Durham County Council, which last year refused to accept Lib Dem proposals to be carbon neutral by 2030 has ONLY 3 ELECTRIC vehicles.

When you consider that the Council has over 1000 vehicles and we have been banging on for years about them greening the fleet, this is quite shocking.

Cllr Mark Wilkes, Lib Dem Shadow Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods and Climate Change comments, “We were given assurances that the Council was going to move Rapidly to make the Council hit targets.

“To have less than 0.3%of our vehicles as electric is a shocking failure by this Labour-run council.

Fellow Lib Dem Craig Martin (North Lodge), is the Shadow Finance Portfolio Holder.

He explains, “A Lib Dem council would have moved far more quickly to green the council fleet. We will challenge this failure continually until we see action on the ground.”

Last year a Lib Dem motion calling for the Council to adopt the internationally recognised 2030 target was voted down by Labour councillors.

More recently the planning application for the Council’s new business park at Aykley Heads was challenged by Lib Dems for not even meeting the Council’s own environmental standards – despite it being the Council’s own scheme.

And Labour’s £50million new white elephant Headquarters on the Sands floodplain in Durham City isn’t carbon neutral either.

Our hardened team of volunteers are almost through delivering 20,000 leaflets across four electoral divisions around Durham City. If you haven’t seen it here’s a copy.

After local artist Peter Hemming raised concerns about access safety on one of our local paths local Lib Dem councillors Eric and Lesley Mavin intervened.

Peter comments, “Thank you for your perseverance when it seemed the wall of bureaucracy appeared to be insurmountable, but now, after many emails, the work has been completed.

“The pitch of the new steps is at less of an angle than the previous ones which makes them so much safer walking in both directions.”

Improving access for all

If there’s an area where access is difficult for local residents your Lib Dem councillors would like to know.

Earlier this year Labour councillors blocked attempts to fund disabled access ramps in the County despite the Lib Dem councillor group providing options to fund the works.

Cllr Eric Mavin comments, “We recognise that for the elderly and disabled, it can be difficult to get around. Contact us and we will do our best to find a way to fix these problems.”