WHO will run Redditch Town Hall? Crucial local elections are being held next Thursday, May 5, and your vote counts in what is expected to be one of the tightest contests seen for many a year.
The borough’s controlling Labour Group, with 15 councillors, is defending a majority of just one over the Opposition Conservatives, with 13 seats, and Ukip, with one.
However it is not just those three parties who are contesting the wards as both the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party are fielding candidates in all nine areas with an Independent candidate also standing in Church Hill.
Conservatives
A Conservative run Council will clean up Redditch so that it no longer has that neglected look! We will clean up our grass verges, sweep the roads and clear our pathways – all currently strewn with litter and detritus. We will make Redditch a safer place to live by working more closely with the Police and the Community Safety Partnership. We all deserve to live in a cleaner, safer town.
* We will campaign for better paid jobs and more apprenticeships – Redditch needs more jobs and higher salaries.
We will work with local education providers and partners to start an Apprentice Academy in Redditch so that our young people will have better apprenticeship opportunities.
*The Conservatives will Improve and extend community transport and will continue to support the retention of services at the Alex. We believe that everyone should have access to safe local services at our hospital.
Greens
“The Green Party aren’t just about the environment. They’re a vote for the common good. The new-breed of Green Party councillors are offering creative solutions in local communities and have been described as the “new broom sweeping through the dusty corridors”. Up and down the country, Green councillors have fought tooth and nail to protect essential public services and vulnerable people.
“The Green Party want to see a Redditch that measures success in several ways, not only economically. And not just environmentally, but socially. We’d like a town that takes into account the health and happiness of residents.
“We know there are local solutions to the wider issues in society, and we can help achieve them. We want to help build a ‘green economy’ for Redditch, one that’s based on community participation, creating jobs, keeping money local and ensuring every child has the best possible chance in life. We’re about creative solutions that make sense, for a stronger town, that’s fit for the future.
Labour
“You should vote Labour because Labour has delivered on all its promises and has plans and polices ensuring a better future for Redditch.
Labour re-introduced free swimming for under 16s and over 60s, re-introduced the pre 9.30am bus pass and abolished the car parking charges on council owned car parks. We got 50 Apprenticeships pledged in 50 days, introduced the hugely successful bandstand events which run through the summer, helped obtain hundreds of thousands of pounds of grant investment for training and skills and forged links with Birmingham University whereby the best post-graduates can come to Redditch companies.
Our pledges to you this election focus on Health, Housing and Jobs. Labour will continue to campaign to retain existing services and return others at the Alex and to support NHS staff, invest £1.5m in a mortgage rescue and a house buy-back scheme, invest £20,000 into encouraging new business start-ups and campaign for Redditch to join Centro to reduce the cost of rail fares.”
Liberal Democrats:
“The Liberal Democrats aim to build a community in which we can all take pride. A town where everyone has opportunities. We want to provide a high standard of public services for the people of Redditch and make the community safer, more caring and more cohesive.
“We will continuing to campaign for the restoration of a full, modern and efficient acute health service here in Redditch, never close a Sure Start centre or library, and support existing lesiure provision to facilitate healthy lifestyles.”
Their pledges include promises to investigate the options for electric buses, perhaps through a new provider, require the Council to use all legal means to ensure that no housing is left unoccupied and work with developers to ensure affordable housing is made available where it is needed.
“The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental
values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.
Ukip:
This is an important election for Ukip and we’re determined to ensure the residents views are heard loud and clear when it comes to issues such as new housing developments and the continuing cuts to public services.
We believe people have lost faith in the mainstream political parties because their councillors and MPs are simply not in touch with reality. We have a clear vision for Redditch and we pledge to run the council more democratically and cost effectively.
We will campaign for a full range of acute health services at the Alexandra Hospital and propose new innovative ideas to improve leisure facilities and transport links to Bromsgrove and Worcester.
We also want to protect the greenbelt to stop urban sprawl and unnecessary developments such as the Eastern Gateway. We would look to expand the Economic Development Unit and encourage new and existing employers to recruit more apprentice
