Fylde Conservatives Launch 2007 Election Manifesto

Fylde Conservative Group – Election Manifesto
May 2007

· We will introduce a Countryside Ranger Service. The Ranger will protect the Fylde’s countryside and natural resources, promote green tourism, and help educate the Boroughs young and old alike on the benefits of the countryside and on going ‘Green’

· We will deliver additional Rapid Deployment or mobile CCTV surveillance units. We will adopt a zero tolerance approach across the Fylde on environmental crime and nuisance makers.

· We will deliver a policy on quality green starter homes to allow the young people of Fylde to Live and work in the Borough. We will make Fylde’s planning policies work for the good of the Fylde not Labour’s National Priorities.

· We will make Fylde a national and international destination for visitors. We will invest in the visitor economy by promoting the Fylde as a venue for large events, recognition of our quality beaches, visitor accomodation, shopping and countryside. We will continue to build on the success of the Fylde’s Golf Coast programme.

· We will undertake a ‘bottom-up’ review of current parking enforcement and work towards bringing the control of on-street and off-street parking under the direct control of Fylde Council rather than the County Councils Parkwise scheme. We will inject common sense back into parking enforcement with a yellow card scheme and an locally elected appeals panel.

· We will deliver Quality Services. By working with neigbouring authorities we can ensure ‘value for money’ for Fylde’s taxpayers. We will keep Council tax low, and divert resources into facilities considered ‘high priority’ by residents across the Fylde.

Statement

Conservatives are the only party in Fylde to present a manifesto for the Borough. This borough wide manifesto will also be enhanced by local Ward manifesto’s ensuring that both Coast and Countryside will see noticeable improvements, if Conservative Councillors are given the opportunity to represent residents in Towns and Villages across Fylde.

At these elections Conservatives are fielding a team of candidates across the Borough, which, if successful, on the 3rd May will bring together a team which will be truly representative of the diversity within the Borough. By having such a team Fylde Council can continue to build on the progress which has been experienced since the Conservative Party regained control of the Council in 2003, after twelve years in opposition.

The six key manifesto pledges listed are presented to the residents of Fylde after a broad consultation with residents. The six policies are general in their language and summarise what the Conservatives will deliver for Fylde.

The Quallity Services pledge gives a guarantee to residents that Conservatives will continue to look at innovative ways of improving services and facilities whilst keeping the demands on Council Tax realistic. In 2003 we inherited a Council which was graded ‘weak with uncertain prospects for the future’ by Government Inspectors. We have set a target for re-inspection during 2007/08 with an aim of receiving a grade of at least ‘Good with good prospects for the future’ Alot of work has been done during the past four years to turn the Councils fortunes around and I believe that we deliver this pledge.

Independents withdraw from Heyhouses Election update

The election period is now well under way, Keith, Craig and myself have been out and about knocking on doors and listening to residents concerns. We have already reported issues with empty properties, litter and poor road surfaces. many of the issues that fall under the responsibility of Fylde Council should be addressed within 7 days. We will keep an eye on it.

Today we learnt that the Independent Candidate placed in Heyhouses by Leader of Fylde's Opposition group (Cllr Hayhurst) has withdrawn his candidature for the Ward and decided to chance his arm in Park Ward instead! This leaves Labour and Lib Dems challenging for the three seats in the Ward.

We have been interested to hear your views whilst out and about. Canvassing has also enabled us to explain the real facts behind the Cabinet system, sand collection and some other inaccurately reported issues in the local media. The common comment from you has been 'now that makes sense, why don't the papers report the real facts?' unfortunately this is beyond our control, yet we hope that the regular newsletters and now this blog will help keep you up to date.

We have also been keeping an eye on the policies and arguments being put forward by our opponents. The Lib Dems seem to be pushing the skewed argument about Cabinet Governance in Fylde and how they will change it for the better!! a few points that you need to be aware of really.
1. The Conservatives already have opposition Councillors chairing committees, Development Control committee, Community Outlook and Planning Policy Scrutiny forums. So their claim that they will give opposition members a role, is exactly what we already do!
2. Lib Dems and Labour want Regional Government and Unitary Authorities. Conservatives opposed both in the recent Government white Paper on local Government reorganisation. The reason for mentioning this is, all Unitary Authorities exceed 80,000 residents within the local Authority Boundary, Blackpool for example has 130,000 residents. The Local Government Act 2000 states that any council with over 80k residents, must operate under the cabinet system! therefore, the Lib Dems and Labour support this structure!!!
3. As already mentioned once a Council reaches the 80,000 residents mark then it has to move to cabinet. For Independents and Lib Dems to say they would scrap the system is short sighted and potentially short lived. New housing policies have indicated that over 12,500 homes will need to be built on the Fylde Coast Region in the next few years. Fylde currently fluctuates between 75 & 76,ooo people within the Borough. If these housing numbers are imposed by Government, then we will be very close to the 80k mark. This again would mean that the Council would have to move to the Cabinet.

Privately many long standing opposition councillors have agreed that the Cabinet is the best way forward, with many of the most vociferous ones against it recently in the papers having actually been a member of the Executive Committee the predecessor of the Cabinet for a year!!! I think, heaven forbid, if the Independents and Lib Dems formed a new controlling coalition after May 3rd, that they would not deliver on their promise and would keep a Cabinet. Based on the feedback from on our canvass, I think that another public consultation would deliver a vote in favour of progress and vote to stay with the cabinet system.

Any thoughts?

Nominations have closed for May 3rd Elections

Today at Noon was the last chance for candidates to submit their nomination papers for the District and Parish elections to be held on the 3rd May. Heyhouses was always going to be a hotly contested seat with both myself and Keith being seen as senior Councillors with the Town Hall. The nominations are:

3 Conservatives: Coombes, Halewood & Hyde
1 Liberal Democrat
1 Labour
1 Independent

It is interesting to see that the Independent Candidate has been placed by the Leader of the Opposition. I think that putting forward candidate from the furthest corner of the Borough, Elswick is not only a sign of desperation on the Oppositions behalf, but also proves that the Independents are not about representing people in their Wards, it's about getting seats and playing politics. Labour have also struggled to find candidates for these elections with just 10 candidates Borough wide, not surprising really as they are not exactly flavour of the month!!
Finally the Lib Dems and Independents, both have pledged to work together to try and unseat Conservatives. The Labour Candidate for Heyhouses is the 'official' Independent candidate for the Town Council seat in St Leonards Ward??

We know that many of the Independent Candidates in Fylde are actually, Lib Dem or Labour supporters at the General Election, why they don't have the courage of their political beliefs locally I don't know?

Anyway that is hot off the press. Rest assured your Conservative team will fight hard to ensure that Heyhouses continues to have a strong Conservative voice on Fylde Council. Please let us have your thoughts and feedback on any issues in the coming weeks.

Keep an Eye Open for Fly Tippers!

Heyhouses Ward Councillors are urging residents to keep an eye open for suspicious vehicles on the Moss. A recent spate of Fly Tipping has turned the Green Belt into a Fly Tippers paradise, with Fridges, TV's, Rubble, Household Waste and Carpets being just some on the items being dumped.

We have asked the Council Streetscene Team to try and get it cleared ASAP and to work with Blackpool Council to ensure that they clear their area.

Division Lane marks the end of Heyhouses with Blackpool, much of the rubbish behind me is in Blackpool's patch. Many Heyhouses residents use the Moss Road and we are urging them to make note of vehicle registration number and vehicle types and report them to the Council or Police ASAP.

Conservative Councillors have pledged additional funding for a mobile CCTV unit for the Borough. Manned by specially trained officers, Fly Tippers will be caught on camera and then taken to court. But we really need you to help catch and deter them.

You can use the link on the blog to email us with your info or to contact the Town Hall directly.