West Berkshire Liberal Democrats

Liberal democrat controlled Newbury Town Council introduced the Newbury Town Civic Award 15 years ago and four years ago launched the Newbury Town Young Persons Civic Award for anyone up to and including 25 years of age. Both awards run along side each other and are presented each year to an unsung hero, who in the opinion of a panel of judges has made an exceptional contribution to the improvement of our community.

In his keynote speech to the Liberal Democrat Conference, Party Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has outlined his goals for the Government and the country over the coming years. He reiterated his commitment to liberal values on the environment and human rights and his determination to ensure a fair chance for every child, saying "every child can do good things, great things, if only we give them the opportunities they deserve."

Liberal Democrats in West Berkshire have shown that their "STOP SANDLEFORD" petition, launched earlier this year, was not just electioneering. The Petition was formally presented to West Berkshire Council's Executive Committee on Thursday, with 510 signatures - many obtained since the May local elections - by local campaigner Roxana Nash-Williams.

West Berkshire Council wasted millions of pounds last year making many of its staff redundant, when they had plenty of money to keep those staff members providing services to the public.

The final accounts for 2010/11 were released to the Executive last night. They showed that the Council cut its spending so hard and so fast during the year that they ended up spending £1.27M less than their revised budget. But the cuts cost the taxpayers over £2.5M mainly in redundancy payments.

An overgrown garden in Westbourne Terrace has been cleaned up - thanks to Cllr Tony Vickers.

Tony says, "residents of Westbourne Terrace, off Pelican Lane, raised a petition, which I delivered to the Council. The petition persuaded the absent owner of the house, which has been derelict for 14 years, to clean up the jungle and rubbish in its front garden."

Liberal Democrats in West Berkshire bucked the national trend to put in a strong performance in the local elections. The Lib Dems won 13 seats on the District Council, and even took one seat from the Conservatives, in Thatcham Central. Once again, Labour failed to win any seats on the Council, meaning that the Lib Dems are the only opposition to the Tories on the Council.

Cllr Gwen Mason (Lib Dem, Northcroft) is unable to carry on canvassing due to a recent accident. She sustained a broken right wrist, a s well as cuts and bruising to her left arm and leg

Gwen would like to apologise to the residents of Northcroft that she has not already spoken to during this campaign for the local elections.

Despite being in opposition for the last few years, West Berkshire's Liberal Democrats have been working hard for you.

You probably know what your local Liberal Democrat Councillors have been doing in your own Ward, but what about the rest of West Berkshire?

For full details, click here to see our record of achievement, even though we have been in opposition at West Berkshire Council.

Around 1,800 people in West Berkshire will no longer have to pay Income Tax and a further 60,000 will get £200 extra in their pockets.

Liberal Democrats in Government secured a rise in the Income Tax threshold, the point from which people start paying their taxes, of £1,000 to £7,475. This came into force on Wednesday.