A revamp of the St Albans Food and Drink Festival, more affordable housing, and a reduction in street trader license fees are among the promises the Liberal Democrat party are offering city voters in the upcoming local elections.

Currently the second biggest party on the council, the Lib Dems have told the St Albans & Harpenden Review what they would do for the people of St Albans if they controlled the city after the results are announced overnight on Thursday, May 22.

Read the full manifesto here: Manifesto 2014 - for publication.pdf

The Liberal Democrats have pledged to "protect those on lower incomes" and cut the council’s costs by three per cent every year by merging ‘back office’ functions with neighbouring councils.

Other promises include providing ward councillors with a budget of around £2,000, as part of the community budget, so decisions about which organisations and projects are supported can be made locally.

The Lib Dems also said they would reduce the "outrageous" licensing fees charged to street traders by the station and in St Peter’s Street, as well as revamping the city’s Food and Drinks Festival and Christmas Market "to make sure that local people and traders are in the driving seat - not council officials."

Other policies in the Lib Dem manifesto include funding to Transition St Albans and similar organisations to encourage people to use energy more efficiently.

The party also plans to work with other parties on the district council, the county council, parish councils and residents’ groups to introduce a "sound" Local Plan "that enables the building of affordable housing whilst preserving every piece of Green Belt that national policy will allow."