The local Conservative party have failed to put up candidates in 14 seats across the city. Four of their nomination papers were rejected as they had been incorrectly completed, but they failed to even put in nominations for the other seats.

You can see from the candidate lists on the Council website that even the local Green Party have managed to put up more candidates than the Conservatives.

It is unbelievable that the Conservatives are so disorganised that they can’t even get candidates nominated for the elections. Their failure to put up a full set of candidates means that the Conservatives have no hope of controlling the Council after the elections.

The Lib Dems have hard working local candidates in every seat in the city. We have a record of delivering for local people and we are the only party to keep in touch all year round, not just at election time.

It is clear now that a vote for the Tories is a wasted vote. They have no chance of controlling the Council and cannot be trusted to even fill in forms correctly, let alone represent the views of local people.

Yesterday we launched our manifesto for the upcoming local elections on 5th May. You can download a copy from here. You can find out more about some of the city wide action we have taken over the past 8 year by clicking here.

There will of course be plenty of ward issues and campaigns on top of the city wide manifesto and as usual you can keep up to date with these in Focus and through this website.

 We are less than 10 weeks away from local council elections which are due to be held on Thursday the 5^th of May. Now is the time to check you are registered to vote. If you have any doubts contact the council here to check you are on the electoral roll. OR if you are not registered, download and send off this form to the City of York Council. The closing date to guarantee you are on the electoral register is coming up fast (the 11^th of April) so don’t delay.

The popular Dringhouses Library is set to benefit from expanded services, thanks to the local Lib Dem Council.

 If plans are agreed next week, the library will be transformed into an Explore Library, similar to New Earswick Library and the larger Explore Centres at Acomb and York Central Library. This will mean better facilities with new opportunities for learning and community events.

I’m really pleased that the local Lib Dems are looking to expand our library services. Most other Councils are closing their libraries so to be in a position to actually expand services is great news.

Dringhouses library is very popular with local residents and is an important part of our local community. The extra facilities will mean it has even more to offer local people.

Local Lib Dems have vowed to fight to protect leisure facilities in York, after it emerged the Labour group were considering the closure of the city’s largest swimming pool.

Last week local Labour Leader James Alexander said the pool was too expensive to run and highlighted claims that the city was oversupplied with swimming facilities.

This is not the first time that Labour have looked at closing Yearsley pool. In 2002 the Labour group proposed closure and the pool was only saved after Liberal Democrats campaigned to keep it open and won the subsequent election in 2003.

Yearsley is the only long course pool in the city and so is a unique attraction for the increasing number of fitness swimmers. Closing Yearsley and replacing it with smaller pools would mean the city would be without a pool that meets the needs of those people who swim for fitness.

In contrast to Labour’s failure to invest anything in the city’s pools during their time in power, the Liberal Democrats have invested £11m over the last 8 years and have secured more than £7m more through innovative partnerships like the one with the University of York that will deliver the new sports village pool.

Part of that £11m of investment has seen more than £1m spent on improving Yearsley Pool. These improvements have been welcomed by residents and the refurbished pool is now attracting record numbers of visitors. The number of visitors to Yearsley pool has risen by 40% since 2005

It is now becoming clear that no service in the city is safe from Labour, libraries and swimming pools are already under threat and those are only the ones we know about. Labour should be honest with the public about the full scale of their proposed cuts.

We will shortly be arranging a petition to help fight the closure of Yearsley and will post details here as soon as I have them. 

The City of York Council website has regular updates on gritting and snow clearance so you can see what is being done to keep the city’s roads and footpaths safe and clear. Visit the website here to find out more 

The latest information on school closures is available here

There is also information and advice on clearing snow yourself outside your property here

The locations of all the local salt bins are posted below.

Salt bins are inspected regularly, but if you find that your bin needs refilling, please phone (01904) 551551.