Sandy's Campaigns

Save our Post Offices

Residents in St Albans are waiting for the final decision on the closure of local Post Offices

Hundreds of local people have signed a Lib Dem petition against the planned closure of five Post Offices in their area.

Post Offices are the heart of a community and the overwhelming response to our campaign shows that local people do not want any more to close.

In their time in government, the Conservatives closed 3,500 Post Offices. Labour has so far closed 6,500 branches - leaving just 11,500 open. They have now ordered a compulsory further 2,500 closures - which means that for every Post Office that a community succeeds in saving, another will be nominated to go.

Sandy feels strongly that this is an unfair practice - which pits one local community against another.

The so-called "accessibility criteria," which have been laid down by the Government, require that just 90% of the population be within a mile of their nearest Post Office.

The enforcement of these criteria could lead to 4,000 more closures nationwide - which could mean that 7 or 8 more Post Offices closure in the St Albans area.

Sandy believes that this amounts to yet another attack by the Labour Government on the people in our community who are least able to defend themselves - those without access to transport, the infirm and the elderly.

Stop the MP Gravy Train

The Additional Costs Allowance continues to be abused by MPs

MPs have sparked controversy by voting to keep the gravy train of second home allowances, and to exempt themselves from an external audit of their expenses.

At a time when the economic downturn is forcing the rest of the country to tighten its belt, MPs have finally agreed to abolished the infamous "John Lewis list," which allowed them to claim over £24,000 for goods such as plasma televisions and bathrooms to furnish their second homes.

But under the replacement regulations MPs could still receive up to £23,800 a year, tax free, to run a second home. They will no longer be able to spend this windfall on luxuries - but the amount stands at just £206 below the current limit.

Although Sandy understands that MPs who live far away from London may need a second home, he absolutely disputes the legitimacy of claims by Hertfordshire MPs - whose constituencies are within easy commuting distance of Westminster.

The Additional Cost Allowance (ACA) was originally introduced so that MPs with constituencies outside London could stay at the Commons for late-night voting sessions, but an increasing number of MPs have abused the expenses system and continue to waste taxpayers' money.

Liberal Democrat MPs have voted for tighter controls to be enforced, and Sandy is committed to campaigning for the cause locally.

Hands Off Herts

The threat of the biggest ever destruction of Green Belt still hangs over St Albans and Harpenden

For many local people it is a waiting game to see if the green fields around them are to be turned into a giant housing estate, as the government plans to shoehorn up to 100,000 new houses into Hertfordshire.

Overruling the East of England Regional Assembly's development plans, the final version of the government's East of England Regional Spatial Strategy has specifically identified St Albans as a "growth town," and set a target of 5,370 more houses to be built here by 2021. Even more damage comes from the planned increases for Hatfield and Hemel Hempstead, which have been earmarked to take a combined total of 22,000 new houses - a target which St Albans District Green Belt will have to partly absorb. To add insult to injury, the government is providing St Albans with just £20,000 extra per year - the cost of a few new speed humps - to deal with the increased strain on the infrastructure.

This is yet another example of a centralised government bulldozing over the wishes of local people and councillors.

Sandy Walkington believes that local people deserve better, so he set up the Hands Off Herts campaign to challenge the government's proposals.

Thousands of local residents signed the Lib Dem petition, securing it a place as one of the top two percent of petitions on the Prime Minister's site. But despite its promise to give a proper response to any petition with more than 200 signatures, Downing Street failed to address the specific concerns of Hertfordshire residents raised in the petition in its reply.

Sandy is determined not to let the matter rest until the voices of local people are heard, and their needs are properly met.