Author: Sonja Francis

THE Liberal Democrat party election candidate for the Henley constituency, Andy Crick, has responded to a series of questions about local, Thame issues. Here are his responses:

1. Do you think that the proposed 850 new homes earmarked for Thame by the South East Core Strategy will be good for the town, or not?

A: I would support more housing for Thame if it goes to the right areas, if it can be agreed in consultation with local residents and if it is of a good standard.

2. What will you do to persuade the government (if your party forms or is part of a balanced government) to do something about the economic viability of market towns?

A: We will seek to bring business rates back to the control of local councils and we will reform the way they are calculated so that they are fairer to smaller businesses. We will reduce red tape for all businesses and include ‘sunset’ clauses in any new business regulations so that they must be reviewed regularly. We will use the roads budget to invest in reopening rail lines. The former line from Oxford to Thame would be a prime example of a new line. We would also support additional housing where appropriate to ensure that our market towns continue to thrive.

We also have a clear plan to return the Post Office to profitability by introducing a ‘Postbank’ and ensuring that more services are offered through the huge network of Post Offices.

3. How will you ensure that Thame Community Hospital remains as such and that the promised future development of is services will good ahead, without losing the 12 beds currently available?

A: My party wants to devolve decision-making on health to communities through locally elected health boards and by giving control of our hospitals back to staff and patients in those communities. I strongly support our community hospitals and I will fight for their continued existence in any future plan for delivering high quality healthcare for the constituency. If decisions are made locally, it will be easier to make a strong case for hospital beds remaining in Thame.

4. Thame is trying to ‘go green’ with several groups springing up, ie Greening Thame and Transitions Towns; What will you do to ensure that Thame and other market towns can move towards becoming a sustainable community?

A: I have a strong personal commitment to environmental issues and I will seek to lead by example through simple measures such as reducing the waste my constituency office will produce, purchasing 100% green energy and moving towards green transport as soon as possible (a number of electric cars are in development at the moment, including a new Mini).

We have national plans to slash emissions which will feed into the work of local groups across the country. We want to begin a ten year programme of home insulation to reduce emissions and cut people’s fuel bills. We will offer small grants of

THE Conservative party election candidate for the Henley constituency, John Howell, has responded to a series of questions about local, Thame issues.

Here are the questions posed and John Howell’s replies:

1. Do you think that the proposed 850 new homes earmarked for Thame by the South East Core Strategy will be good for the town, or not?

A: The people of Thame including those residents group to whom I have talked and helped accept that there is a need for some houses in Thame to meet our need and to ensure that the town remains vibrant and healthy for the future. The number of 850 has been imposed from above by Labour’s central and regional government rather than by a bottom-up approach from the town itself and it is therefore not surprising that it is does not relate to Thame’s own real needs.

Many local residents have already pointed out the difficulty that such a large number of houses would create for the town’s infrastructure such as roads, schools and surgeries and the problems of flooding – and they are right.

That is why, when I was first elected Thame’s MP I held a seminar for the town council to try get the town to focus on a vision for Thame and to come to its own conclusions as to what the right number of houses is. This work is now imperative and I remain ready to help.

I have already set out in the planning policies which I have written and which my Party has adopted how it will be different under a Conservative government by ensuring that plans are built from the bottom-up, that local views really do mean something and that there are real cash incentives available for councils to fund for example infrastructure for new housing which will make sure that we build homes instead of just houses. This is no time for tinkering with the planning system. Only a complete reform will serve our needs for the future.

We all want a say in shaping the place in which we live. By revoking Labour’s regional targets for local councils as soon as we are in Government we will bring the decisions on the number of houses back home. That is why I asked the district council to stop any work on its plans until after the election.

2. What will you do to persuade the government (if your party forms or is part of a balanced government) to do something about the economic viability of market towns?

A: The term ‘balanced government’ is one of the worst euphemisms for coalition I have heard. A coalition will neither be balanced nor be able to govern. Worst of all a coalition particularly of Labour and the Liberal-Democrats will push us further back into recession and will provide no economic stability which market towns need to prosper. The truth is that if you vote red and yellow you will get Brown.

The key thing for our market towns is to get the economy back in shape as quckly as possible and Thame’s business knows this. In a survey I recently undertook of the town’s businesses there was a massive majority in favour of Conservative plans to reduce Labour’s hike in National Insurance because it is a tax on jobs in Thame.

Secondly, we need to be able to attract first-time buyers to Thame. That should not be difficult because it is a great town. So why, then are the Liberal-Democrats proposing 7% VAT on new houses (currently 0%) which would add an additional

JOHN Howell, the local Conservative election candidate, chose the Cross Keys pub in Thame last Thursday, April 29, to meet Thame constituents for an informat chat about local issues.

John Howell said of the event: “Having opened Thame’s brewery at the pub earlier in the year it was an obvious place to hold my meeting. The whole point of these meetings is that there are not set speeches. Individual voters have the chance of some quality time with me to talk in some detail about the issues which affect them. This is a much more mature way of approaching the voter than traditional set-piece hustings and, as many national papers have pointed out, is more in keeping with the national mood.

“For example, at the Cross Keys I was able to discuss the position of the proposed 850 houses in Thame and how the Conservative planning policies I had written would ensure this did not happen again and would give Thame more flexibility over the current numbers. We were also able to discuss rationally issues like immigration and the economy. Most importantly, on all these subjets people were able to look me in the eyes and judge me for myself. I feel vindicated by the success of these meetings.”

John Howell has promised to continue the programme of more intimate meetings with local residents in the constituency if elected.

PHOTO: John Howell pulls a pint during the recent opening of the Cross Keys micro brewere.

LIBERAL Democrat candidate, Andy Crick, today thanked residents of the Henley constituency for their support during this election campaign.

In his statement, Andy Crick said: “It has been a great privilege for me to stand as a candidate in this election and to meet so many people across the Henley constituency.

“This election has got people talking and interested in politics, which is good for our democracy. I haven’t had an easy ride from everyone but I have been engaged and argued with about the policies of the Liberal Democrats ? and more than ever I have had people coming to me to pledge their support for the positive change I am fighting for.

?There is a strong appetite for change in this constituency and I hope that residents will not be scared off by threats from tabloid newspapers, banks or old parties. We can all wake up on Friday morning with a once in a generation opportunity for real change or we can stick with the same old politics.?

THE Labour party election candidate for the Henley constituency, Richard McKenzie, has responded to a series of questions about local, Thame issues.

Here is his response:

1. Do you think that the proposed 850 new homes earmarked for Thame by the South East Core Strategy will be good for the town, or not?

A: For small towns to be viable there need to be enough houses, that people can afford, for people to be able to move in to. I agree with the Party manifesto, where we want houses to be principally built on brown field sites and for Councils to be able to build council houses. In relation to the question, I understand that the actual number has not come from the SE plan, but SODC who are seeking to allocate that number of houses to Thame. If Thame needs new houses there should be sensible proposals from SODC to allocate the number to make sure that the number is sustainable and the land is available.

2. What will you do to persuade the government (if your party forms or is part of a balanced government) to do something about the economic viability of market towns?

A: These two questions are connected, for towns to be viable people have to be able to afford to live in them and there needs to be sufficient infra structure to support them. In the first instance the Labour Party has declared a 2 year holiday on Stamp Duty for houses below