A NEW Year’s message from Peter Lilley, MP for Hitchin and Harpenden.

“The big issue that arose this year has been the expansion of Luton Airport, and the hope for next year must be that we get a proper independent planning inquiry and that any expansion is offset by improvements to infrastructure and a reduction in noise of planes.

On the health front, the great news has been the near completion of the Lister expansion, and the bad news has been the worrying performance of the Surgicentre, which is still not out of the woods.

I suspect we are going to find the big issue in the future is greater demand for school places. It’s important to ensure we’ve got enough places, and hopefully free schools will help with that.

I’m going to be focusing on apprenticeships, as well as getting proper high speed broadband for businesses in the area.

Happy New Year and thanks to everyone who has helped me with problems residents have raised at my surgeries.”