MAY’S local elections are the chance for voters to send the Tories a message that they cannot ignore on the cost of living crisis – Thurrock deserves better.
Under the conservatives families are £2,620 worse off and we have the biggest drop in living standards since the 50s and taxes the highest in 70 years.
Prices are rising in the shops, at the pumps and in our energy bills, the Government has chosen to put up National Insurance by over 10% at exactly the wrong time and Thurrock Conservatives have, once again, increased Council Tax – meaning they have hiked it by 25% since 2017.
At the same time as increasing Council Tax by 25% Thurrock Conservatives have blown the council budget.
They need to slash £35 million from vital services – bins will be emptied fortnightly from October, Home to School Transport is being cut, parking charges are going up and 300 council workers face losing their jobs.
The scale of Conservative borrowing is astonishing. They have borrowed £1.5 billion to fund their secretive investments.
They refuse to answer Freedom of Information requests making it difficult to know just where our money is being invested – though we do know they have paid millions of pounds in commission to those that have arranged the investment deals. That’s money that could and should have been spent in Thurrock.
The Conservatives have failed to deliver big infrastructure projects on budget and on time.
The A13 widening should have been completed by the end of 2019 – it’s still not finished and is £40 million over budget.
Work to build a new Stanford Railway Station began in March 2019 when most of the existing station was demolished.
Four years on, work has yet to start on the new station while the estimated cost has risen from, around, £10 million to £30 million.
In Grays, we have seen local business displaced to build a new council chamber that no one – apart from Thurrock Tories – wanted. Despite spending tens of millions on the building, they have managed to create a council chamber that can’t accommodate all of Thurrock’s councillors.
At the same time as spending on their vanity project they tell us they can’t afford to run much loved facilities such as the Thameside and Grangewaters so are looking to close or sell them off.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Labour would be open and transparent. We will publish as much financial information on the council’s borrowing and investments as possible, all Labour councillors will hold regular advice surgeries and we will hold regular events, around Thurrock, for residents to put their questions and concerns directly to cabinet members and senior council officers.
Will will promote community ownership of local parks and promote town and village green status to protect our open spaces.
We will put Air Quality at the heart of what the council does. Every policy or initiative will be assessed for its environmental impact – especially air pollution.
And, working with schools, communities and local councillors, we will plant 500 trees a year in each ward.
After a decade of austerity and the Covid pandemic we need to radically change the way we plan for the future – that means putting the community at the heart of all we do.
Establish a fund to help stimulate the creation of community businesses led by local social entrepreneurs that can deliver some traditional council services.
Huge council contracts shouldn’t only be awarded on price – community benefits should be built into the assessment process.
As the council puts together it’s new Local Plan we will resist unviable housing numbers. We will not sign up to 32,000 new homes.
The Conservatives have failed to bring forward plans for much needed new council homes – and many of those that have been completed are left empty as the rent is too high for Thurrock residents to afford.
We will set council rents for newly built properties at a level that is truly affordable for Thurrock residents.
Too many council homes are still riddled with damp and mould. We will look to industry experts to resolve this once and for all.
Thurrock Conservatives are blind to the importance of arts, culture and heritage
They have abandoned Coalhouse Fort, plan to close the Thameside Theatre and failed to invest in the arts.
As long ago as last July, Thurrock Labour was calling for the council to work with the local arts community to create a community based entity to safeguard the future of the Thameside. We will ensure that happens in a way that will allow the Thameside to flourish.
We will work with volunteers at Coalhouse Fort to identify a viable future for the fort.
We will hold an annual Arts, Heritage and Culture conference which will bring together volunteers, community groups, artists and the council to identify shared priorities and the resources needed to deliver on them.
We recognise the great work done by our Community Forums and will take steps to strengthen them.
And we will work to make our town centres safer through a program of regular events, improved lighting and better CCTV
Thurrock has a lot to be proud of, but Thurrock does not have a Council on the side of our communities. That’s what Labour promises to be: On your side.
