Tag Archives: lisa smart

Lisa Smart steps in

Lisa Smart has made The Guardian in a story about an issue we all love to hate – sewage: Sewage-soaked field stops creation of new woodland in Greater Manchester where you can view of photo of Lisa gamely inspecting the mess.

Lisa is a councillor on Stockport Council and our PPC for Hazel Grove. The article tells us:

Plans to plant a new woodland have been cancelled after local councillors discovered a field was so saturated with sewage the soil could be too toxic for the trees.

The woodland was to have been planted in a council-owned field located by Otterspool Road in Romiley, Greater Manchester. Officials hoped the woodland would improve the environment, provide green space and encourage wildlife habitats.

However, Stockport councillors have learned the land is unsuitable for tree planting because of sewage discharges leaching into the ground. They were told the resulting soil contamination would make it hard to plant the trees, so they had decided to cancel the woodland.

And the blame for this stink?

According to Environment Agency data, United Utilities discharged sewage at Otterspool Road 135 times last year, which amounted to 40 days of sewage flowing.

The water company was found to be the most polluting in the country last year. One of United Utilities’ pipes spilled sewage into the River Ellen, near the Lake District, for nearly 7,000 hours in 2022. Environment Agency data also showed that 10 of the country’s 20 pipes that spilled the most sewage in 2022 were owned by United Utilities, which provides water to the north-west and the Lake District.

This isn’t the first time Lisa has looked into sewage. She has been running a campaign on river pollution for some time, and tells us that “Lib Dem run Stockport Council has become the first council in the country to launch an official Sewage Inquiry”, which she is chairing.

The Manchester Evening News covered the campaign with this headline: “Toilet paper hanging from trees…and the smell”: Sewage inquiry launched after water firm pumped filth into river nearly 1,000 times last year.

Posted in News | Also tagged | 4 Comments

24 January 2023 – today’s press releases

  • Borrowing Figures: The Govt have no economic competence left
  • Stockport becomes first council to launch a sewage inquiry amid public outrage
  • Mark Drakeford Challenged on Abysmal Ambulance Waiting Times

Borrowing Figures: The Govt have no economic competence left

Responding to the latest borrowing figures, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:

A toxic combination of Conservative incompetence and reckless decision making at the top of Government have blown a hole in the country’s finances, and now ministers are making British families pay for it.

A long-list of Conservative Chancellors have hiked taxes, added hundreds of pounds a month to mortgages and left the country with unnecessarily high borrowing costs. The British public will never trust the Conservative party again with the economy. This Conservative Government doesn’t have a shred of economic competence left after months of chaos.

Stockport becomes first council to launch a sewage inquiry amid public outrage

  • Water company hauled in front of public meeting to defend thousands of hours worth of sewage discharges into rivers
  • The Environment Agency confirms in written evidence that water quality is “poor” and the Water Industry “is responsible”
  • Chair of the new inquiry Cllr Smart slams “a national scandal which pollutes our rivers and puts animals lives at risk”

Liberal Democrat run Stockport Council has become the first council in the country to launch an official Sewage Inquiry.

There is widespread outrage across Stockport after United Utilities dumped sewage into the river Mersey a staggering 977 times last year, lasting 3,271 hours. Across Stockport, the water firm discharged 13,372 hours of sewage discharges into local rivers.

Posted in News and Press releases | Also tagged , , , , and | 1 Comment

Rebellions are built in Hope – the launch of the Northern Liberal Network

New year is a time for new projects. And with a parliament likely to last four years, we have time to devote to thinking about where we want the party to be by 2024 – and how we get there. So before Christmas, Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) and I met up for a pub lunch in the Peak District. We picked Hope, partly because it’s halfway between our homes, and partly because… well… we could use some hope.

While this election was disappointing across the board, the result masks significant regional variation. We did relatively well in London and the south east, despite heartbreaking near-misses in Wimbledon and Carshalton and Wallington. But elsewhere in the country our performance was weaker – even in areas, like Sheffield Hallam, that voted remain.

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged and | 26 Comments

A longer listen for the weekend: Can liberalism be better advanced by Lib Dems or Tories?

That was the topic up for debate at a fringe event a week ago at Spring Conference, hosted jointly by the Electoral Reform Society and Liberal Reform.

Lisa Smart, PPC for Hazel Grove, chaired the discussion, with Lib Dem MP Jeremy Browne, Conservative and Director of Bright Blue Ryan Shorthouse, and the ERS’s Nick Tyrone completing the panel.

As Jeremy indicates at the beginning of his remarks, he can answer the question shortly: the Lib Dems are the proper home for liberals. But fortunately for the audience he elaborated a little, including some challenges that he thinks the party has to meet if it is to remain at the liberal cutting edge.

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Nick Clegg’s Letter from the Leader: Sticking to the task

The letter is much more interesting than its uninspiring title. A very personal tribute to Andrew Stunell, standing down as MP for Hazel Grove in 2015  and praise for Lisa Smart, who was this week  selected to fight the seat. The underlying theme is that Liberal Democrats are anchoring Britain in the liberal centre ground while the other parties lurch to left and right. 

The personal stuff about Andrew and Lisa made me think that it would be good if, over the next few months, he highlighted the successes of some of our local councillors as well as parliamentary candidate as

Posted in News | Also tagged | 11 Comments

Andrew Stunell to stand down in 2015; Lisa Smart selected

stunnell and smartAndrew Stunell has announced that in 2015 he will be retiring as the MP for Hazel Grove, where he was first elected in 1997.

Andrew, who was knighted in this summer’s Birthday Honours, has held several roles within the Parliamentary party, including Chief Whip, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, and more recently as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in the Coalition.

Before entering Parliament he had a wealth of experience in local government, serving as a councillor for many years, as an …

Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 18 Comments

Labour holds Inverclyde with reduced majority

From the BBC:

Labour has won the Inverclyde by-election for the UK parliament but its majority has been more than halved.

Iain McKenzie took the Westminster seat with 15,118 votes over the SNP’s Anne McLaughlin on 9,280. Labour’s majority fell from 14,416 at the 2010 general election to 5,838.

The Conservatives took third place with 2,784, the Liberal Democrats polled 627 votes and UKIP was fifth with 288.

The by-election was held after the death of David Cairns in May, aged 44.

Read the full story here.

In local council by-election news:

Wandsworth LBC, Thamesfield:
Con 1497;
Lab 1022;
LD Lisa Smart 545;
Green 202.
Con HOLD.
Turnout 28.1%

Broxbourne BC, …

Posted in Council by-elections, News and Parliamentary by-elections | Also tagged , , , and | 27 Comments

Nick Clegg in the Observer: “I am a hop and a skip from Cameron’s office.”

Nick Clegg is interviewed in today’s Observer, and — as ever with Nick — there are many eminently quotable lines. So here’s a filleted gamble through what he has to say…

On the Lib/Con Coalition:

“It’s seen as unnatural. It’s like cross-breeding between animal strains that shouldn’t,” he says, finally alighting on a comparison from the world of dogs. “We’ve got a sort of Crufts-like language about politics. It’s all about purism and tribalism. And you’re dealing with a government which is a mongrel mix of different blends and ideologies.”

On how the two parties are governing together:

Nick’s not interested in “tearing …

Posted in Conference | Also tagged | 4 Comments
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