TORIES PANIC AS MUD FLIES IN ROAD ROW

3.57.10pm BST (GMT +0100) Sat 25th Apr 2009

Like voters all over Hertfordshire, local residents in Dacorum and Three Rivers are angry about the state of our roads and pavements. The Tories are now showing signs of panic as the public turn on them.

The Tories have put out false statements about the Liberal Democrats - wrongly saying we have suggested cuts in road expenditure.

In fact the Liberal Democrats at County Hall have proposed increases for:

improving pothole repairs

introducing 20 mph zones in residential areas and near schools

increasing spending on footways

increasing the frequency of bus services

The Liberal Democrat spending package would have meant an increase of £5.5 million on roads, pavements and public transport.

This would have been funded by cutting back the ballooning County Hall bureaucracy and its huge publicity budget, including such costly self-praise as the unpopular Herts Horizons magazine.

But Tory and Labour councillors joined forces to vote down the Liberal Democrat proposals to improve our county's roads.

Various leaflets and publications and leaflets have been produced by the Conservative Party, throughout Hertfordshire, which continue to allege that the Liberal Democrats have proposed a cut in highways spending. When the formal Lib Dem amendment was made public, they seemed to change tack and have now suggested that the proposed 'cut' was in the speech of Liberal Democrat Leader Chris White.

The Conservative Party has, however, made a fatal error in forgetting that speeches at full council are recorded.

Liberal Democrat County Council Group Leader Chris White said today: 'The speech could not have been clearer. A £5.5 million increase in highways spending funded in part by a £3 million saving in procurement costs. In other words - spending more money overall and making sure that the existing spending goes further.'

'We have now made this available to the media and will be writing to all Conservative councillors in the county, all Conservative MPs and party chairs, warning them of the consequences of repeating this libel.'