Duncan Hames for Chippenham

Wiltshire College launched their plans to completely re-develop their Chippenham campus. The plans were unveiled at a public exhibition on Thursday in the college’s Cocklebury Road site in the town.

The event was attended by local councillors, neighbours, and Prospective Liberal Democrat MP for Chippenham, Duncan Hames.

Duncan Hames commented:

“The college’s exciting plans are a major investment in the future opportunities for families in Chippenham and have my full support.

“A project on this scale has many challenges, and clearly the college must take great care to minimise the disruption to local residents caused by transport and parking issues, especially during the construction period.”

After the presentations from the college and its architects, visitors had the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the detail of the proposals with representatives from the college and its advisers.

Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat Party Leader, has backed the campaign to reopen Corsham railway station.

The declaration of support came as the party launched a set of radical new transport policies which include significant improvements to local railway infrastructure.

The campaign to reopen Corsham railway station has been an ongoing battle for local residents, supported by local Lib Dems, since the station closed in 1965.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg said:

“These proposals offer a radical alternative vision for transport in the 21st Century, compared with the tired short-sightedness of both Labour and the Tories.”

Prospective Liberal Democrat MP, Duncan Hames added:

“I am delighted to have won the support of my Lib Dem colleagues in Parliament for the Corsham Station Campaign.

“Corsham is a growing town, and plans for more jobs at Basil Hill and Spring Park further support the case for rail services here.

“I believe that re-opening Corsham Station would also reduce traffic jams on the A4 into Chippenham and Bath, and overcrowding of the station car parks in Chippenham.”

The Wiltshire Primary Care Trust today decided to shelve plans to reduce medical beds at Chippenham Hospital from 43 to just ten. Instead, it decided to stop at 20, pending a three month review led by the North Wiltshire Practice Based Commissioning Consortium.

Local campaigner Duncan Hames said “This further three month reprieve is very welcome. The Chief Executive is right to say it would have been foolish to press on blindly with a reduction to just ten beds while the transfer proposal was being considered.

“This process is really good news for Chippenham Hospital. I met local health bosses last year to urge them to support it. Bringing ten beds from Bath to Chippenham will help secure the hospitals future” concluded Duncan.

The summer will be a pivotal time for Chippenham Hospital. Duncan Hames has met with the Chief Executive to discuss how they can improve their bid to government for capital investment.

Today the Wiltshire PCT responded to a question from Duncan Hames to announce that they are in the final stages of re-submitting that bid to the Department of Health and hope for a decision in May or June, Chippenham residents will then expect a decision on moving beds from Bath to Chippenham in July.

Duncan Hames, prospective Lib Dem MP for Chippenham has used the platform of the Lib Dem party conference this weekend, to highlight the issue of rising energy prices across the country.

In a speech from the main stage on Sunday morning, Duncan Hames spoke of the rip-off for customers buying energy through a pre-pay meter, and the affect this can have on the lives of local families enduring fuel poverty.

The speech was part of the Urgent Issue debate tabled by Duncan Hames, and included a speech by Northavon MP Steve Webb.

During his speech, Duncan spoke about how one-in-ten people are being ripped off by the ‘Big Six’ energy companies, just because they have a pre-pay meter. The average extra cost incurred is a shocking £255 per year.

Duncan also praised the achievement of the Chippenham based company Good-Energy (which supplies the Liberal Democrats head-quarters in London with 100% renewable energy), for defying the odds to compete against the big firms.

Commenting after the debate, Duncan said: “This is an issue that will not go away unless we speak up. Millions of the most vulnerable people are paying hundreds of pounds extra every year, just because they pay in advance. This is outrageous.”

Liberal Democrats in Wiltshire are stepping up their call for an ‘in or out’ vote on the EU.

Earlier this week, a new opinion poll by Ipsos-MORI was published. The poll showed people strongly prefer the Liberal Democrat call for a referendum on membership of the European Union, rather than the Conservative proposal for a referendum only on the Lisbon Treaty.

Commenting on the poll, Duncan Hames, Prospective Lib Dem MP said,

“This opinion poll shows huge support for the Liberal Democrat view that people should be given a real say on the big issue of British membership of the EU. People clearly prefer it to the narrow vote that the Conservatives are suggesting .

“Anyone who is below the age of 51 has not had a vote on the UK being in or out of Europe. Since the last referendum held over a generation ago, the Europe we joined has changed enormously. The British people, however, have not been given a chance to vote on these changes.

“It’s time for the Westminster establishment to stop being so cowardly over Europe and have an open debate with the country. The Liberal Democrats would relish the opportunity to put the case to the British people for our wholehearted commitment to the EU.”

MPs voted yesterday on whether there should be an in-out referendum debate. Labour and Conservatives worked together to block the proposal. Andrew Murrison and Michael Ancram voted against a debate and James Gr a y did not vote either way.

Duncan Hames said “I hope our Conservative MPs will look at the results of this poll and rethink their position. It’s still not too late for them to change their mind and join our campaign to give people the real choice on Europe that they want.

Commenting on the result of the Parliamentary vote, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said:

“Today’s result simply confirms the determination of Labour and Conservative MPs to deny the people of Britain a real debate over our future in Europe. The way to have that debate is not over the narrow issue of the Lisbon Treaty but on one simple question: in or out.

“I will continue to lead the argument for a referendum on our membership of the EU and will be proud to argue the case for our country taking a leading role in Europe.”

Local residents are furious at the constant cuts to Wiltshire health services. Just 6 months ago, five minor injury units were closed, leaving just two to serve the hundreds of thousands of Wiltshire residents.

In the same round of cuts, Chippenham hospital was saved from outright closure, but was forced to cut opening hours from around the clock care to just 18 hours per day. Now it is facing a new threat.

Wiltshire’s hospital trust now want to close three quarters of the beds in Chippenham hospital, leaving an overstretched service and less care for local residents.

A public meeting took place on Saturday 1st March in Chippenham Town Hall, and was attended by over 200 local people.

Duncan Hames, Prospective Lib Dem MP for Chippenham spoke at the event about the funding the government promised for local hospitals. “Chippenham residents have been short changed and our community hospital is suffering because of it.

“We must put pressure on the government to deliver the funding promised to local residents over two years ago.”

The public meeting follows the SOS for the NHS campaign run by Duncan Hames and local Lib Dems, the campaign included sending a survey to over 30,000 local residents. Duncan then met with the local NHS board to discuss the results.

Local residents were very keen to see a change that would allow decisions on local healthcare to be made by local residents. Not by an unelected board in Whitehall.

Following the news that the Post Office will press ahead with its closure plan, prospective Lib Dem MP for Chippenham, Duncan Hames has branded their consultation “a sham”.

“This has been a sham consultation. The Post Office have only provided automatic acknowledgements and not replied to our letters, they were either unwilling or unable to attend three separate events in the local area to which I invited them. I twice asked them for more information to help us make a more considered response to the consultation and had no reply at all.

“They have shown contempt for this process, and appear to have simply been ‘going through the motions’.” explains Duncan Hames.

“They may have heard us, but there is precious little sign that they have actually listened. In stopping to think before welding the axe at Lacock, the Post Office have one last chance to show they are serious about listening to local people. They need to remember that we are not just their customers, but as a public corporation we are their shareholders too.” concludes Mr Hames.

Duncan Hames and the Liberal Democrats have organised a public meeting to find out the reality of the closure of Lowden Post Office on the local residents of Chippenham.

The closure was announced last December and the public consultation period will end on 31st January. The Post Office will then make their decision about the future of Lowden PO and the Post Office could close soon after that.

Hundreds of people in the area have signed Duncan Hames’ petition to keep Post Offices across Wiltshire open. There are significant fears that our older people will be hit hardest by the closure.

In attendance at the meeting on Thursday 17th Jan will be Postwatch, Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), Age Concern, the Postmistress and a number of local Councillors. The Post Office have so far declined to attend, but it still promises to be the perfect chance for the voices of our local residents to be heard.

Duncan Hames, the prospective Liberal Democrat MP for Chippenham said “I am very disappointed that the Post Office is not prioritising this meeting. It reflects the lack of respect they have for our local communities. This will be a great chance for us all to form a coherent voice against the closure”.

All are welcome to the meeting, which will be held this Thursday (17th Jan) at 18.30 in Kingsley Rd Community Hall, Lowden, SN14 0AS.

There will also be a chance for local residents to have their say in writing. Duncan will be assisting local residents in filling out a consultation form on Saturday 26th Jan from 10-11.30am in the Roman Glass building (close to PO), 10 Audley Rd, Lowden.

Duncan Hames, prospective Lib Dem MP for Chippenham, yesterday (Tuesday) attended a public meeting of the More Train, Less Strain campaign, based in Bath.

The campaign group aims to challenge the government and First Great Western train company, over their poor standards and high prices, and to push them into providing a better service for passengers.

The group held a ‘Fare Strike’ last year and was successful in gaining more carriages on local services running from Bristol Temple Meads, Bath, Portsmouth, Cardiff and other intermediary stations.

The latest call for action has come following the severe delays and cancellations at the end of 2007 and the drastic fare rises incurred at the start of 2008.

Duncan Hames said: “The service has become so unreliable and expensive that it is putting people off travelling in the environmentally friendly way. We are now in a crazy situation where it can be cheaper to get a taxi than a train on some routes.

“The government and the train companies have a duty of care to their customers that they are not fulfilling. It is not right to expect a passenger to pay over the odds for a train journey, especially when they are often forced into ‘cattle class’ for hours once on board.”

Duncan Hames, the prospective Lib Dem MP for Chippenham, Corsham, Melksham and Bradford-on-Avon, has spoken out against the governments plan to close 2500 Post Offices.

The closures are set to hit Wiltshire this week, sparking claims that the move will cause long term damage to our communities.

The announcement on December 11th is expected to abolish one in five of our local Post Offices. This round of closures comes on top of the 7500 already closed in the past Labour and Conservative administrations.

The consultation period for the public is usually six weeks. Duncan Hames asked the government to extend this period to reflect the Christmas holidays. It will now come to an end on January 31st.

There were angry reactions to those regions hit by the cuts earlier this year. The passionate protests seem set to hit Wiltshire equally. Campaigners are ready to hit the ground running. Duncan Hames has written to every sub-postmaster in the constituency to offer his help to keep our post offices open.

Local Lib Dem county councillor Ross Henning said: “Local people in Chippenham are passionate about their local post office, which is a vital part of our community. We must work together to save it!”

One of the principle concerns will be for the elderly people in the community, who will find it increasingly difficult to access a post office at all. The charity Age Concern said they were ‘extremely worried’ about the closures and that ‘the consultation period is insufficient to canvass local opinions and issues, on public transport for example.’

Duncan Hames, the prospective Lib Dem MP for the Chippenham constituency said: “It doesn’t have to be this way. Our proposals would see the introduction of a broad-reaching diversification and investment program which would benefit the economy, the community and the environment. We are the only party who really understands the vital importance of our local post office and the part it plays in the community.

“We have less than 8 weeks to save our local Post Offices from the Government’s axe. I will do everything I can to help.”

Local residents are being asked to back the campaign – you can sign a petition here.