Liberal Democrat Councillors Steve Guy & Trevor Snaith have submitted the following motion which will be debated at the next full council meeting on 13th December. The meeting is open to the public.

(i) The following Notice of Motion is submitted by Councillor S Guy and seconded by Councillor T Snaith:

“The Comprehensive Spending Review requires that all Local Authorities realise savings as part of the national effort to reduce the structural deficit. This Council is facing tough decisions as it plays its part in making those savings in coming years.

This Council has earmarked £750,000 for preparatory activities designed to facilitate a possible new ‘Community Stadium’ for London Wasps and Wycombe Wanderers. Approximately one third of this money has been spent so far. At this time, the venture is speculative with no guarantee of bringing long term overall benefit to the District, or to the Council’s finances.

This Council therefore resolves to cease spending public money on the Community Stadium venture forthwith.”


Councillors Steve Guy and Julia Wassell met with members of Booker Gliding Club who informed the Liberal Democrat Councillors that if the plans to build a rugby stadium at Booker go ahead they will be forced to close and gliding will be gone forever in Wycombe.

The Liberal Democrat Councillors were on a fact finding mission to find out all about the gliding club. After the meeting Julia gave Steve an early Christmas present by paying for Steve to have his first ever flight in a glider.

Steve Guy prepares for his first flight at Booker

Steve Guy said “I found the meeting extremely useful as I was unaware of the number of people locally who will be affected by the closure of this club or the history of what I now see is a hidden gem in Wycombe. Gliding has been at our local airfield since 1942 when the Glider Pilot Regiment were trained there.

The club introduces around 800 members of the public from all walks of life to the sport each year, they have an active cadet scheme that trains youngsters to fly from the age of 14. We spoke to one of the young cadets who explained that the scheme enables her to earn credits by doing jobs that can then be exchanged for free flying. The club has trained 2 World Champions and 8 National Champions. It is a Community facility Wycombe can rightly feel extremely proud of.”

It was an amazing experience to go up in one of the gliders and see from the air the site that is proposed for the rugby stadium. From above you can see clearly why the land is currently protected. If the Council allow the development it will remove the green belt separating the communities of Lane End and Marlow from Wycombe. I would recommend that other Councillors do what I have done, visit the club, speak to the members and young cadets, see the passion they have for their sport and then book a lesson and see for themselves from the air just what this development will destroy. I am convinced that if they did this they would not support this development any further”.

Wycombe Liberal Democrats submitted the  motion (below) to our Regional conference which was overwhelmingly passed with just 3 votes against.

Our Parliamentary Candidate Steve Guy proposed the motion saying that he had given an undertaking to students in Wycombe that if elected he would vote against increasing tuition fees.

Callum Morton, Student President at Amersham & Wycombe College spoke on behalf of local students, asking Conference to back the motion and send a clear message to MP’s that they should honour the pledge they made.

The motion will be sent to the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party at Westminster and all Liberal Democrats MP’s in our region.

The motion in full:

Conference notes that:
I)        Liberal Democrat ministers in Government have taken the decision to promote increased tuition fees for students in Higher Education.
II)       On 13th October 2010 the Federal Policy committee issued a statement confirming that Liberal Democrat policy remains to phase out tuition fees. A policy that was included in the 2010 election manifesto and the amended motion passed at the special conference in Birmingham on 16th May 2010.
III)     The prospect of increasing student debt acts as a disincentive, particularly among prospective students from poorer households, to those students engaging in degree level courses.
IV)   Many Liberal Democrat candidates who are now Members of Parliament signed the National Union Of Students ‘Vote for Students’ pledge which stated “I pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament and to pressure the government to introduce a fairer alternative”

Conference calls on Liberal Democrat Members of Parliament to:
I)        Honour the pledge they made before the election and vote against any increase in Tuition fees.
II)       Work with our coalition partners and others to introduce a fairer alternative.

Following Steve Hayes announcement that he wants his new stadium to be built at Booker Conservative Councillor Tony Green assured residents via the Bucks Free Press that the announcement would have “no sway” on the Council or the public consultation.

However it is now clear that Wycombe Sports Developments Ltd are involved in a deliberate attempt to rig the consultation so that their preferred location in Booker is successful.

Steve Guy Liberal Democrat leader “I have been contacted by a resident who received this email and they were concerned at what is a clear attempt to skew the results of the consultation in favour of the Booker site. Having seen the email I am extremely concerned that both the announcement of Booker as the clubs preferred option and this email are clearly influencing the consultation to an unacceptable degree. I would challenge Councillor Green on whether he still thinks WSDL are having ‘no sway’ on the consultation.”

Bucks Free Press report on this press release can be found at:

http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/8473988.Lib_Dems_claim_email_tries_to__skew__stadium_consultation/

When Wycombe Liberal Democrats asked Wanderers fans in March 2010 on a match day whether they wanted to move to a new shared stadium at Booker with London Wasps they were split 50/50.

What has concerned many residents in Wycombe is the fact that £750,000 of tax payers money has already been allocated by the Conservatives to this project with no indication of the future costs to Wycombe tax payers.

The consultation runs until 29th October and can be completed online at

http://www.wycombe.gov.uk/council-services/planning-and-buildings/planning-news/wycombe-community-stadium-and-sports-project.aspx

Wycombe Liberal Democrats will not be giving instructions on what answers to give!

Earlier this week this week I went to Afghanistan and Pakistan to see for myself the problems and challenges that those countries face. The coalition government is committed to playing our part to helping ensure that the region has a peaceful and prosperous future.

It was my second visit to our armed forces in Afghanistan, where I saw again the bravery and professionalism of our troops. Whilst the situation in the country is still difficult, I believe that we are beginning to turn the corner. As the Prime Minister has made clear, British combat troops will leave Afghanistan by 2015 and it is important that by then we have a full political settlement to take the country forward.

Yesterday I was in Pakistan where I saw the almost unimaginable impact of the terrible floods. It is almost impossible to appreciate their scale — the affected area is approximately the same size as the UK.

I was deeply moved as I witnessed the flooding from the air. It is sadly clear that it will take years for life in Pakistan to come back to normal. I met with President Zardari and aid agency workers to discuss aid being delivered to Pakistan and what role Britain and the international community can play.

I’m proud that the British people and government have together contributed over £100m to assist the aid efforts. If you would like to donate to the DEC appeal for Pakistan, as I know many people will have done already, you can do so here: www.dec.org.uk

Best Wishes,

Nick Clegg MP

Leader of the Liberal Democrats & Deputy Prime Minister

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