Home buyers in Milton Keynes will pay on average £392 less in Stamp Duty. The new system – announced in the Coalition Government’s Autumn Statement – is based on a long-standing Liberal Democrat policy and will reduce the cost of moving house, especially for 1st time buyers.
H9 Closure
The H9 will be closed near Kingston roundabout until spring 2015 while a new underpass is constructed underneath it. The underpass will serve new housing beyond the roundabout.
The road is still open from the V11 as far as the entrances to the houses in Wavendon Gate, and the businesses in Brinklow.
The roadworks are causing queues on the V11. Please remember to leave room for people to cross the V11 into and out of estates. Thank you.
Free Hot School Meals
Thanks to the Lib Dems in government, hundreds of young children, in Monkston ward, are able to have free hot school meals from this term saving parents £400 pa.
Potholes in Lichfield Down
After a lot of pressure from your Lib DemFocus team, some of the potholes in Lichfield Down, Walnut Tree are beginning to be fixed BUT the Council are still saying they must be 50cm deep before they will repair them! Your councillors will still keep leaning on the council.
The Lib Dems still want the whole of Lichfield Down re-surfaced, and not this piecemeal work, to ensure car drivers, cyclists and bus users have a less bumpy trip.
Pigeons Again
Pigeons are now causing problems under the bridge off Brecon Court, Monkston (above). Vanessa McPake has added it to list of problem bridges.
Sadly the new anti-pigeon netting we had installed in Birdlip Lane and Tewkesbury Lane was vandalised. MK Council have told us they are reinstalling it in Tewksbury Lane, and having a general clean up of all 3 sites.
Snail Trail Lit – Partly!
Cllr Jenni Ferrans has had some new lights installed along the Snail Trail in Walnut Tree. “Well Done Jenni” say cyclists and walkers along this very busy path. However, she continues to press for the other end of the Snail Trail to be lit.
Litter Removed
Cllr Vanessa 
McPake had the litter removed from the play area behind Heronshaw School, Walnut Tree. The Lib Dems are also trying to get your litter bins emptied more often in busy places.
More litter has been removed from Ulverscroft play area in Monkston.
Fibre Delayed for Walton Grange
Walton Grange residents say what they think!
Sorry about the lateness of this update.
Just a few weeks after residents celebrated success after BT planned to install fibre in Walton Grange this summer, they were disgusted by the news that BT had put the plan back to next year!
Thanks to all the residents who turned out and emailed to make the point to BT that Walton Grange needs broadband.
It helped – when we met with BT a couple of weeks later, they certainly knew about Walton Grange’s plight!
At first no explanation was given. But now BT have explained that the software routing broadband signals cannot cope with the cabinet connecting to both fibre-to-cabinet and fibre-to-premises!
Cllr Jenni Ferrans commented “This is a fundamental limitation that will affect many outlying areas, and should have been dealt with years ago. BT have said that they are trying to overcome it. They need to succeed – quickly!”
Residents in Walton Hall and parts of Walnut Tree are also affected by this problem. The Focus team is helping residents to keep the pressure up on BT!
Top Class Apprenticeships in MK
Since 2009 the Lib Dems have been encouraging apprenticeships – first in Milton Keynes, and then after 2010, across the country. Modern apprenticeships provide flexible training while you earn, giving students between one and seven years of high quality training backed up by practical experience.
Now one of our local companies has contacted us asking for help publicising vacancies in Kingston. Please contact them if you are interested.
Milton Keynes’ top young people needed for unique vacancy
Remit Training is offering two lucky young people in Milton Keynes an amazing opportunity to get into the automotive sector.
Remit is working alongside Sytner Mercedes Benz, based on Grey Friars Court in Kingston, to offer two young people the chance to be Sales Apprentices with the biggest retailer of prestige cars in the UK.
The roles offer the candidates a chance to gain nationally recognised qualifications and be fully-employed from day one, as well as a chance to get valuable work experience.
But this is no ordinary apprenticeship. Sytner is offering the young people who take up the opportunity the chance to earn £12,000 per year with a further earning potential of up to £3,000 bonus paid on achievement of the qualification after two years.
This is one of the highest-paid available apprenticeships in the country, and the high quality training delivered by Remit Training, Sytner, and Mercedes-Benz, will provide any young person with a CV to be proud of.
Steve Barker, Sales and Marketing Director for Remit, said: “An apprenticeship is always a fantastic route into work, not only providing you with employment, but the opportunity to build your skills, knowledge and experience, while achieving nationally recognised qualifications.
“This apprenticeship of course offers even more, with an excellent starting salary rarely seen in apprenticeship circles, and the opportunity to work for a multi-national company, with fantastic opportunities for career progression.”
This is one of the more elite apprenticeships available. Those applying for the Milton Keynes positions must have a valid UK driving licence and grades A-C in GCSE Maths and English and be educated to A Level standard which may include an NVQ, BTEC National or Diploma level qualification.
Steve added: “There will be a lot of young people in Milton Keynes thinking about their future right now, and I would encourage those who might be interested to contact us straight away to find out more.”
Remit works with more than 4,000 apprentices across the country, the majority in the automotive industry. It also works with young people in the IT, hospitality, health and social care, customer service and business administration sectors.
To apply, please contact Remit on 0845 8399 200 or visit the website: http://www.remit.co.uk/vacancies/.
Not Such Rubbish!
Vanessa McPake and Subhan Shafiq use the new litter bin by the bus shelter at Dunchurch Dale, Walnut Tree
The Lib Dems have just got a litter bin installed by the well used bus shelter in Dunchurch Dale, Walnut Tree. Local residents have said “well done”.