Royston Liberal Democrats

Royston Lib Dems are pleased to announce that as from 13th May (the most recent Annual Meeting of Royston Town Council) we will be recording all public meetings of the Council and sharing these with the public on our website. We hope that this will enable more people to learn what occurs at council meetings and will facilitate a greater level of transparency and accountability. All public meetings will still be open for members of the public to attend.

You can listen to a recording of the meetings on the 13th May by clicking the “play” button below.

Royston Lib Dems are entering a team for the Royston & South Cambs Home-Start Aquathon on 19th May at Royston Leisure Centre. We will donate all the funds raised to this amazing local charity so please do give generously.  Click here to visit our JustGiving page where you can donate. You can sponsor us per length or just give a donation.

We could ideally do with at least one more swimmer. Our slot is at 7pm but you’d need to arrive shortly before. If you know anyone who would like to swim with us then please forward them the details and ask them to get in touch.

Home-Start Royston & South Cambridgeshire – This charity is entirely self funding and has a target of £159,000 to reach by 31 March 2020. This is a charity that supports families in times of crisis and difficulty. It’s vision is that the best start in life for children begins at home with family in a nurturing, loving, stable home environment which determines a child’s future life chances. They help families with children age 9 and under cope with post natal depression, illness, isolation, bereavement, disability, domestic abuse, mental health issues and much more, offering regular support and practical help to alleviate stress with a view to preventing family crisis and breakdown.

Carol Stanier has been elected in Royston Heath ward by a sizeable margin.  The full results are as follows:

The turnout was 40.34%.

A number of other Liberal Democrats were elected in other wards in North Hertfordshire, including Sean Prendergast who unseated the Conservative leader of the council, Tom Tyson in Arbury, Sam North in Cadwell, Keith Hoskins in Hitchin Highbury and Steve Jarvis who was reelected in Weston & Sandon.

Thank you to everyone who helped in the campaign — we couldn’t have done it without you.

The District Council elections are less than an month away!  Here’s some information on the candidates that are standing in Royston on behalf of the Liberal Democrats.

Royston Heath – Carol Stanier

Carol made her home in Royston nearly ten years ago and loves the area. She is an active Town Councillor for part of Heath ward and her young children attend a local school. This makes her passionate about children’s and family services, which are being cut back and back in the current climate. She is active in the community, running a local German conversation group and being involved in her school’s “Friends” group. She has campaigned on, amongst other things, the brown bin tax and on-street parking in Royston. As a scientist by training, she always tries to make decisions based on rational thought and evidence. Her experience of living abroad has taught her to be curious about and inclusive of other cultures and mindsets. She said “I have always been a Liberal Democrat supporter and voter, though I joined the party just after the referendum in 2016. Whether we are in or out of the EU, I want to make sure that the whole of the British people get the facilities and services that they require and deserve. I intend to be as approachable and open as possible to all those from my ward who come to me with ideas and questions, or asking for help.”

Royston Meridian – Peter Rice

Peter Rice is the Liberal Democrat candidate for the District Council elections in Meridian ward on Thursday 2nd May. A Royston resident himself, he is a professional open-source software developer for biology and medicine. He has been a church warden in Royston, and Hertfordshire chess captain. He has also represented Royston Bridge Club, winning twice. Peter took a lead locally campaigning for StrongerIn in 2016, helping to secure a victory for ‘Remain’ in North Hertfordshire, if not the wider country! Peter is passionate about improving parking in town and about protecting and enhancing Royston’s high street.

Royston Palace – Amy Di Capite

Amy relocated her young family from Cambridgeshire just over two years ago and now lives in the heart of Royston. Although currently a full-time mum, Amy has a degree in Chemical Engineering and previously worked on fluid flow for a Cambridge-based company. She is a frequent visitor and customer of Royston town centre and passionate about supporting the local businesses and regeneration of the High Street. Amy is the Liberal Democrat candidate for the District Council in Palace ward. She said, “I’m always out and about with my children using the public services and spaces Royston has to offer. As such, I want to help maintain and improve them for others to enjoy too.”

Ermine – Suzanne Anderton

Originally from the Peak District in Derbyshire, Suzie moved to the rural community of Barkway ten years ago. She is passionate about environmental issues, particularly the impact of single use plastics and the increase in the amount of plastic litter we see in our countryside and farmland. She commented “The volume of litter strewn across our country lanes and fields has grown at an alarming rate. It is worrying to see empty cans, bottles and plastic wrappers polluting the local farmland and ruining the beautiful countryside in which we live. More has to be done, on both a central and local government level, to ensure that litter and commercial waste is disposed of properly and where possible recycled.” Profoundly against Brexit Suzie believes that it is local businesses who are taking the brunt of the chaos currently being witnessing in Westminster. “The UK voting to leave the European Union saddens me greatly. I voted Remain and I still believe that as a nation we are stronger and more secure being in the EU rather than out. The Referendum was divisive and the result has split the nation. Regardless of what the future brings we now have to work together to unite our communities and regain trust with the people of this country who have lost faith in the political system. I believe that it is time to challenge the political status quo and that’s why Liberal Democrats supporters have to come together to challenge the Tories and Labour.”

Agent for all Royston and Ermine candidates: John Hully, 16 Betony Vale, Royston, SG8 9TS

Plans are being developed for a rail link between Cambridge and Bedford, as part of a wider reinstatement of a railway line between Cambridge and Oxford (which was called the “Varsity Line”).  This brings a number of opportunities for residents of Royston as well as some concerns that we believe should be addressed.  The organisation set up to deliver this new rail infrastructure, the East West Railway Company, has recently asked local residents for their views on a number of route options.  We decided to make the following response:

East West Rail Route Options consultation
Response from Royston Liberal Democrat Councillors
11th March 2019

We write to you as Town, District and County Councillors for Royston, speaking independently of our respective councils.

We are supportive of the principle of improving transport connections in our local area, and we positively welcome increased rail connectivity as a sustainable transport solution in preference to construction or widening of roads.

However, we have two main concerns:

1. We are concerned about the prospect of a new town of 100,000 people being built at Bassingbourn. It can be assumed that a number of the residents of this new town will commute to London, which will require substantial infrastructure improvements in Royston which are not specified in the consultation documents. Examples of these improvements include additional rail services into London, improved car parking at Royston station and a cycle route linking the two towns including a bridge over the A505.

We therefore oppose routes A, C and D unless a detailed plan for the required infrastructure improvements in Royston can be provided.

2. We are also concerned about the potential impact on railway capacity into Cambridge. We understand that capacity at Cambridge is already limiting Royston services so any works to bring a further connection into Cambridge will need to expand capacity for the existing routes as well as accommodate the new route.

We therefore have concerns about (but do not specifically oppose) routes A, B, C, D and E unless rail capacity is improved in the required manner.

Thomas Perry (Town Councillor for Royston Town South)
Carol Stanier (Town Councillor for Royston Town South)
Steve Jarvis (County Councillor for Royston West and Rural)
Ruth Brown (District and Town Councillor for Royston Heath and Royston Town West)
Emma Squire-Smith (Town Councillor for Royston Town West)

Conservatives at Herts County Council have decided to go ahead with a plan to “outsource” the running of all the county’s libraries.

This means that, rather than being run by the council, supervised by our county councillors, they will are likely to be run by some sort of trust. Just like the trusts that now run many other public services local people will have no say over its operation.

Residents in Heath Avenue, Chilcott and Briary Lane have been telling Carol Stanier that they are fed up with their roads used being used as a town centre car park making it difficult to get out of drives and cutting visibility at junctions.

There was supposed to be a review of Royston’s parking problems which should have resulted in yellow lines or residents’ parking areas to address the problems. Unfortunately North Herts Council has been stalling on changes for nearly two years.

Carol Stanier has asked them to get a move on and get the problems sorted.

All lights to stay on until 1.00 am

For several years Liberal Democrat County Councillors have been arguing that the street lights that are turned off at midnight should be kept on later. Particularly around town centres and stations there are people still making their way home at this time who need the lights to be on.

We are pleased to say that the County Council has eventually listened and agreed that street lights that have been converted to LEDs will be left on until 1.00 am rather than going off at midnight. This will be paid for by dimming the lights (which trials show most people don’t notice) after 9.00 pm. This means that there is no additional cost or energy usage.

We have actually come up with a way to save even more money and energy and leave town centre lights on until 2.00 am, but at the moment the Conservatives are refusing to do this.