http://kensingtonandchelsealibdems.org.uk/newsarchive.php Recent News Stories from Kensington and Chelsea Liberal Democrats en-GB Kensington and Chelsea Liberal Democrats http://kensingtonandchelsealibdems.org.uk/ Prater Raines Ltd http://www.praterraines.co.uk/ (c) 2010 Kensington and Chelsea Liberal Democrats 2010-03-11T11:58+00:00 United Kingdom http://kensingtonandchelsealibdems.org.uk/news/000151/lib_dem_councillor_carol_caruana_formally_presents_thousands_of_petitions_organised_by_portobello_antiques_traders.html On 3rd March, Portobello market antiques traders handed over the latest batch of their petitions to Carol Caruana who is Notting Hill's Liberal Democrat councillor and a long standing campaigner for the area. Councillor Caruana, weighed down by thousands of petitions, formally presented them at that night's Full Council meeting. The petition, organised by traders, calls for an end to the inconsistency in planning decisions which they fear is leading to the death of Portobello Market. The petitions have been signed by supporters of all three political parties. 2010-03-04T10:58+00:00 http://kensingtonandchelsealibdems.org.uk/news/000150/wornington_green_planning_decision_goes_down_to_the_wire.html On 2nd March, Kensington & Chelsea's Major Planning Development Committee passed - but only just - a controversial development plan to demolish the Wornington Green estate in North Kensington in order to replace it with a an estate with almost double the number of residents. 2010-03-03T13:10+00:00 http://kensingtonandchelsealibdems.org.uk/news/000149/news_in_brief_conservative_earls_court_councillor_censured_for_breaking_code_of_conduct.html Barry Phelps, the Conservative councillor for Earls Court, has been found guilty of two breaches of the Members' Code of Conduct. Cllr Phelps was found by the Standards Committee to have breached paragraphs relating to treating people with respect and to bringing the Council into disrepute. 2010-02-27T09:08+00:00 http://kensingtonandchelsealibdems.org.uk/news/000148/kensington__chelsea_council_admit_lack_of_consultation_over_earls_court_sculpture.html Robin Meltzer, Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Kensington, has called for the local Council to start its process for choosing a site for public art in the Earls Court area from scratch after the Council admitted that they had failed to consult properly on its location, the artist or the artwork. 2010-02-16T20:32+00:00 http://kensingtonandchelsealibdems.org.uk/news/000147/green_jobs_champion_selected_for_new_chelsea__fulham_constituency.html Liberal Democrats in the new Constituency of Chelsea and Fulham have chosen green jobs champion Dirk Hazell as Prospective Parliamentary Candidate. 2010-02-11T10:09+00:00 http://kensingtonandchelsealibdems.org.uk/news/000146/lib_dems_back_traders_save_portobello_market_campaign_thousands_of_signatures_delivered_to_town_hall.html 1800 letters and almost 2000 petitions have been hand-delivered to the Town Hall from an estimated more than 2500 people who are deeply concerned about the future of Portobello Market. 2010-02-01T15:38+00:00 http://kensingtonandchelsealibdems.org.uk/news/000145/scandal_of_4000_empty_houses_in_kensington__chelsea.html Figures released by the Liberal Democrats have shown there are 4,000 empty homes in Kensington & Chelsea and over 760,000 empty properties across England which are no longer used as homes but can be brought back into use with some investment. The Liberal Democrats have set out new plans to bring empty homes back into use, making homes available for people who need them and creating 65,000 jobs across the country. 2010-01-18T15:59+00:00 http://kensingtonandchelsealibdems.org.uk/news/000144/kensington__chelsea_core_strategy_tickbox_consultation_unjustified_policies.html The Kensington & Chelsea Liberal Democrats have made a formal submission to the Planning Inspectorate, objecting to the final version of the Council's Core Strategy, the list of policies that are supposed to guide the Council for the next twenty years. The Liberal Democrats argue that the Core Strategy fails one of the Inspectorate's key legal tests of soundness on at least three counts. 2009-12-10T11:13+00:00 http://kensingtonandchelsealibdems.org.uk/news/000143/kensington__chelsea_lib_dems_join_nick_clegg_on_the_wave.html On Saturday 5th December, Robin Meltzer, the Liberal Democrat campaigner for the new constituency of Kensington, led a team of local members and supporters to meet Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg at the Copenhagen Wave. The Wave was a day of action in London including a march on Parliament to publicise the importance of the Copenhagen summit on climate chaos. 2009-12-05T23:14+00:00 http://kensingtonandchelsealibdems.org.uk/news/000142/there_is_no_guarantee_in_life_labours_extraordinary_snub_to_portobello_traders.html The Labour Party in Kensington has been strongly criticised for brushing aside complaints from worried local traders and shopkeepers about the effect of the Western Extension of the Congestion Charge on trade in the Portobello area. Referring to the concerns of local traders, one Labour councillor said in the Council Chamber on 2nd December: "Capitalism is a risk game. There's no guarantee in life." 2009-12-03T15:14+00:00 http://kensingtonandchelsealibdems.org.uk/news/000141/storm_grows_over_kensington__chelsea_tory_leaders_overseas_jaunts_at_taxpayers_expense.html New documents relating to the more than £10,000 of originally undisclosed controversial expenses paid to Kensington & Chelsea Conservative leader Merrick Cockell have today been handed over to the District Auditor by the Liberal Democrats. 2009-12-03T11:59+00:00 http://kensingtonandchelsealibdems.org.uk/news/000140/carol_caruana_calls_for_portobello_to_be_a_shoppers_paradise_once_again.html Carol Caruana, Liberal Democrat councillor for the Portobello area of Notting Hill has called for the protection of local shops, including a wholesale change of policy on business rates which are crippling smaller shops. Councillor Caruana has submitted a response to the London Assembly Planning and Housing Committee who are reviewing planning policy measures designed to protect London's small shops. 2009-11-20T18:50+00:00 http://kensingtonandchelsealibdems.org.uk/news/000139/i_only_used_your_bentley_to_save_money_on_taxis_claims_local_tory_leader.html In his latest excuse for the unusual use of the publicly owned Mayoral Bentley, Kensington & Chelsea Council Leader Merrick Cockell has said that he only used the car "to save the cost of taxis". The surprising claim came in a statement prepared by the Council for the Hammersmith & Kensington Times in response to an article published today entitled 'Town hall chief is blasted over trips'. 2009-11-12T13:49+00:00 http://kensingtonandchelsealibdems.org.uk/news/000138/kc_expenses_saga_covered_in_private_eye.html The saga of the expenses of Conservative Council leader Merrick Cockell has been covered by Private Eye in their latest issue (13 Nov - 26 Nov). The story features prominently on their Rotten Boroughs page. The article mentions the dossier handed to the District Auditor by Robin Meltzer, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary campaigner for Kensington. 2009-11-11T14:17+00:00 http://kensingtonandchelsealibdems.org.uk/news/000137/lib_dems_hand_over_evidence_of_council_leaders_expenses_to_district_auditor.html Robin Meltzer, the Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Kensington, has written formally to the District Auditor regarding the expenses of Councillor Merrick Cockell, the Conservative Leader of the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. The matter had been referred to the District Auditor by Michael O'Higgins, the Chairman of the Audit Commission, to whom Mr Meltzer had expressed concerns about the appointment of Councillor Cockell to the Commission. 2009-11-03T18:13+00:00