Another threat to Bradford on Avon Golf Course.

Bradford residents were shocked to learn that Conservative Councillors met in secret to do a deal that paved the way for nearly 200 houses to be built on Bradford on Avon Golf Course.
Liberal Democrat campaigner and would-be MP, Duncan Hames, used the Freedom of Information Act to reveal official documents that show that, in a closed meeting in 2007, Conservative District Councillors agreed to scrap legal protections on the golf course in return for a slice of the profits going to the Council if the land is ever sold to developers.

Duncan said, “a legal covenant was placed on the golf course to keep this local beauty spot safe to be enjoyed by Bradford residents. By secretly agreeing to scrap this safeguard the Conservatives have sold local people down the river.”
Local campaigners saw off an earlier threat to the golf course in 2008 with the support of Duncan Hames and the town’s Lib Dem councillors. But now a new planning application has been launched, and with the covenant gone, the golf course land is even more at risk. “Local people won’t just roll-over for the Council,” said Duncan, “so far over 200 local people have written letters of objection to the Council to try to stop this development. I’m calling on everyone who cares about preserving this beauty spot to register their support at: www.keepbradfordgreen.co.uk

The local Liberal Democrats have conducted a survey of over 5,000 voters in the new Chippenham constituency on a variety of local issues.

One of the top concerns expressed was that the next MP should be local to our area and work full-time, without any other jobs on the side. 92% of respondents to the question said that this was very important or fairly important that their MP be full-time and local. Only 8% said that they thought this was unimportant.

Local Lib Dem Councillor, Jon Hubbard, said “The Lib Dem choice for MP, Duncan Hames, is so far the only one to pledge that he will give up his business to work full-time for local people if he is elected. He has lived in our part of Wiltshire for years, it’s his only home.”

Duncan Hames said: “I’m extremely grateful to everyone who completed our survey of local residents. I think it’s very important that would-be MPs take the time to understand the views of local people rather than just pursuing their own interests.”

On Thursday 8th October Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg MP, and Deputy Leader, Vince Cable MP, visited Chippenham and Melksham to give their support to prospective local MP, Duncan Hames, and to discuss the Liberal Democrats’ plan to get the economy back on its feet.

In the morning, Duncan took Nick and Vince to visit a local employer, Knorr-Bremse Rail Systems, in Melksham.

Duncan said: “I was very pleased that Nick and Vince were able to come to Melksham to visit Knorr-Bremse. I wanted to take them there because I believe it is the kind of company we need to encourage if we are to find a way out of this recession. The quality of its products means that it has full order books and has been hiring while many companies have been cutting jobs. At I time when we are all very worried about possible job layoffs, Knorr-Bremse is a local success story that gives hope for Melksham and goes to show that there is a real future for manufacturing jobs in our area.”

Duncan added: “It’s a shameful fact that despite having a flagship rail manufacturing company, Melksham still lacks a real rail service of its own. I’m calling on Network Rail to use their current service review to do the right thing and bring back Melksham’s trains.”