Julian Sturdy

I am delighted that David Cameron has set out his plans under a Conservative Government to control the power of the state and make it more accountable to people. In a speech at Imperial College, he attacked Labour for having “diminished personal freedom and diluted political accountability” over the last twelve years. He promised, “At the heart of our programme for government will be our intention to change fundamentally the balance of power between the citizen and the state so that ultimately it is people in control of their government, not the other way round.”

David said a Conservative Government would revoke the “unjustified and unreasonable” powers that let authorities enter your home without your permission, and strengthen the right to trial by jury. He promised to scrap the ID card scheme and remove innocent people’s records from the DNA database. And he announced plans to open up information and set public data free:

“In the first year of the next Conservative Government, we will find the most useful information in twenty different areas ranging from information about the NHS to information about schools and road traffic and publish it so people can use it.”

David stressed that, taken together, these measures would “increase personal freedom and political accountability, restore trust, and help bring about the new politics we need so badly.”

Read David’s speech on giving power back to the people

These are difficult times in politics and there is a lot of questions that still need answering, but as we go to the polls today for the European Elections and also County Council Elections outside of York it is worth remembering that this week also sees the 20^th anniversary of the crushing of China’s hopes of democracy in Tiannamen Square. These elections are important today and I would urge everyone to exercise there democratic right to vote, for some 1.3 billion Chinese elections are still a dream. 

We have a very good team of candidates for today’s European Elections, Edward McMillan-Scott and Timothy Kirkhope our two local MEP’s who have worked so hard to fight for our regions interests in Europe, are re-standing and they are joined by four other very able candidates. You can read more about our European team, including pictures and profiles, online at www.yorkshireconservatives.com/europe

Also watch what David Cameron has been saying about these elections. He has stressed the need for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty and explains that voting Conservative on June 4^th is the best way to force Gordon Brown to keep his promise to hold one.

Watch David’s latest video messages here>>

Michael Gove the shadow Children, Schools and Families Minister was in North Yorkshire on Tuesday to launch the Conservative Party’s manifesto for the County Council Election. However, before he had to head back to London for an Education debate, Michael accompanied me on a visit to Creepy Crawlies adventure play park on Wigginton Road where we met with the owner and members of the Play Providers Association to discuss issues that they are facing within the industry at the moment.

This is a fantastic facility for children which enables them to play and learn at the same time. I have taken my children there on a number of occasions and would recommend anyone with children or grandchildren to give it a try.

Local residents living on the edge of Copmanthorpe are up in arms at the potential loss of their bus service. York City Council has decided to re-organise the bus route which currently runs down Temple Lane serving Drome Road and Temple Garth. The new services will completely by-pass this area leaving local residents without any direct access to public transport.

The strength of feeling amongst local residents against this proposed cut to their bus service was demonstrated at a recent public meeting which we organised. At the meeting the Council Officers who attended were asked to look into alternative arrangements whereby a service could be provided. We have since followed this up by organising a petition of local residents against the Council’s decision to cut these services which was presented at the full Council meeting last week.

This would be a devastating blow for local residents if the Council carried through with its plans to cut this service. The Temple Lane area is isolated from Copmanthorpe village centre by the East Coast mainline, and consequently many people rely on this bus to visit the local shops, access the doctors or dentist and without it they will be completely cut off. I believe this is unacceptable and action to secure this service has to be taken.

Following a number of meetings with the bus companies and a huge response to our local campaign, York Pullman Bus Company have stepped in to run the evening services for the number ten route that First York will stop running on the 26th April. The Yorkshire Coasterliner has also agreed to divert through Copmanthorpe village to cover the number thirteen route after 7.30pm.

In the middle of March First York put forward proposals to cut evening services on a number of their bus routes. This proposal would have had a huge impact on a number of villages on the edge of York. The Villages of Upper and Nether Poppleton, Dunnington and Copmanthorpe would have been particular badly affected so I am delighted that these evening services have been saved.   

I am delighted that York City Council has refused the latest application to build a mobile phone mast on Green Belt land at the bottom of Church Lane in Huntington, thank you to everyone who joined my campaign against the proposal. However, as York City Council goes through its latest Local Development Framework proposals looking at where the City will be able to provided the 850 houses a year the Government is imposing on us, it begs the question, surely there must be a better way?   

Our green and open spaces provide a precious amenity which is important to people living in and around York. However in our area, just as all over the country, the Government is implementing binding top-down housing targets through regional plans on local authorities. These are imposing unsustainable levels of development on local communities and as a consequence are putting our green belt under threat.

An incoming Conservative Government in direct contrast to Labour’s top down approach would abolish the whole process of regional planning, scrapping regional spatial strategies and return powers to local Councils. This means the number of homes to be built would be decided locally, putting local decision making at the heart of housing policy. This would enable us to protect our green belt and open spaces, which should be treasured for future generations to come.

Following a recent meeting myself and Cllr Wiseman had with the Highways Agency regarding our campaign to improve road safety at the notorious A64 Hazelbush Crossroads, I am pleased to say that officials have agreed to look into improving safety at this accident black spot.  

Over 12 hundred people signed our petition calling on the Highways Agency to provide funding options for improving road safety at this junction. This huge amount of support from local residents enabled us to send a strong message to the Highways Agency at the meeting, that action must be taken.

The Highways Agency is now revisiting this junction once again and has already earmarked funding options for improvement work in the 2009/10 budget. We have also been lobbying York City Council to work alongside the Highways Agency to help provide improvements on the access roads that serve the A64 at this busy junction.

Local bus company First York  have announced plans to cut services. They are proposing the removal of the evening service after 7.30pm on the number 10 route (Stamford Bridge to Poppleton) which comes through Dunnington, the number 13 route (Copmanthorpe to Monks Cross) and the number 12 route (Haxby to Acomb Park).

I am very disappointed the bus company is proposing to cut some of its services for villages on the edge of York, particularly in the evening. People living in these villages without direct access to a car rely heavily on these services to get them in and out of York and will be isolated after 7.30pm. If we are to persuade people to use public transport on a more regular basis to cut down on the ever increasing traffic congestion, it is essential to provide a reliable integrated transport system that can meet everyone’s needs, cutting these services is a backward step and does nothing to help achieve this.  This week I attended the Annual Parish meeting in Dunnington, one of the villages to be directly affected by the proposed cuts. It was made perfectly clear to me the strength of feeling against the bus companies decision, these local bus services are a vital life line for rural villages like Dunnington and we must fight to keep them.

I will be meeting with First York to discuss the proposed cuts over the next few days and keep readers informed of my progress.

Following the successful campaign at the end of last year against the original proposal to construct a telecommunications mast on Green Belt land at the bottom of Church Lane, Huntington, the applicants have re-submitted the proposal. The site which is located on farm land just south of Hall Farm is on the edge of Huntington Village’s Conservation area and close to the popular public footpaths that run along side the river Foss.

I have to say that I am disappointed but not totally surprised that two months after successfully protecting our local green belt from this development, we have to do it all again. The proposed mast is completely inappropriate to this area of natural beauty on the edge of Huntington village. It would have a detrimental impact on the local amenity and green belt area used by local residents who at present enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

The application is scheduled to be determined by York City Council’s East Area Planning Committee on the 12^th March. Resident’s wishing to object to this application should respond by writing to:

The Planning Office, York City Council, 9 St Leonards Place, York, YO1 7ET

Quoting Planning Application Reference 09/00143/FUL

William Hague has launched a ‘Commission on Transport in the North’ to help shape the future transport policies of a Conservative Government for our region. Mr Hague was joined by the Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers at the event held in Leeds.

I was also attending to raise the issues of York’s transport infrastructure which has been ignored for far too long. I am delighted as a born and bred Yorkshire man that yet again the Conservative Party is showing it’s long term commitment to our region by launching this Commission. It has been set up to listen to people’s views on the transport challenges for our area. Everyone is invited to have their say, so please put your views forward, the Commission wants to hear from you. The Commission’s website which can be found at www.transportinthenorth.com

The Commission’s launch followed on the back of the disappointing news that a £42 million bid for road improvements to York’s Northern Ring Road was turned down by the Regional Transport Board, which is something I raised with Theresa Villiers. As the congestion levels only get worse it is important that we continue to highlight the problems facing local residents who have to use this road on a daily basis. I will certainly be pressing to make sure that the York Northern Ring road as well as rail halts for Haxby and Strensall are high up on the Commission’s agenda.