Dover & Deal Liberal Democrats – Plans For The District

Dover & Deal Liberal Democrats are campaigning for a fairer, greener and more prosperous Dover and a brighter future for the next generation.

HOUSING

We need new homes, but believe we should be building the right houses (more affordable homes and council houses) supported by roads, facilities and services (public transport, shops, GP surgeries, schools) in the right places.

We will urgently push for all homes in the District to be insulated and all new builds to be built sustainably, and include proper insulation, heat-pumps, solar-panels and electric vehicle charging points, and incentivise building to PASSIVHAUS standard.

We will challenge the unrealistic housing target imposed by the Conservative Government on local councils and we will improve planning enforcement by giving planning officers the teeth they need to strictly enforce planning breaches.

ENVIRONMENT

The environment is at the heart of everything we do. We will ensure the Conservative-led commitment to making Dover carbon-neutral by 2030 is rigorously pursued and exceeded if possible.

We will plant more trees in the district and protect existing trees more strictly.

We will push to put a stop to sewage dumping and demand water companies stop discharging raw sewage into our rivers and seas killing off our wildlife and impacting on our coastlines and tourism.

We will tackle Air Quality - particularly for Dover residents, who live near the port and the A20.

We will clamp down on Litter & Fly-tipping in town centres, along the A2 and our rural hedgerows and ensure our streets are kept free from litter and weeds without the use of glyphosates.

And finally, we will rigorously protect the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which takes up a considerable part of our District.

HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES

We pledge to build a community that works for everyone. Liberal Democrats have called for a return to proper local health services. (There are now 2,679 patients for every GP in Kent & Medway, up by 18% since 2016.)  And support the campaign to reinstate the Blood Service at Deal Hospital and retain other services which have been reduced.

We are concerned about the level of anti-social behaviour and crime in the area which is going unsolved (only 5% of burglaries in Kent are currently solved) and will push for the recruitment of more Community Police Officers.

We will work hard to expand support to new businesses, particularly green enterprises, and bring empty upstairs floors of Dover/Deal high street back into residential use or office space.

TRANSPORT

Improved public transport, which is sustainable, particularly in rural areas, is vital and we need more cycle routes to encourage people out of their cars.  

We will work with Kent Highways to crack down on speeding and introduce more ‘20 is Plenty’ zones – as we know they lead to 20% fewer casualties, improve the environment by reducing CO2 emissions, are 50% quieter, and have little impact on journey times.

The growing number of cars and lorries parking dangerously on pavements is another issue we will address.