No opposition on Horsham council

Following the news reports of a £1.6million gap in Horsham council's finances, the chair of Horsham Labour party wrote a letter to the local papers.

The letter states that the Liberal Democrats councillors on Horsham district council fail to provide an effective opposition to the ruling Tory group, with the result that matters affecting the town of Horsham are decided largely by councillors from outside the town and with no significant scrutiny from councillors who represent the town.

Horsham old town hall

Horsham Labour Party canvassed residents' views about the ongoing saga of the old town hall.

We are in favour of retaining the town hall for the community and do not want to see it become yet another restaurant venue, and are appalled by the way our Tory council has handled our community facility.

Letter to the County Times

Horsham Labour party's chair, David Hide, sent a letter to the County Times today about its coverage of the issues relating to affordable housing. The full text is below:

A message from David Milliband

David Miliband has written to the County Times to thank Horsham Labour party for nominating him in the party's leadership election, the result of which will be announced this month.

The letter, and some comments from Horsham's chair are below:

Letter from David Miliband to the County Times:

Through the pages of the West Sussex County Times I would like to thank the members of Horsham for nominating me as next leader of the Labour party.

Winning back the voters that Labour lost won't be easy.  Labour has to change, to listen and to become the change that Britain needs.

We start this process by electing someone who is ready to face David Cameron at Prime Minister's Questions and stand as a credible alternative Prime Minister at the next election.  That is why I am standing - to win for Labour.

I am honoured to have the support of Horsham party memebrs in my campaign.  I promise I won;t let you down and that together we will rebuild our party and win for our values.

Local party members have had their say, in a few days millions of party members and members of trade unions will be asked to decide on who should be Labour's leader.  I would urge all West Sussex County Times readers to use their vote and to visit www.davidmilliband.net to join the debateon Britain's future.

In response David Hide, chair of Horsham Labour party said:

Horsham Labour party are proud to have played an active role in the election of our new leader and very much appreciate David Miliband taking the time out to write and thank us for our nomination.

The election of our new leader goes to the heart of our party democracy and while David Miliband received Horsham Labour party's endorsement, all members and  trade unionists now have the opportunity to vote for any one of the five excellent candidates.  I would urge all our members to take part.

Whoever is elected, Horsham Labour party will be 100% behind our new leader and we will continue to provide the electorate with a credible alternative to the local Lib Dems and Tories.  We will stand up for more affordable housing and oppose closures to our popular day centres, youth clubs and other vital public services.

Achievements not hypocrisy

In last week's local paper there was a letter from our Chair, David Hide, criticising the new coalition government.

This week there is a response which suggested that David's criticisms of the coalition government were hypocritical because Labour achieved nothing during its thirteen years in government.

Carol Hayton, our campaign co-ordinator, has written this reply:

Defending social housing

Photo by Errasti

Carol Hayton of Horsham Labour party has contributed to an ongoing discussion in the letters page of the Independent about David Cameron's proposals to remove important rights from council and housing association tenants.

These proposals are proving to be unpalatable even to Cameron's Lib Dem coalition partners as this story suggests.

Carol's letter is reproduced below.

Response to Horsham Lib Dems

David Hide, Chair of Horsham Labour party, responds to a letter in this week's County Times in this open letter to Derek Deedman.

The return of the nasty party?

Horsham Labour party's chair, David Hide, wrote to the County Times this week about how the effects of the Tory/Lib Dem cuts and how the recent budget heralds the return of the 'nasty party' that we all remember only too well.

The letter was printed in yesterday's paper and the full text is reproduced below.

No sign of hope

By Carol Hayton

So will the recent election result and the new style of government herald a bright new dawn for the people of Horsham? Having voted for change as Francis Maude urged them to do on his campaign posters, will residents of the constituency be bowled over by a whirlwind of exciting initiatives that represent empowerment of local communities?

Vote yellow, get blue

Having received a Liberal Democrat leaflet with one of their now-legendary dodgy bar charts, one of our members wrote to the County Times which was printed last week.

No thanks to Lib Dem Councillors

David Hide, Chair of Horsham Labour party, wrote to the West Sussex County Times last week about the vindication of the party's stance on affordable housing and his personal disappointment at the level of support from Liberal Democrat councillors on this, and on other issues.

Housing failure

Horsham Labour Party's Chair, David Hide, wrote to the West Sussex County Times in response to comments by various Tories about top-down housing targets.

He pointed out the failure of the council to meet its own targets: a failure also picked up by the Audit Commission.

The letter was printed today and the full text is below:

Tory Council Fail to meet Own, not Government targets

David Hide, Chair of Horsham Labour, wrote to the West Sussex County Times today to highlight Horsham council's failings in the area of affordable housing provision, and draws attention to his letter to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on this topic.

The full text of the letter is reproduced below.

Letter to the Secretary of State

David Hide, Chair of Horsham Labour, wrote today to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, John Denham.

This is a follow-up to our request to call in Horsham council's decision on affordable housing allocation in the development West of Horsham.

The full text is reproduced below.

What is so 'broken'?

Horsham Labour Party member, Ray Battersby, responded to an article by the Tory leader of West Sussex County Council in this letter which was printed in today's West Sussex County Times.

Lib Dems have failed to pressure councils

David Hide, Chair of Horsham Labour, has written about the Liberal Democrats' ineffectiveness as an opposition party in this letter which was printed in today's West Sussex County Times.

Schemes to help society

The following letter was sent to the West Sussex County Times to raise awareness of two government schemes, Partnerships for Older People and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships. It was printed in today's paper.

Further response to Philip Circus' opinions on climate change

by Andrew Skudder

Two weeks after it appeared, Philip Circus' column about climate change is still attracting responses in the letters page of the West Sussex County Times.

Housing in West Sussex

There are two contrasting views on housing in this week's West Sussex County Times. On the letters page there is a letter about how provision should be higher, while a few pages later there is a column by Philip Circus saying that we don't need any more at all.

Launch of 'Spot the Blot' campaign

Ray Chapman, Horsham Labour Party's secretary, launched the 'Spot the Blot' campaign with this letter to the West Sussex County Times, printed in today's paper.