450 tonnes of paper and cardboard waste was rejected in 9 months because it was too wet.  Instead it was disposed of with household rubbish.   This rather startling news was revealed during Bromley Council's Environment Committee meeting on 14th Jan.    

"This is disappointing news for Bromley residents who take the trouble to separate their waste to maximise recycling opportunities", said Lib Dem Campaigner Sam Webber.  "Bromley Council no longer supply paper recycling bins with lids so it's not surprising that local residents may assume that there was no problem with the paper getting wet".    

"We haven't seen any notice about the problem in the Environment newsletters that are distributed borough wide, or on the council website. At the very least residents should be asked to keep paper as dry as possible. Even just printing a request to "Keep Dry" on the side of the bins (in addition to the Bromley logo) would be a start."

Bromley Lib Dems have written to the Council to ask for further information about supplying containers with lids, amongst other ideas, and about updating the Council website with an appeal to residents.   We have also asked for data about contamination of other recycled items in case there are problems that are worth highlighting. 

We'll issue an update as soon as we get a response.

Just one day after Bromley Council closed its controversial consultation on open spaces, Councillor William Huntington-Thresher released a knee-jerk denial about the disposal and repurposing of open spaces.

We want to take this opportunity to wish you and your family & friends a very happy New Year. 2020 has been a tough year for everyone - and I think we are all ready to put this year behind us and look forward to 2021 with renewed hope and optimism. The vaccines have arrived and are beginning to be rolled out, and we all hope life will be able to gradually return to normal over the coming months.

We owe a debt of gratitude to all our frontline workers - to carers, to hospital staff, to teachers, to those working to keep food in the shops, to those delivering our parcels, to scientists and to so many others performing key roles. I think as the year comes to a close that we should all take time to reflect on how much we owe all these people and to say a heartfelt thank you.  We won’t forget.  

Next year feels like a new beginning. A new trading relationship with the EU will be in place.  A new, changed world will come into view as we all recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and reassess what the new normal should look like. One thing is for certain - the pandemic has changed our lives significantly, whether it is how we shop or how we work. We will need to adapt.

Bromley Lib Dems look at 2021 with a sense of optimism that we can re-build a better and stronger community here in Bromley. We need fresh ideas and a new urgency to make changes for the better and to deliver a fairer and more equal society. We want to protect local businesses, re-invigorate our high streets, save our community venues and libraries, make Bromley more accessible as well as greener and less polluted. We will do everything in our power to make this a reality by holding Bromley's Conservative Council to account. 

2021 will also see our mayoral candidate, the excellent Luisa Porritt, running to lead London. She would make a fantastic mayor and would break up the old, tired duopoly of red and blue. You will hear more from us on Luisa's plans for London in the year ahead leading up to the May election.

So whatever you have planned for 2021 we wish you health, happiness and success. Please stay safe and let's make 2021 a year to remember for all the right reasons.  

Today (30 Dec) the Liberal Democrats voted against the EU (Future Relationship) Bill because it is a bad deal and will make people’s lives poorer.  This deal is threadbare, bad for jobs, business, security, and our environment. It’s bad for our farmers; bad for our fishermen; bad for EU Citizens living in the UK; British citizens living in the EU and; it's bad for everyone else living in the UK.  It is the only ‘free’ trade deal in history to put up barriers to trade and leaves the services sector in limbo.

This botched deal confirms that the UK’s trade with Europe will now be wrapped in red tape – bringing long delays and higher costs. With so many businesses teetering on the brink of closing due to Covid, Johnson’s deal will push many over the edge.

As Liberal Democrats, we know that there isn’t any deal that is as good as the one Britain had as a member of the European Union.   

The Lib Dems decided to vote against this deal - even though Boris Johnson had manoeuvred Parliament into having a choice between no deal or a bad deal.   With both Labour and the Conservatives voting for the deal the Bill was bound to pass and we felt it was important that our opposition to the deal was recorded - again. 

For years, we campaigned, marched and protested. We did everything we could to try and stop this.  But today is not the end of the story.  Over the weeks and months to come, the real impact of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal will become painfully clear.

We're not going to constantly say "we told you so", rather we're going to work to make sure we hold this Prime Minister to account for the ways that his disastrous deal has let the country down.  We'll be continuing the fight for a Britain that is fairer, greener and more caring.  

Our green spaces have become lifelines to many of us during the various lockdowns of 2020.   We're lucky to have so many green spaces in the borough of Bromley.   So it's more important than ever for Bromley Council to hear your views. 

Bromley Council have opened consultations about how its parks and open spaces are looked after in the future - publishing their Draft Open Space Strategy document.  Local people have been invited to leave their opinions by 7 January 2021 - the link is here.  

The consultation covers; parks, open spaces, allotments, amenities within open spaces (such as buildings, cafe’s, childcare clubs, exercise equipment, lighting, play areas and equipment, seating, sports facilities etc), Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), bridleways, paths, Rights of Way and cemeteries. Bromley Liberal Democrats will be responding to the consultation and we'd love to hear your views - please email us at info@bromleylibdems.org.uk.