Lib Dem Borough Council Priorities for 2008/2009 - Ten of the best

4.57.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Sun 6th Apr 2008

The election campaign in Crawley for Borough Councillors is underway with the policies the present Lib Dem Councillors have been putting forward to the fore.

Issues that have been major discussions in Crawley recently - and will be a priority in the coming year for the Lib Dems - are listed as "headlines" below (note that they are in no particular order!). More details on these are listed below with other less current topics. If you have any questions on these policies or you would like more information on them then please contact Crawley Liberal Democrats at info@crawley-libdems.org.uk or the Lib Dem Council Group Leader, Cllr Gordon Seekings, at gordonseekings@cix.co.uk.

* Supporting the new Borough Council's Green bin Service

* Raising the minimum environmental standards on new buildings within Crawley

* Supporting the recommendations from the Lib Dem chaired review of improvements to Crawley Borough Council owned Neighbourhood Parades

* Putting Children first in the debate on Crawley's Play Centres

* Supporting a new hospital for Crawley to the west of the town

* Enhancing Crawley's open spaces and supporting the recommendations in the Lib Dem led review of Crawley's Allotments and Allotment Service.

* To take over responsibility for Crawley's Car Parking from the Police

• To support the best possible housing for Council tenants

* To ensure that any new neighbourhood in Crawley has the facilities it needs from day one rather than being left to later

* To support the continuing expansion of Gatwick Airport as a single runway airport and to oppose a second runway

1. We support the new Green Bin Service.

All services cost money and nothing is free - even if the Crawley Labour party website says this service should be! We assume they mean that this service should be free at the point of delivery - which at the moment would mean the cost is carried by all Council Taxpayers and not just the initial 4000 users. Many of these Council Taxpayers live in flats and unlike the costs of Crawley's parks, etc. this means they will pay an increased Council Tax for a service they can never ever use. When the service expands in the coming months and years - and moves toward being used by the majority of residents - then that is the point the cost of the service to the users should remain static or decrease and costs start to be covered by Council Tax.

2. Planning

We think the Council should be setting an example and wherever possible we should enshrine in our rules, regulations and guidelines minimum levels of environmental quality (sustainability, reduced/zero carbon footprint, ecological etc.) that are better than the legal minimum. We should also be prepared to defend this through legal action if developers challenge it.

3. Improvements to Neighbourhood Parades

Our Neighbourhood Parades are some of the greatest assets of our town. We support the recent Neighbourhood Parades Review (Chaired by a Lib Dem Councillor) whose recommendations were all accepted by the Council in January this year. This will result in several million pounds being spent on the Neighbourhood Parades the Borough Council own in increased maintenance and enhancements over the coming years. It also means that the "one Parade a year" refurbishments are being reinstated after a four year delay. A delay caused by Labour, and then the Conservative, run Borough Council whilst they dithered over the then much more modest refurbishment plan. The refurbishments now are to be far more than just a cosmetic job and this is welcomed. The improvements planned should also be defended against any cuts proposed by the Labour or Conservative parties in the coming years.

4. Play Centres - children should come first

We condemn the sterile argument between Labour (paraphrased - "keep them all open even though we closed some when we ran Crawley") and the Conservatives (paraphrased - "get rid of them all although we opposed the closure of some when Labour ran Crawley"). What is important, and should be the basis of the discussion, is what service is being provided for the Children and would this be better done with the existing Play Centres, a reduced or increased number of them or the service provided in another way. We will support whatever proposals are put forward to provide a service similar, or better, to that which exists at present.

5. A new hospital for Crawley

As the first of Crawley's political parties to support a new Crawley Hospital to the west of the town (Labour and Conservative members initially supported just one site at Pease Pottage) we will continue to press for this. We are however concerned that the Conservatives in Crawley are supporting one specific plan for what is essentially a private hospital and probably has more to do with promoting their parliamentary candidate than anything else.

6. Green Spaces

The Lib Dems recognise and support the protection of green spaces in Crawley whether parks, allotments, or more informal spaces. The Lib Dems also support the recent Review of Allotments that recommended new allotment sites being created within Crawley for the lengthening waiting list of residents wanting to rent an allotment.

7. Car Parking

We support the Borough Council taking control of its own parking rather than leaving it to the Police to run. The Police have better things to do than look after how cars are parked. It also gives an opportunity for the income generated from parking fines etc. to be used exclusively within Crawley rather than going into a general pot for the whole of Sussex.

8. Council Housing.

We will fight for the best possible housing service for Crawley's tenants. For the Conservative run Borough Council to be the first Council in the country to be criticised by the Advertising Standards Authority for misleading residents is a record Crawley should be embarrassed by. The fact that the Council was warned by Lib Dem members over this before it happened just reinforces the point that the Conservatives (or Labour for that matter) cannot be trusted to run the Council on there own.

9. Housing and our neighbourhoods

We continue to believe that Crawley not only needs housing for rent (Private, Council or Housing Association) but also needs new housing for purchase by the children of existing Crawley residents. The expansion of the town will continue to happen whether we like it or not and we should do all we can to ensure that services (bus, medical, parks, shops etc) to maintain an expanded town on the neighbourhood principles are of the highest possible quality.

10. Gatwick Airport

Crawley Lib Dems have long believed that Gatwick is one of the employment strengths of the town but should not be the only one. The importance of Gatwick to the town cannot be overstated but Crawley should not become totally reliant on this. We should encourage the continuing expansion of Gatwick as a one runway airport but at the same time encourage new companies and organisations to expand into and within the town.

11. Costs of Democracy

The Lib Dems will continue to take the lead in ensuring the highest possible standards of propriety of its Councillors. It will NOT support foreign trips, such as the recent one by the Conservative leader, for Councillors dressed up as "Training Courses". The Lib Dem members will also continue to argue that the Mayor and Deputy Mayor posts should not be a gift of a few members of the majority party to do with as they think fit; but should be chosen on the basis of an agreed formula that recognises length of service to the town, political party strength and suitability for the job and makes no distinction as to which political party the Mayor comes from in any one year.

12. Travellers

The Lib Dems recognise that legally and morally the Borough Council need a site for Travellers who have a connection with Crawley. Although we accept that almost any site within Crawley's boundaries has the potential to cause problems for the settled community we do not think that this should be used as an excuse for the Borough Council to take no action at all. We should continue to protect sites from unauthorised camping but not at the expense of failing to providing a legal one.

13. Iraq

There are Crawley residents who are serving, or have served, in the UK armed forces in Iraq. Not only do these residents have families here but there are also families of other serving military personnel living in the town. We should support these troops and families but at the same time continue to oppose this illegal war; a war that was started by the Labour government and supported by the Conservatives. We should continue to remind Labour and Conservative members and supporters in Crawley that no matter how many times they may say they are personally opposed to the war they are actually supporting a party that took us there.

14. Education

The Lib Dems will continue to do all they can to raise the level of understanding of local government in Crawley in organisations that have an influence on Crawley life. This will include highlighting to the local media when they fail, or misreport, issues of concern to Crawley residents on a regular basis as many of them sadly do at present.