Hastings and Rye Labour Party

I’m disappointed by the section on “access”. As a disabled person, this word has a slightly different (and more specific) meaning for me. Whilst I accept that the definition being used here is intended to be much wider, the Disabled community have been consulted on the Borough Plan and Community Strategy many times and we have consistently said that we would like to see a commitment, through the Planning as well as other departments, to increased participation in, as well as access to, the built environment and increased opportunities for community involvement for Disabled people.

In a wider context, this document’s failure is that, once again, it panders to a “person-centred”, somewhat “NIMBY” agenda and fails to recognize the role of community cohesion as a vital tool to bring about social change and development.

Kev, Thanks for the feedback.

We know you speak up for disabled people in the town so we are always happy to listen to what you have to say. The section of the manifesto on a fairer Hastings says Labour will “Work to make Hastings a more harmonious town, involve every part of the community in the life of the town.” We do accept, however, that the document could be more specific about trying to meet the particular needs of disabled people. If you have any thoughts about a couple of bullet points that might help we would be please to try and incorporate them in the manifesto.

You talk about a new culture of openness at the Town Hall which is welcome but Hastings Council does not publish the details of members interests on its website. Presumably the present administration doesn’t want to make it too easy for the public to find out who their cronies are. I suggest that you make a firm commitment to publish these on the website just as Rother and many other councils do and ensure that all Labour councillors comply with not just the letter but the spirit of the law on registrable interests (not that I’m suggesting that they don’t already).

I agree with the need to improve the line to Ashford not only for its links to London but also for its links to Europe. You should also be campaigning for Eurostar to reinstate the services to Paris, Lille and Brussels which used to stop at Ashford to make it much easier to get to France, Belgium and beyond without having to make the trek into London or (even worse) to Ebbsfleet.

Richard, we agree wholeheartedly with your suggestion that councillors’ interests – properties they own, organisations they are members of etc – should be published on the council website.

At the moment a resident would have to make a special trip to the Town Hall and ask to see the register. All this information should be as freely available as possible. I suggest we amend the Manifesto so that in the Fairer Hastings section we add the words “as well as the register of members’ interests” at the end of the clause which starts “introduce a new culture of openness to the Town Hall.”

Also we are happy to include the suggestion of lobbying Eurostar for better connections between Ashford and Brussels. These were of course ended but as a result of a campaign especially by our local MP Michael Foster one direct Ashford/Brussels service was reinstated (there did retain three services a day to Paris and a daily train to Disneyland Paris throughout all this). Michael then had to wage a second campaign to ensure the newly reinstated service to Brussels connected with the Hastings/Ashford service He was successful and 06:27 service from Ashford International to Brussels has been moved to the later departure time of 06:57.

Thanks to simultaneous timetable amendments from Southern, travellers on both the 05:21 and 05:47 services from Hastings are to connect with the Eurostar train. In addition to the later departure time the train also stops at Calais and Lille.

There are some attractive proposals in the Attractive section of Labour’s St Leonards and Hastings Borough Manifesto.

However, the compulsory purchase of the old abandoned derelict pier causes me some disquiet, notwithstanding my firm enthusiasm for preserving our glorious past in whatever form. But I ask-was the pier ever glorious? Does the pier trust have, in the bank, all the funds required for this massive project? Will the council then have to make another compulsory purchase a short trot along the line and thus saddle the town with a seriously unmanageable financial problem? If another experienced pier owner has decided it is unviable, dare I whisper the heretical thought that Hastings can well survive without a pier? Please convince me that I am wrong.

Secondly, the grot busting crusade must continue (did the Conservatives really clip its wings – how very grotty of them). The recent step to prohibit estate agent boards along the length of the seafront is very welcomed, but I suggest that it will only be useful if vigorously and immediately enforced. Likewise, I would welcome satellite dishes being swept off the frontage of all buildings on the seafront (eg 40-50 from Queen Victoria to White Rock Theatre) and siting them only on roof tops. I appreciate that this joint venture may strain the resources and funding and prioritising of that particular borough department but ask that this be considered.

I agree with Peter Mann – the pier is really not worth restoring. I’d rather see a brand new sustainably designed and built pier built on the existing site, with NO amusements, bingo, cheap tat shops and bad food outlets. An open competition for architects would be a prestigious and high-visibility way of ensuring a contemporary design rather than the sentimental nostalgic option. A decent sized venue for performances other than bi-weekly tribute bands and d-list touring shows would be great, a world class arts centre with a venue even better.

The alcohol policy is making a start on the problem; regulating the ludicrous number of cheap off-licences is essential, along with not granting permits to sell alcohol from 8 a.m. No-one without a drinking problem needs it at that time of day.

I would like to see something specific about support for LGBT people and a more inclusive agenda now that there are 6 strands.

I would also want the manifesto to be proactive in support for drug and alcohol users who are homeless… a wet house.

More consideration around traffic calming.

Peter and Lesley,

I can appreciate your concerns about whether the Pier can be viably saved. However, we do need to remember that 2,000 Hastings people marched through the streets last year demanding that it should be saved. We are not urging the council to compulsorily purchase it and then maintain ownership. Rather that it works with the Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust who believe they can access funds if the ownership issue was resolved. They are currently awaiting confirmation of a bid to fund a detailed feasibility study into their restoration plans. The ideal is that they find they can raise the money to make a real start on their rescue plan; the council compulsorily purchases it and passes ownership to them.

The current owners will never put the money or time into saving the structure and if it had to be demolished (which it would even if there was the possibility of replacing with something else) the £4 million cost could fall on the council.

Hi Ambrose,

We would be very happy to incorporate some more detailed comments about the rights of the LGBT community.

On traffic calming we have been pressing for a 20mph zone in the Old Town as a pilot scheme that could be followed in other residential roads as Portsmouth council has done very widely.

The wet house idea has been debated round the town and is something we are happy to look into with others when we have won a majority on the council in May.

It would be just great to have a spanking new, award-winning, architecturally exciting pier with an arts centre and high-class performances, or (as has been suggested) for an exhibition venue and visitor-centre for alternative marine energy.

Meanwhile, let’s get on and restore the one we already have. There’d be plenty of space to put a new pier, e.g. on the site of the long-gone St Leonards Pier, without spending £4m on demolishing the old one. And I’m not aware of any tat, tribute bands and bingo in the HPWRT’s plans. I think they can be trusted to re-create the pier with good ideas: this town is bursting with talent but is sorely lacking in venues to show it off. If the HPWRT can match the talent with a refurbished pier they’ll have done us all a good turn.

Hi Jeremy,

Good to see that tackling dog fouling is on your agenda. I have emailed you before about it and suggested a punishment whereby offenders that don’t clear up have to do community service clearing up dog mess to get them used to it. I was told that it was not an agreed form of punishment. There have been many letters in the Observer about the issue. I do not know another town where it is as bad as it is in Hastings and in particular St Leonards. I confront dog owners when I take my own dog out offering bags to them but no one has ever taken up my offer. They simply don’t care. It makes the whole place look disgusting and uncared for.

Even more pleased to see a pledge to help Hastings United with an improved stadium which not only the club needs but which the town deserves to hopefully start to bring the town’s sporting facilities up to scratch. Obviously the Tories had that in their manifesto last time round and 5 years on nothing. Also as a user of Falaise it is becoming a bit of a joke, you almost need an umbrella in there when working out, I reckon all the buckets collecting rain water must be a health and safety trip hazard. Therefore glad to see updated leisure facilities is on your agenda, it would be fantastic if new facilities could be part of a new or improved stadium.

I know that for sale boards are being banned from the seafront. Whilst I don’t really have a problem with them if they are advertising a sale. I do have issues with ‘to let’ boards that are a permanent fixture at properties. I have lived in Edward Road now for 7 years and there are 2 properties that have had One Stop to let boards outside for probably half that time. Maybe they have been empty for that long (doubt it!) or is it just free advertising for One Stop and other agents? It has a negative impact on the area in my opinion.

Guess we won’t be seeing much of you at the PF between now and the election but I know you will be keeping an eye on the promotion push and the floodlight fund-raising. I guess there is no way the council might help out with a donation. We have done well to raise £13,000 so far with £16,000 from the Football Stadia Fund but we don’t have long now to raise the extra £12 to £15,000. I am doing the half marathon in March and am on course to raise £1,000, any support the council could provide us would be fantastic at what at the end of the day is a council owned facility.

Simon,

The pressure on dog fouling must be stepped up. Some more high profile prosecutions are needed. However, more needs to be done on cleaning up the streets as well as on enforcement.

On the estate agents boards, it was a resolution from my Labour colleagues – Cllrs Paul Barlow and Trevor Webb – that committed the council to cracking down. The government then empowered the council to insist on planning permission for these boards. We will happily examine the ‘to let’ boards too.

Also the council can of course take action if properties are left empty and again a Labour councillor – Cllr Peter Chowney – successfully committed the council to include the use of compulsory purchase orders (CPO) as a weapon in the fight against empty properties following the visit he suggested to the council to see how Labour-controlled Newham council have used CPOs so effectively.

As to the Pilot Field’s essential floodlight fund, the council is hoping to receive up to £400,000 in additional VAT rebates. Perhaps Hastings United should ask for a modest contribution from this windfall.

Where are the policies on housing, specifically social housing ?

What happen to the proposed Millennium Communities , not 1 new home built , only thing i’ve seen is the demolition of the flats at Farley Bank back in about 2004 , why were they knocked down when families could have lived in them ?

Who’s made the decision to knock them down ?

Its a disgrace that Labour have done nothing to reverse Thatcher’s legacy of homeowner or homeless.

The Housing Needs Survey 2005 identified a huge problem with housing in this town, its seems that that survey has fallen on deaf ears .
Local councillors and politicians were and are obsessed with house prices , what good are high house prices to those who can’t afford to buy a home ,where will these people live ?
Homes are being used merely as a commodity – buying and selling.

I’ve waited 13 years for Labour to do something about this mess , as far as i can see no one gives a damn about this hidden problem , it is there but no one talks about it .

Mostly ,the only people able to afford to buy in this town are those moving from London and elsewhere, no way that folks who work selling burgers , in care homes, retail, the service industry can afford to buy a home esp as most earn the minimum wage .

Andy,

The council has to adopt the government’s housing targets as expressed in the regional plan – these are for 210 new housing units (houses or flats) per year over 20 years. The council’s policy as determined when Labour was in control is for 25% of those new units to be affordable (in essence social housing) if they are on brownfield sites and for 30% if they are on greenfield sites. We would be happy to beef up the manifesto by re-asserting our commitment to these housing figures and the proportion of those which should be social housing.

The progress on the millennium community in Ore Valley has been very disappointing but as we know house-building has hit low ebb during the current recession. The demolition in Farley Bank was a decision taken by 1066 Housing Association – now part of the Amicus-Horizon Group.

Unfortunately the decisions that have most impact on local peoples lives, are not made at local level. That is why we get such great debates about who was responsible for the campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in St Helens Rd, and what more can be done about dog poo.

The really important items in your manifesto would only be progressed by sanction of national government or perhaps in some cases at county level, where Hastings only have a small imput.

The best course of action is for local labour councillors to put pressure on their constituency MPs to support a policy of extending the democratic process down to the town & borough councils, with the authority to raise their own funding and to make decisions on sevices like waste disposal and planning, that can be carried out.

Hi Jeremy,

Many thanks for the prompt reply.

So 1066 Housing Association demolished those flats on a whim or? They weren’t falling down or nowt, why would a HA demolish homes like that, surely there must have been some consultation with the Council, residents etc?

Anyway, to move on from that subject for the time being.

Employment: Just last week a mate applied for a job as a Driver/Delivery man for a well known supermarket. 3 vacancies – 400 applicants!

“Continue to support making Hastings a centre for green industries with the new enviro-business park on Queensway, and make environmental improvements to the council’s own factory units.”

So:

1) What are these green industries?
2) How many people will be employed?
3) When will it all happen?

A very laudable statement that is ultimately just words – a wish list. Visit the ‘Cathedral of Despair’ (Job Centre), here you will find the truth and reality, people being treated with contempt and forced into all manner of jobs just to get them ‘off the books’.

A large dose of reality is required, many do not work in the public sector or town hall, they are in effect the ‘working underclass’.

None of the visions laid out in this Labour document will change anything for them or indeed for the 397 applicants who didn’t get the job(s) at the supermarket .

So, I’ve lightly touched on housing and employment – homes and jobs, a very basic requirement for all, when will it happen?

How much does the Labour Party really care about such things? I know the Conservatives don’t care about these things, after all the Council Houses were sold and unemployment was a price worth paying according to them.

Andy,

The £9.21 million first phase of the enviro-business park will provide, 3,238m² of business space and will be completed this month (March). The precise number of jobs depends on the businesses taking up occupation. The units have been designed to a high level of environmental sustainability and it is hoped it will attract businesses themselves involved in designing environmental products – perhaps for environmentally retrofitting existing buildings or perhaps for generating electricity sustainably in new buildings.

I don’t often read political material but obviously this is an important one and so it I was keen to see what the Labour Party had to say.

I realise it’s difficult to get a document that everyone will be able to relate to and even more difficult to get them in an order which would represent their priorities….having said that I do have some comments:

I understand the decision to lead with two very local issues which tax a lot of us as local residents (dog fouling for me!). However I felt there was nothing inspiring in the statements. Isn’t that important in a document like this? The manifesto leads with “what the Labour Party can do for you” but then proceeds to talk about what the local residents can do for the Labour Party/Council with the emphasis on consultation. In my view there should be some stated aims on how to tackle these issues and not necessarily leading on the tools that would be used to hone the policy.

The statements talk of clamping down but wouldn’t it be more effective to state what powers might actually be used.

After reading the whole document there is no acknowledgement of the country’s straightened economic circumstances which is presumably the reason the Conservatives give for making the cuts you mention. What is the Labour Party going to look at in relation to efficiencies and or shifts in priority?

The document acknowledges the increasing level of ethnic diversity in the town in the stated aims for future council employment. Could something perhaps be added to the Creative Hastings section e.g. festivals and arts that would bring the political action more onto the streets as opposed to the internal recruitment policies of the council.

The document moves onto the more meaty issues which are sound and give the feeling of understanding and leadership which of course is what has been distinctly lacking in the current administration.

A lot of very good points here and much to agree with, but it also has to be said that it also lacks the Big Idea. One of my continual frustrations with Hastings is that singular lack of driving vision and out of the box thinking that would make others stand up and take note of us. I think the biggest problem in the area is a disaffected and largely dysfunctional populace who lack any ownership over their future and who are unfortunately ripe for BNP activists. Obviously being in the creative sector I welcome the Jerwood but would again question the way that the council has gone about selling this to the local community.

I feel that there needs to be more emphasis on equality and diversity especially as it can be argued that these issues have an impact on all sections of your manifesto. Often it’s the marginalised or hidden communities that are the ones who need the most help in terms of accessing health care, housing, employment, education etc.. I also have a different take on the word “access” and see it to mean having the option to use local services that are delivered in a way that suits you, whether that be from an accessible building, a centre near where you live or in a language you understand. In these days of ever reducing pubic spending budgets, I feel these issues should be at the heart of any political manifesto.

Keith,

The future level of public spending is clearly a challenge – especially in the unlikely event of a Tory government. They are pledged to a June emergency budget to commence the swingeing cuts to public spending that the Tories have always believed in, never mind the impact on a fragile economic recovery. The manifesto is trying not to make grand financial commitments that might not be realisable. When we take over control of the council we will begin in earnest a public discussion with residents about how together we prioritise the key front line services in the face of possibly reducing funding.

We agree with your comments on cultural diversity and are happy to enlarge the creative Hastings section to include mention of festivals that celebrate that diversity and bring the community together.

Marc,

Good to hear your thoughts. The fairer Hastings section tries to deal with the issues of the town’s increasing diversity. We feel that in response to your comments and others and discussing with people recently that we should include a commitment for the council to lead in the development of an Equalities Charter (along the lines of Brighton) that the police, health, education, Job Centre etc would all sign up to recognising the different needs within our community and pledging to provide services that meet those different needs.

I wonder if you are aware of the different procedures being used by the waste collection services (Veolia). Instead of tipping our wheelie bins into their van they now only take out the waste that is in bags in the bins, put the bags into their own bin, and empty that bin in the van. This means that loose material is left at the bottom of the bins and never cleared, unless we tip it out and bag it. I thought we were supposed to avoid using plastic bags. Now it seems they are compulsory! Why have the bins at all?

Also it seems there is now a charge of £15 for clearing larger waste. I live in a block of flats and objects, such as refrigerators, door frames, paint pots etc are put out, presumably by other tenants, but no one seems to be prepared to admit to putting them there, possibly because they would have to pay the charge. Some of it could have been put there by passers by. I’m in favour of having waste collection scheme that is prepared to remove anything, and which will then dispose of it for recycling as appropriate.

Residents can of course try to help in the sorting process, but many just do not have sufficient space for, say, a number of bins for different types of waste. So I don’t think there is any alternative but to leave it to the waste collection firm to do most of the sorting. I already put most of my waste into the separate pink bags for recycling anyway.

Marc is right when he says “Often it’s the marginalised or hidden communities that are the ones who need the most help in terms of accessing health care, housing, employment, education etc..”

Inequality is the big problem here , folks who are indeed marginalised, those who don’t tick a particular box .

Anyone read the book “The Spirit Level-Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better” by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett.

Cameron is a fan of that book but probably for all the wrong reasons ,most likely he will cherry pick it.
Basically throughout the book you will find that the authors analysis is one of : it don’t matter how much money you throw at something , its the inequality that causes the problems in society .

Now , Mr Cameron will no doubt seize on the money aspect , so he will cut , cut , cut .

Its the inequalities that do the damage , those who are socially excluded , i prefer just to say excluded .

Examples of those whom i consider to be excluded are:

1) Single Males.
2) Childless Single Females (who don’t meet the “at risk” criteria)
3) Childless Couples

[You might be surprised at this , it would be easy to reel off the usual suspects ,IE: people with drug/alcohol/disabled/mental health issues]

The 3 examples i give are all mainstream in our society.

Consider this :

I know a young lady who works 50-80 hours PW earning the minimum wage , she needs to work those hours to meet her outgoings: rent ,council tax, utility bills, travel,food etc.

She attended a night class in Health and Beauty at college , training and learning new skills.
She wasn’t entitled to attend this course for free as she was working, she saved the money up ( somehow) and completed the course.

There was the opportunity to sign up and do the next course to progress and gain a higher level qualification.

All of the pupils bar one enthusiastically signed up for it . The one who didn’t sign up for it was the young lady i’m referring to here .
She couldn’t afford the fees , she was the only one who would have to pay 100% of the course fees .
Everyone else was exempt from paying , single parents etc .

So now she’s stuck in a crummy care worker job with no option to continue at college .

Just one true example of someone being excluded , someone who works and works just to pay the bills , maybe she should have gone down the single parent ,council flat and benefit route (like all the others on the college course)?

We have made a number of changes to the section A fairer Hastings following comments that have been posted on this website. We hope now that the commitments we have made better reflect the needs of the different communities in the town, and that those who have responded feel that we have taken their views on board.

“Develop an anti-poverty strategy for the town”

Can you expand on this statement please.

Andy,

A Labour council will develop an anti-poverty strategy and try to get health, children’s services education, housing associations, the local Department for Work & Pensions, and other public and voluntary bodies in the town to sign up too.

It would have two main aims. We need to tackle the deep-rooted, generational poverty that exists in some parts of the town and in some households. But also we need to make sure that the regeneration programmes reach down to touch those who need economic prosperity the most.

The strategy will have an action plan which can include: benefits take-up campaign, review of the council’s charging policies, reduced entry to sports and leisure facilities for those on benefit, continued support for the Credit Union and the money advice service, tackling fuel poverty, meet housing quality standards. Other areas have looked at working together with the DWP by requesting scans from them that will give details of customers who are in receipt of Income Support or Jobseekers Allowance that are not claiming Housing and/or Council Tax Benefit and then contacting them to ensure that those who do have an entitlement do make a claim.

We would initiate the development of a strategy by calling a conference of all the local public agencies, the voluntary sector and representatives of the communities in the town and encourage them to use their experience and expertise to flesh out the approach we need and the action plan.

It’s good to see ‘develop more cycle lanes’ but this seems a little half-hearted to me, I’d like to see a more robust commitment to funding the cycle network throughout Hastings, and to cycle training, the provision of cycle to work schemes and more. I’d also like to note that the Queensway EnviroParks have got ‘sustainable transport’ as one of their key criteria but where are the cycle facilities?? Hey guess what, they forgot to build them in from the beginning – again. No change there, then.

Nick,

We certainly are committed to finding funds to match the commitment to “develop more cycle lanes.” Indeed we moved that £50,000 be set aside from the council’s VAT rebate at the annual budget meeting. Unfortunately the Tories opposed it, the independent and one Liberal voted with us, the other two Liberals didn’t, so it was lost on the Tory Mayor’s casting vote.

Thank you for your response to my question Jeremy. However, I would like to press you on a couple of points contained within the “A Fairer Hastings” section of the manifesto.
Specifically, could you expand on how the proposed Equalities Charter would work and be monitored? Also you mention “working with (disability groups) to press shops, hotels, restaurants, pubs etc., to make their premises FULLY accessible. Given the current economic climate and, it must be said, the failure of the Council’s existing consultation arrangements with the Disabled community to bring about any significant change (or indeed any commitment to change OR feedback to Disabled people’s groups regarding the progress towards such change), how do you think that we can make this process work better AND produce tangible results?

Kev,

The idea of the Equalities Charter is that all public agencies would sign up to it and commit themselves to work to the same approach regarding equal treatment for all users. Brighton and Hove have developed a charter like this. As it involves all public agencies perhaps it could be monitored by the Hastings Local Strategic Partnership or its sub-committees.

On the issue of accessibility we do understand your frustration at the slow progress. But, recession or not, we must press hotels and cafes to consider disability issues. Our recently resigned councillor Terry Soan has recently done his own walk along Hastings seafront and was very unhappy to see so many of the cafes were not accessible to disabled people. I think a high profile tour along the seafront by councillors, council officers and representatives from the Disability Forum could hopefully convince some of these establishments of their social reasonability towards disabled people.

Hi Jeremy

I think your proposals for A Safer Hastings are comprehensive and the emphasis put on enforcing existing regulations is what is required.

The cleanliness and tidiness of the townies vital both for the residents and the visitors bringing money into the town, therefore creating jobs for local people. How much better the front looks without all the estate agents boards.

I agree that the best possible use is made with the £12million additional government money given to Hastings to create new jobs, encourage businesses take up the new space, and hopefully provide
skills and self confidence to those out of work. I also think it was very wrong of The Tories to give away money intended for Hastings.

Sports facilities have too long been inadequate for a town the size of Hastings, young people need access to both indoor and outdoor activities in order to live a healthy life, so I agree with said proposals.

It is essential the issues raised about public transport and roads are pushed forward,especially the duelling of the A21, this is why manufacturing firms left the town due to the inadequacy of the roads both in and out of Hastings.

I believe everyone should have access to Art and Culture, and I look forward to the development of the Jerwood Gallery and The Stade open Space.

Being of an age able to remember the days before NHS I fully welcome and appreciate all the additional Health Facilities brought to this town by a Labour Government.

In order to achieve an Attractive Hastings we need to continue the work being carried out since 1997, retain The Pier and The Seafront, preserve Historic Hastings, and MAINTAIN THE GROTBUSTERS
Careful and considered consent to planning applications. Bring empty homes back into use.

I think the ideals for A Fairer Hastings is what is needed for the community.

Is it true that the Tory party want to reduce funding for Sure Start centres, my Grandchildren use these centres providing valuable support to my daughter? What plans do you have to support Sure Start centres?

Also how many young people have been impacted by the £250K given to Bexhill?

Terry,

The Tories have pledged to cut £200,000 per year from Sure Start budgets. Labour nationally is committed to protecting Sure Start funding with inflation rises in funding up to 2013. Over the last ten years the Labour government has been building children’s centres in every community – opening early in the morning to help parents who are going to work, and giving early learning opportunities to children. There are 3,500 Sure Start children’s centres.

As to the problems of unemployed young people, one third of Hastings unemployed claimants are under the age of 24 – that’s almost 1,200 young people. Labour councillors did not agree that funding business space in Bexhill was a priority over and above trying to do more for the young unemployed in Hastings.

If Labour get the most councillors in May, will you have to stick to current Tory spending plans for the coming year or can you make changes straight away?

Also, I live in a housing estate where bin men refuse to collect recycling as according to them ‘there is nowhere safe to put green boxes or wheelie bins’. The other side of the street are able to recycle but we cannot as we have loads of steps and no storage facilities. Will you look into properties that can’t currently get recycling collected and find a way of helping us do it? It seems such a waste to throw all these cans, papers and stuff in the normal rubbish.

Labour will certainly review the council’s financial position as soon as we are elected. Although of course the council tax level has been set and bills sent out and the different sections within the council will have been given their spending limits for the financial year. But there can still be changes in line with our manifesto commitments. Also the council is hoping to receive a further VAT rebate of up to £400,000 and we would certainly be aiming to spend that on our key manifesto priorities.

Regarding your recycling problem, if your estate is unsuitable for wheelie bins then there should be a collection of bagged recycling. If you would like to let us know more details we will try to tackle the issue.