The Liberal Democrats have taken control of Cotswold District Council from the Conservatives, ending its 16-year reign – but what have they promised?
Voters turned away from the Tories as the party’s majority of 10 was wiped out on May 2, with eight wards won by the Liberal Democrat opponents.
The Lib Dems gained six seats from the Tories, as well as one Independent and a Green candidate – marking the first ever Green councillor on the district council.
Tomorrow the new council leader will be appointed as well as their cabinet at a full council meeting in the authority’s HQ in Cirencester.
Councillor Joe Harris (St Michaels) is currently the Lib Dem leader on the authority but it is unknown whether he will take the district council’s most senior position.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has dug through the Lib Dems’ local election manifesto, and picked out 18 things you might expect from the new administration.
These include scrapping Sunday charges in all car parks, reviewing and improving bus services in the district, and looking at its back-office workforce which was outsourced to private company Publica in 2017.
1. Housing
Stop planning permissions for holiday homes until the housing
waiting list is reduced by 50 per cent
Work with Parish Councils, community groups and local charities to
identify social housing need beyond what the District Council
already knows
Begin a review starting in 2020 of the Cotswold Local plan 2011 –
2031 in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework;
tackling climate change will be a central theme of the review.
2. Planning
Campaign against plans to designate the Cotswolds as a National
Park
Ensure that all new developments are built with superfast
broadband as standard
3. Community
Explore ways that the District Council can help deliver better bus
services for residents across the District and also review existing
bus services with a view to filling gaps and creating an holistic
timetable
We will help to reduce ‘period poverty’ in our schools by providing
sanitary products free of charge in our secondary schools and
colleges.
4. Governance and management
Start the process of securing a Unitary Authority in Gloucestershire
by working with colleagues across the County to seek common
ground and consensus.
Restructure the senior management to include a Chief Executive
for the Council to champion and deliver the Council’s priorities at
officer level.
Set up a review into Council structure looking at the benefits of the
committee system vs cabinet and other systems with findings to be
implemented in 2021.
Review the Council’s position with ‘Publica’ and which services
should be directly delivered by the District Council.
Abolish the rule which forces residents to submit questions a full
week before council meetings. Residents will be able to submit
questions on the day of full council meetings and demand answers
from council spokespeople.
5. Economy
Aggressively bid for Local Enterprise Partnership funding for the
North Cotswolds, in particular with the aim of setting up a North
Cotswolds Growth hub like the facility in Cirencester.
6. Environment
Declare a Climate Emergency, following the lead set by councils
such as Bristol, Manchester and Kirklees, and set associated
targets for the council to be carbon zero by 2030, and to end single
use plastics at the council by 2021.
Reinstate Green waste collection all year round and review the
garden waste service and pricing.
Empower Town and Parish Councils to issue on-the-spot fines for
dog fouling and littering.
7. Parking
Deliver a new car park for Cirencester as soon as possible.
Scrap Sunday parking charges in all car parks.
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