Future of GP surgery in doubt

Duncan Hames and Isabel Langsford are supporting local residents in Corsham to prevent the surgery relocating to a new site at Rudloe.

The plans would leave the town with no GP surgery of it’s own. The Rudloe site would be difficult to access, especially for those who need it the most.

Duncan Hames, prospective MP for Corsham said “Time and time again, budget-conscious decisions in the NHS leave patients picking up the cost of longer journeys. The government should fund public services, including the NHS, recognising the greater cost of serving smaller rural communities like ours.”

“We would like the Wiltshire NHS Trust to help the Porch Surgery stay in the town centre by expanding on it’s current site.”

Labour slump to sixth as Brown hits new low.

Local Liberal Democrats are celebrating a stunning victory in the Corsham Town Council by-election.

The contest saw the election of hard-working, local campaigner, Isabel Langsford.

Isabel secured a majority of 277 votes, a massive 16% swing from the Conservatives to the Lib Dems.
Isabel commented: “I would like to thank everyone who voted for me, I look forward to getting started. This has been a great campaign, I have enjoyed meeting everyone and hearing the local concerns, I am determined to work hard as a local councillor to help local people.”

Duncan Hames, prospective Lib Dem MP added: “Once again the Liberal Democrats have proven to be the popular alternative to the Conservatives in Wiltshire. Given the chance, local people resoundingly rejected the BNP in Corsham and Labour support has slumped as they came a poor sixth.”

“For the third time in nine months in the Chippenham constituency more voters have chosen the Liberal Democrats than the Conservatives to speak up for our area.”

This result indicates that the next election will be a straight choice between Lib Dem Duncan Hames and the Conservative’s Devon farmer.”

Local families here in Wiltshire are being hit by the rising cost of living, hikes in fuel costs and increases in council tax.

There have been big increases in the cost of living, and Gordon Brown’s decision to scrap the 10p rate of income tax was the last straw for many local people.

The Liberal Democrats are campaigning to help the lowest paid by cutting the basic rate of income tax by 4p in the pound, axing the unfair council tax and voting in Parliament to keep the 10p tax band.

North Wiltshire District Council Liberal Democrats stood up for local people in this years budget, and voted for a council tax freeze locally.

Duncan Hames, prospective MP said “Local people are feeling the pinch: the rising cost of living, hikes in petrol prices and increases to local council tax are taking their strain. I understand the challenges that local people face. The Liberal Democrats would focus tax cuts on low and middle income households. We would start by cutting the basic rate of income tax by 4p and scrap the unfair council tax.”

Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg, has given his backing to the campaign to reopen Corsham railway station.

In their radical new transport policies, the Liberal Democrats have committed to investing billions of pounds in the railways.

Part of this money would be spent on reopening stations specifically including Corsham. It would also reduce congestion in and out of Bath from Bradford-on-Avon and Chippenham stations, and mean that more trains could run along the line serving Melksham station.

Prospective Liberal Democrat MP, Duncan Hames commented “The station would be a valuable resource for local people. It would increase tourism and trade for the town, and ease road congestion into Chippenham. We have taken this campaign to the top of the Liberal Democrats and I am pleased to have received this backing.”

In a recent survey of local opinion in Corsham 98% of people said they backed the campaign to reopen the station.

Duncan Hames recently joined fellow school governors, staff and George Ward School pupils to mark the start of building work for Melksham’s new school.

The school has been given the green light for a completely new school building, providing state of the art facilities in a bright and modern learning environment.

Duncan Hames commented “This is excellent news for young people in Melksham and their families. There is no better investment that could be made in the community than into the education of the next generation.”

Duncan has also backed the plans for a new building for the Chippenham campus of Wiltshire College, but has urged that care be taken to work with local residents and ease problems with construction traffic and congestion.

Duncan Hames, prospective Lib Dem MP spent a weekend with the police in Chippenham, patrolling the streets in the night. To see for himself what they are up against when the pubs close.

Duncan said “Going out with police officers gave me a great chance to see the work they do, and how we might be able to make their jobs easier. The Lib Dems want to see more police on the beat. We would scrap plans to waste millions of pounds on ID cards, and invest in more local police officers instead.”

In a recent survey of local residents, Duncan found that more than half considered crime and disorder an important issue to them.

Local residents across Wiltshire are reeling after the Labour government pushed through a number of local Post Office closures in spite of fierce opposition. 

Liberal Democrats led campaigns to keep them open, starting petitions and calling public meetings, but the government and the Royal Mail refused to listen.

Local campaigner Duncan Hames said “Sadly the consultation was a complete sham.  No matter how many local objections were raised, the Post Office has pressed ahead regardless. More closures could also be on the way, he warns.  The government are about to decide whether to scrap the Post Office card account.  If they do, thousands more Post Offices across the country could face the axe.  This has to stop, before more of our local communities suffer as a result.”