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Colchester City Council ElectionsThursday 2nd May 2024 |
Colchester's Conservative City Councillors will:
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Focus on the top Conservative priorities of core services such as: waste collection & recycling; cleaning the streets; tending the parks and green areas, housing for those in real need. |
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Reduce the Council's debt by axing its risky commercial projects, saving £4m a year. We will use this money to restore frontline services and cut the Green Waste collection charges |
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Cut the cost of politics by reversing the absurd Lib-Dem and Labour proposals to increase the number of City Councillors, scrapping the talking shops and moving to City Council elections every 4 years |
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Stop the daft grandiose capital projects and abandon the vicious cuts to frontline services proposed by Labour & Liberal Democrats. |
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Bring under proper financial control the £1.8m annual running cost of Northern Sports Park and redistribute and invest in sports and leisure services at LeisureWorld in Colchester, Highwoods and Tiptree |
Colchester's Conservative Councillors do not believe that £9.4m cuts over the next 5 years, as approved recently by the Lib-Dem and Labour controlled City Council, would be necessary if the Council got a grip with costs across the board and dropped its grandiose projects. They are planning to cut key frontline services such as Street Care and Safety, Landscape Officers, the Countryside Team and Visitor Centres. In future years, they are planning to cut nearly £1m from Neighbourhood Services.
The Northern Sports Park, although a great facility, loses £1.87m a year in running costs and interest payments because it is managed inefficiently. It should be franchised, leased-out or sold.
The Lib-Dems and Labour want to expand the number of Councillors because the city's population has grown by 11% since the last electoral review, costing yet more money in Councillors' allowances, with less to spend on essential services.
We would halve the communications budget. The Lib Dem Council spends over half a million pounds on a communications department which issues propaganda telling you what a good job they are doing.
The Lib-Dem and Labour alliance have wasted over £3.6m of your money on an community energy project which has been abandoned, with the prospect that the Government grants will now have to be repaid at Council Taxpayers expense
The Lib-Dem have proposed spending £7.7m on a new road at A12 Junction 28 which will go nowhere, and even their own Councillors describe it as a “total car crash”. Axing this would save Council Taxpayers £775,000 in borrowing costs per year. A Conservative Council would sell the remaining Northern Gateway land eliminating in excess of £2.5m in debt interest each year.
As a result, the Council would have no need to cut street services, grass cutting, cleaning, sweeping, waste collection, safety or any other frontline services. We could even reduce or eliminate garden waste collection charges and keep Council Tax lower.
It is your money; it is your choice. If you are unhappy with the streets not being swept and instead your money being spent on adverts for the Council and loss making white elephants, then change is needed now.
Paul Dundas
Conservative Group Leader, Colchester City Council