Buckinghamshire Unitary Elections are postponed
The new Buckinghamshire Council replaces Buckinghamshire County Council and the 4 district councils: South Bucks, Wycombe, Chilterns and Aylesbury Vale. The merger of the 5 councils needs to deliver economies that can release funds to the front line.
The budget of over a billion pounds covers all local services; education, health and social care, transport and potholes, planning and mineral extraction, waste and recycling, licencing and libraries, housing and homelessness, crime. This is done through full council, regulatory committees, appointments to outside bodies and advisory groups. The Liberal Democrats believe that the new council is one vital way to improve our community, but that means having local councillors able to speak for their electorate and free to scutininse council decisions.
You will be electing 147 new councillors in 49 three member wards to run this council, making this one of the biggest councils in the country. In the future, the Liberal Democrats will seek to reduce this to less than 100 councillors saving £1M pa.
The head of Buckinghamshire Council will appoint a chair for each of 16 Community Boards. The boards will prioritise local projects after consultation with Parish Council representatives, who have no voting rights. These boards have a budget of nearly £4M and the Liberal Democrats believe that they must democratically represent the local community.
Some local services will be delegated to parish councils after consultation. This needs to be cost neutral with central funding in return for managing the services. These may include grass cutting, street lights and even car parks. Parishes already partially fund some infrastructure projects.
Liberal Democrat Candidates
Farnham Common and Burnham Beeches - David Banks, Carol Linton
Gerrards Cross - Diane Holden, Julian Ingram
Stoke Poges and Wexham - Andy Davidson, Denise Herschel, Chris Woolley
Flackwell Heath, Little Marlow and Marlow SE - Chris Tolmie
Beaconsfield - Paul Burden, Paul Henry, Jeff Herschel
