberal Democrats
Residents First

Residents First

Local News
Residents Come First Amber Valley Lib Dems believe residents come first. This is, after all the place where you are making a commitment to live, and where you are the main user of services and businesses.Labour and the Conservatives have run Amber Valley borough between them for the last 30 years with little appreciable benefit for local people. Amber Valley may be the biggest local government district in Derbyshire, but resources have been thinly spread, parts of our area still look like run-down former mining towns, and it feels like we are a commuter extension to Derby and Nottingham, rather than a special part of the county, with a rich history and identity. The key should be proper funding of the planning system, and one which puts residents’ involvement at…
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21May 2017 by Amber Valley Liberal Democrats
Improve our Leisure Centre

Improve our Leisure Centre

Local News
Belper Leisure Centre Amber Valley’s leisure centres are where many people first get introduced to sports and fitness, but they are social hubs too. Ripley, Alfreton and Heanor were fortunate in getting completely rebuilt just over 10 years ago, although this was as a result of the Private Finance Initiative, with hidden longer-term costs. Belper missed out on these improvements, because it was run separately through an historic arrangement between the County, Borough and Town councils given its close proximity to Belper School. This has caused friction, and while there have been improvements and many people love the centre, it is not able to provide quite the same range of facilities as the other centres, particularly in terms of public swimming pool time. There are also some parking problems, as…
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