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Fighting climate change - Liberal Democrat initiative adopted

Mole Valley District Council has passed a Liberal Democrat motion supporting the 10:10 campaign to reduce carbon emissions. The Council has pledged to get as close as possible to a 10% reduction in 2010 and to encourage its staff, residents and partner organisations to sign up to the initiative.

Caroline Salmon - boiling just enough water for one mug of coffee

Liberal Democrat councillor Caroline Salmon, who proposed the motion, explains why this is so important: "The U.K. only reduced its emissions by about 4% between 2005 and 2008. 10:10 says this isn't fast enough to save our planet. 10:10 is about empowering climate change by getting individuals and institutions to reduce their carbon footprints. It believes that we can reduce energy use by 10% by the end of 2010, by getting everyone to look at how they use energy and thus use less. This adds an important element of urgency in an area where many organisations are merely setting targets 10 years into the future. We hope that all residents of Mole Valley will join us in signing up to the 10:10 pledge."

At its recent annual Conference in Bournemouth, the Liberal Democrats committed to support the 10:10 initiative and LibDem-controlled councils around the country have signed up. Locally Lib Dem motions to adopt 10:10 have been rejected by Conservative councils in Guildford and Surrey.

To find out more and join up to 10:10, go to

www.1010uk.org.

Dorking Supermarket? Have Your Say

Mole Valley District Council has signed an agreement with a property development company which could lead to the Council Depot at Curtis Road (off Station Road) together with adjoining land being developed as a supermarket. The agreement is scheduled to be ratified by the Council's Conservative Executive in December. However this does not commit the Council to proceeding with the development. Consideration of this and other potential sites is to be included in a Dorking Town Centre Area Action Plan to be developed during 2010.

The Local Development Framework says that Dorking needs increased foodstore provision. Liberal Democrats agree with this. But we want a new store that helps Dorking prosper by bringing people into the town centre. We also would not support a site that significantly increases the traffic problems in the town. Curtis Road fails both these tests.

Please let us know what you think by following the link to a short survey.

Click here to go to the survey.

Surrey Police Seven Point Plan Fri 1st Jan 2010 The Surrey Police Authority has recently approved a seven point plan for Surrey Police in order to address their anticipated funding shortfall over the next three years to increase front-line police officers and further improve policing. This initiative has been supported by the Lib Dem members of the Police Authority.

Liberal Democrats welcome Tory U-turn on Incineration Tue 15th Dec 2009 For many years the Liberal Democrats have been arguing that there are better and safer modern green alternatives to mass burn incineration. The announcement by the Tories that they will abandon "energy from waste" (mass burn incineration) has finally recognised that the Lib Dem position has been correct all long. Apart from the environmental impact, mass burn incineration is known to discourage councils from recycling waste.

VoteWatch report shows Lib Dem strength in European Parliament Mon 1st Feb 2010 An independent analysis by VoteWatch, a website set up to monitor the EU's legislative process, has revealed that liberal MEPs hold the balance of power in the European Parliament.

Lib Dem MEPs fight for fuel efficient cars Wed 27th Jan 2010 Car drivers are getting more miles to the gallon out of their vehicles, with big improvements still to come.

Mandelson forcing universities to lower standards and offer less choice Sat 2nd Jan 2010 Commenting on Government plans to cut university funding by more than £500m, the Liberal Democrat Shadow Universities Secretary Stephen Williams said: "The Government failed to live up to its commitment to fund extra university places and now it seems to be punishing the universities that went out of their way to help the pupils that had been let down."

Copenhagen Comedown Sun 20th Dec 2009 Euro MP for the South East, Catherine Bearder, has expressed her huge disappointment at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen.

Liberal Democrats Oppose County Council Cuts in Services Tue 15th Dec 2009 Liberal Democrat County Councillors have voiced their strong opposition to cuts in services by the Conservative administration. The Conservative run Cabinet has this Autumn decided to terminate all Pegasus school bus services in July 2010, to reduce the ordinary public bus services and reduce the number of roads to be gritted in winter in advance of ice and snow.

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