Leader of the Liberal Democrats Ed Davey has slammed the Government for failing to build a plan to "bring the virus under control and keep people safe" and warned that Ministers must address growing concerns before his Party can vote for the new system.

In a letter to the Prime Minister ahead of the vote on the new measures in Parliament, the Liberal Democrat leader made clear that "without the assurances the public need" the Liberal Democrats "cannot in all conscience vote for this plan."

We gave a cautious welcome to the Governments proposals for becoming carbon neutral. Our doubts concerned not the objectives set but the lack of any obvious plans and more importantly the belief this dramatic shift in the way we operate could be achieved at next to no additional cost, which defied credibility see here

A Green Economic Recovery for hope: tackling the climate
emergency with the jobs and technology people need

The Liberal Democrats' ambitious ten point plan for UK Net-Zero

As we look to beat the Covid health crisis, we should be doing far more to tackle the two crises
that will still face us - the jobs crisis and the climate emergency.

Lib Dem Councillors give strong support to project to build the new Pavilion in the Park

'A no-brainer' was how Rob Archer, Lib Dem Councillor for Ashbourne South, described the opportunity for the District Council to underwrite this project so that work can begin before the end of the year.

The project has been the work of registered charity the Ashbourne and District Recreation Ground Sports and Community Partnership. Led by Chairman John Lake with a team of talented locals, the partnership has sought funding from a range of sources including the Football Foundation and the England and Wales Cricket Board who have between them contributed £0.5 million to the project. The final cost of the state of the art facility will be approximately £0.8 million.

It wasn't just Covid-19 cases that came right back up after lockdown.

One of the NOx measurement tubes on Buxton Road Ashbourne has recorded an all time high value of over 70ugm-3 (unadjusted value). The 'safe limit' is 40ugm-3. Even with the reduction in traffic due to the first lockdown the annual average is looking like it will be close to or exceeding 60ugm-3 and it is at this level that consideration has to be given not just to those who live in the vicinity but also those who simply walk by. An annual average (adjusted) of 60ugm-3 or higher triggers the requirement to measure hourly averages to see if they are exceeding the 200ugm-3 legal limit.

From December 2nd Derbyshire Dales, together with the rest of Derbyshire, will be in Tier 3.

This poster summarises the restrictions.

Does the promise of a future by-pass have to mean no traffic improvements now?

In the much anticipated Derbyshire County Council Public Consultation (found here and also in a leaflet delivered to Ashbourne residents) we are informed that there are FOUR Options.

Two of these (Options 3 and 4) are by-pass routes that pass to the west and east of the town respectively. In the detailed information provided online we learn that we are in an 'early stage consultation' and any hopes that road building is about to take place are quickly dispelled.

Ashbourne does in fact already have a bypass - taking the A52 around the South of the town and currently being used by over 9,000 vehicles per day, according to the data on AADT (Annual Average Daily Traffic) published by Aecom in a study commissioned by Derbyshire County Council.
Unfortunately they failed to extend it to relieve the traffic that currently uses the A515 to travel from north to south through the town's narrow streets, currently seeing approximately 7,000 vehicles a day, of which 10% are HGV.

We recently commented on what is being described as a chumocracy in which political friends of the government seem to be favoured when contracts are being handed out to fight the pandemic See here

There is obviously a strong argument that corners need to be cut when trying to find global sources of PPE for example but these concerns have been amplified by a report from the independent National Audit Office, Britain's public spending watchdog