http://www.hounslowlibdems.org.uk/newsarchive.php Recent News Stories from Hounslow Liberal Democrats en-GB Hounslow Liberal Democrats http://www.hounslowlibdems.org.uk/ Prater Raines Ltd http://www.praterraines.co.uk/ (c) 2010 Hounslow Liberal Democrats 2010-02-09T07:28+00:00 United Kingdom http://www.hounslowlibdems.org.uk/news/000375/cluck_cluck_cluck__lib_dems__independents_secure_switch_of_25000_eggs_to_free_range.html Lib Dems and Independents this week celebrated the local authority agreeing to switch from buying 25,000+ caged eggs per annum to barn or free range eggs. In a joint campaign Cllrs Andrew Dakers and Caroline Andrews researched the issue and then put a motion to full borough council. This aspect of their motion was passed on Tuesday night. Cllrs Dakers and Andrews will be continuing to push for the Council to phase out food products containing unsustainable palm oil and join the Sustainable Restaurants Association to further improve standards. The Conservative councillors responsible have committed to explore both of these issues further. 2010-01-31T00:00+00:00 http://www.hounslowlibdems.org.uk/news/000371/lib_dems_back_urgent_appeal_for_funds_to_support_high_court_appeal_against_moorings_where_grand_union_meets_river_thames.html Brentford Community Council's Waterways sub-committee has today issued an urgent call for support to raise £3000 in the next week to help fund an appeal in the High Court of planning permission granted to moor boats where the River Brent meets the River Thames. The appeal has also been supported by the Environmental Law Foundation and monies raised will fund their continued work on the case. 2010-01-08T00:00+00:00 http://www.hounslowlibdems.org.uk/news/000359/council_claws_back_54k_from_sita_in_poor_contract_performance.html In Hounslow Borough Full Council this evening Cllr Dakers asked Cllr Thompson, Tory Leader of the Council: "What are the figures for performance on non-delivery of punctual door-to-door dustbin and recycling services, and how much has the Council received so far in compensation/ penalty payments for poor performance since the start of the new contract?" In response, Cllr Thompson revealed that the Council has clawed £54k in penalty payments from SITA since the start of the contract. 2009-10-27T00:00+00:00 http://www.hounslowlibdems.org.uk/news/000361/lib_dems_secure_crossparty_backing_for_hounslow_council_to_make_1010_climate_change_pledge.html Lib Dems tonight secured cross-party backing for a motion to full borough Council calling on Hounslow to pledge its support to the 10:10 climate change campaign. A minor amendment was put forward by the Tories and accepted by the Lib Dem movers of the motion, Cllrs Dakers and Howliston. The 10:10 pledge means that LB Hounslow must work to reduce its CO2 emissions by 10% in 2010. 2009-10-27T00:00+00:00 http://www.hounslowlibdems.org.uk/news/000342/heathrow_third_runway_decision_will_have_disastrous_consequences_says_dakers.html The Government has today finally announced its backing for the building of the third runway and a 6th terminal. The Lib Dems were the first party in parliament to oppose a third runway at Heathrow and indeed we introduced a motion calling for the plan to be abandoned as long ago as the 8 May 2007. Unfortunately, we were not supported on that occasion by either Labour or the Conservatives, though we are pleased to see that opposition to a third runway is now increasing. Cllr Dakers, Leader of Hounslow Liberal Democrats was the only local councillor to join the Climate Camp at Heathrow for a week in the summer of 2007. 2009-01-15T00:00+00:00 http://www.hounslowlibdems.org.uk/news/000332/liberal_democrats_in_hounslow_back_national_recycling_week.html A UK-wide campaign to encourage people to recycle more of their household waste has been backed by Liberal Democrats in Hounslow. National Recycling Week is being held on 2nd - 8th June. This is the fifth year it has been held. It is run by Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP), a national organisation set up to help people produce less waste and advise on how best to deal with rubbish in an environmentally friendly way. 2008-06-02T00:00+01:00 http://www.hounslowlibdems.org.uk/news/000328/lib_dems_call_for_ann_keen_to_resign_from_government_over_heathrow.html Cllr Andrew Dakers, Leader of Hounslow Liberal Democrats and Parliamentary Candidate, this week called for local MP Ann Keen to publicly signal that she will resign from the Labour government if the Department for Transport do not start listening to local peoples' views on Heathrow Airport Expansion. In in a letter to the MP he said "this would have a real impact and plainly alert the Prime Minister to the public discontent and fears around this impending decision." Cllr Dakers also challenged the ability of Conservative candidate Ms Macleod to represent the constituency any better if she joined a Conservative government supporting Heathrow expansion. 2008-02-27T00:00+00:00 http://www.hounslowlibdems.org.uk/news/000310/hounslow_tories_failing_to_take_climate_change_seriously.html LIB DEMS PROPOSE HOUNSLOW CLIMATE CHANGE INVESTMENT FUND: Cllr Andrew Dakers last night called for much more urgency from the Tory-led administration in tackling climate change. Cllr Dakers called on the administration to establish a multi-million pound climate change investment fund and 'Energy Services Company' (ESCO) following the lead of authorities such as Woking, Camden and Richmond. He also reiterated Liberal Democrats previous demands for the appointment of an energy manager, cycling officer and sustainable food officer. 2007-10-31T00:00+00:00 http://www.hounslowlibdems.org.uk/news/000325/letter_local_councillor_and_climate_campers_perspective_on_the_heathrow_climate_camp.html Dear editor, I arrived yesterday, like many campers by bicycle - in fact my locally made Brompton. Like most arrivals on Monday I was stopped and searched. According to the police paperwork this was because I could have been carrying an offensive weapon. 2007-08-16T00:00+01:00 http://www.hounslowlibdems.org.uk/news/000297/climate_camp_will_highlight_urgent_need_for_change__dakers.html Campaigners have today succeeded in stopping the worst excesses of an injunction that would have seen a wide-ranging ban on the forthcoming 'Climate Camp' demonstrations at Heathrow. Even the Queen would have been under injunction in her capacity as patron of the Council for Protection of Rural England (CPRE). Lib Dem Cllr Dakers, who as a member of Friends of the Earth was threatened by the injunction, joined fellow campaigners outside the High Court at the start of hearing and has welcomed today's result. He plans to spend some of his summer break at the camp. 2007-08-06T00:00+01:00 http://www.hounslowlibdems.org.uk/news/000296/councillors_celebrate_joint_efforts_to_secure_hounslows_first_bicycle_club.html Councillors Caroline Andrews and Andrew Dakers, both regular cyclists, are celebrating the recent success of their joint efforts to secure Hounslow's first Bicycle Club as part of a new development. The Bicycle Club will be included as part of a housing scheme on the eastern end of the West Middlesex Hospital site. The objective is to reduce the number of car journeys causing pressure on the local transport network and to reduce CO2 emissions. 2007-07-31T00:00+01:00 http://www.hounslowlibdems.org.uk/news/000280/anticyclist_signs_a_waste_of_taxpayers_money.html Cycling enthusiasts Cllr Andrew Dakers (Lib Dem prospective parliamentary candidate for Brentford & Isleworth constituency) and John Bradley (Green Party parliamentary candidate at the 1997 General Election) have teamed up to highlight the waste of taxpayers money on two signs banning cyclists on a 15 metre stretch from Market Place to The Butts in Brentford. Since the signs were installed late last year Andrew and John have never seen a cyclist follow the draconian measures, which they argue are both unrealistic and unnecessary on such a short stretch of pavement. Both have complained to Hounslow Council calling for the removal of the signs, but so far their complaints have fallen on deaf ears. 2007-06-11T22:35+01:00 http://www.hounslowlibdems.org.uk/news/000263/hypocritical_mp_sets_new_double_standards.html Local MP Ann Keen set new double standards today. First the MP, who voted in Parliament against controls on CO2 emitting, noisy night flights, hosted a screening of Al Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth' - a film explaining the need for urgent action on climate change. Second, in the lobby of Holiday Inn Brentford, the MP's representative - after going off to check - barred Leader of Hounslow Liberal Democrats Cllr Andrew Dakers from attending the film screening and following discussion. This despite his earlier invitation to the event from the MP. The excuse: they had run out of chairs. The rude behaviour came a matter of days after Labour group leader Cllr Sharma said a motion passed last week by Hounslow Council was "short-sighted and, frankly, small-minded". The motion requires Conservative-Community Group Executive members to sign off any future Council invitations to the borough's MPs until their policy of non-cooperation with the Council comes to an end. 2007-04-29T23:15+01:00 http://www.hounslowlibdems.org.uk/news/000267/dakers_welcomes_new_cycling_tests_for_children.html New cycling tests for children have been welcomed by Andrew Dakers, Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson for Brentford & Isleworth. The plans were announced by the government this week to replace the proficiency test carried out in school playgrounds. 2007-03-26T00:00+01:00 http://www.hounslowlibdems.org.uk/news/000258/shops_must_reduce_wasteful_packaging__dakers.html Hounslow Liberal Democrats have called on local MPs Alan and Ann Keen to back a Bill presented by Liberal Democrat Shadow Local Government Secretary Andrew Stunell MP to require all large shops to accept packing returned by customers. Packaging typically costs a family £470 each year, one sixth of their food budgets, according to the Government's own Waste Resources Action Programme. 2007-03-12T14:28+00:00