There was a celebratory event this month to mark the completion of the 'Townscape Heritage Initiative' (THI) Project. The project launched in September 2011 with an aim to offer grants to improve traditional properties that were either derelict, in poor repair and/or vacant.
The December 2016 edition of our Members' Newsletter is now available. In this edition: Preparing for elections - a profile of our prospective candidates Christine and Martin, and a call for volunteers! Best LibDem by-election results for 20 years - see the figures and read about the experience of a volunteer helper from Stafford. Your Liberal Britain - results of the national consultation that was carried out over the summer, and details of a competition in which you are invited to set out your vision for a Liberal future. Report from the Stafford and Stone local party AGM. Download Members Newsletter December 2016.pdf
• New, extended free parking arrangements for Bedford Town Centre now in operation after Mayor Dave Hodgson brought them forward earlier this month
I was recently at an engineering conference in Nanjing and met up with a Polish colleague one evening for supper. The conversation turned to European politics and Britain's proposed withdrawal from the European Union. I mentioned that one of the problems that I saw was that national governments and national politicians tended to take credit for anything which was likely to be perceived positively by the general population and to blame 'Brussels' for anything negative, even if it had been agreed with other European governments at the Council of Ministers. My friend's reaction surprised me. A wide-eyed "Not just in Poland?" was his reply. Obviously he felt this to be a specifically Polish behaviour, rather than a more general problem across the whole EU. A 20-year old issue in the town of Schwalbach, where I live, illustrates how it happens - and on occasion can be countered.
South Lakes MP Tim Farron has planted a tree to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the opening of Promenade Gardens in...
South Lakes MP Tim Farron tried his hand at charcoal drawing during a visit to a local mental health charity on Friday.