WSCC Elections 2103: Burgess Hill Labour Party Address The Burgess Hill Uncovered Readers

Introduction When we re-formed the Burgess Hill Labour Party less than two years ago we were encouraged by the fact that there is an anti-Tory majority in the town. In recent years the Liberal Democrats have laid claim to be the only alternative to the Tories. Now at last the work being put in by Labour activists means that Labour supporters can be proud of their Party. With Liberal Democrat candidates now representing a party who have agreed to major increases in tuition fees for students, the effective privatisation of the National Health Service and a massive tax reduction for millionaires along with numerous other horrors they can no longer claim to be the alternative. The only realistic alternative to the Tories is now the Labour Party. Voters have recognised this by electing Labour Councillors in the most recent by-elections in the town. This statement gives a brief outline of our position on issues which should concern us. We are sorry if it is a bit serious but the future of our town is a serious business. Areas of agreement All parties will have areas of agreement and we agree that the state of the roads, the opposition to the waste facility at Goddards Green, car parking, empty shops etc are and should be the focus of interest for all parties. Certainly the election literature reflects these concerns. What is wrong? We consider that the main problems relate to the stranglehold placed on the Town Council and Community by what has been described as the deadening hand of the District Council. The District Council make all meaningful decisions on the requirement for Developers to provide funding for improvements to the town and control the spending and the budgets. Can anyone say that our town has been substantially improved as a result of housing development in recent years? The Town Council goes along with this approach. Apart from the Planning Committee which has only limited powers anyway other meetings are held when deemed necessary! The Finance Committee which is now supposed to receive regular reports on what is happening to the improvement money meets every six months, and what you may think is a major Committee, the Strategic Planning Committee, met in March 2012 and then not again until February 2013. When Labour Councillors suggested that the Town Council should request District Council to release £2million of the over £3million raised from the sale of the site at The Brow for improvements to our town, the suggestion was turned down. The Tories said such a request would upset the District Council and the Liberal Democrats also voted against the proposal. We assume that this money is still sitting somewhere in a District Council account unless it has already been spent elsewhere in the District. How many roads could we have properly resurfaced for the long term with this money? The solutions We are not naïve enough to suggest that if you elect Labour County Councillors everything will be fine the next day. Even our limited experience on minor matters has convinced us as Councillors that perseverance is necessary. The Burgess Hill Labour Party advocates the abolition of the District Council layer of local government. This is not some unrealistic ideal. The desirability of abolishing District Councils is being debated across the country by Town Councillors of every political persuasion. The Town Council working with and answerable at the ballot box to the local Community would then have complete control of the purse strings for money raised from Development. They would decide the priorities for spending, commission the work and manage the budgets. This is important because it is likely that whichever Government is in charge, we will be required to take substantial housing development. We would consider the setting up of a Burgess Hill Development Advisory group consisting of Councillors from every tier of Local Government, Community representatives from all age groups, Business leaders, Retailers, Education, Health and Environmental experts. This group would fully exploit the opportunities offered by the funding flowing into the town and would explore all other opportunities for obtaining incoming funds. We accept that there is a need to work in partnership with the County Council as a strategic authority. We would attempt to get them to reduce outsourcing wherever possible to cut the profits going to such outfits as Capita, Balfour Beatty etc and to make contracts the right size to attract smaller local contractors insisting that they pay a living wage so that workers in full employment do not have to have their wages subsidised by the tax payer through tax credits. Conclusions The Burgess Hill Labour Party is now a fast growing organisation. We are very gratified at the amount of help we are getting during this election campaign and we are delighted to be signing up so many new members. Whatever the result, and we hope to do very well, we have already won the campaign for the longer term. We understand that Politics is not a game, it is about getting things improved for people. We believe our values that we are all better working together collectively rather than simply caring about ourselves will deliver much more at the local level. Whatever else we do, we will feel privileged to represent the people of Burgess Hill and will work very hard on their behalf. Please consider voting for us so that we can deliver a powerful message to the new County Council, that Burgess Hill is independent and will not be messed around with. Promoted by and on behalf of Burgess Hill Labour Party at 15 Junction Rd, Burgess Hill. RH15 0HR.

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Will the Labour Party candidates be getting your vote at the West Sussex County Council Elections? What do you think of Labour wanting rid of the district council?