Conservative manifesto for Gloucester City Council elections 2015

This document sets out our key policy pledges for the City Council for the year ahead and the direction we propose for the longer term. It is not an exhaustive list and to understand fully the impact of a Conservative-run council on the city, it should be read in conjunction with our achievements to date. We’ve come a long way over the last 11 years, but there is still a lot more we want to achieve for Gloucester.

Your money

Council Tax – We have frozen the City Council’s element of the Council Tax for five years in succession.  The average council tax rise under the Conservatives over the last 11 years is 1.7%. The previous decade under the other parties it was 10%. We will continue to keep the Council Tax as low as possible.

Parking – We will freeze parking charges, which we have cut substantially in recent years. We will introduce Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) machines in our multi-storey car parks, so you pay on exit instead of in advance, to improve operations and encourage dwell time.

Working with other councils – We are sharing more and more services with the County Council and neighbouring district councils and will continue to do so where we can demonstrate savings or service improvements. The new joint post with the County Council is another example of this.

The economy and regeneration

Business Growth – Growing Gloucester’s economy will continue to be a top priority for a Conservative council. We will work with the LEP and other key partners to bring jobs and investment to the city. We will work to attract key growth sectors to the city, such as energy and digital. We will encourage a greater University of Gloucestershire presence in the city.

City Centre Investment Fund – We will continue to deliver key projects to support the city centre from the £2 million fund we set aside for this purpose. This includes a new, bigger and better Tourist Information Centre, Car Park improvements and cladding ugly buildings.

Gate Streets – We will prioritise the use of capital receipts going forward to replace the tired paving in the city centre with a high quality finish, in particular Eastgate and Westgate Streets.

Kings Quarter – Having secured £6.4 million of government grant funding, we will deliver a state of the art bus station, starting on site early in 2016, ahead of the major retail and leisure scheme to be delivered by Stanhope plc.

Blackfriars & Quayside – Having secured £4.1 million of government funding to progress the regeneration of the Blackfriars and Quayside area of the city, we will press ahead with our plans. We will work with City & Country, the new owners of the former Gloucester Prison site, to ensure our plans complement theirs.

Indoor market – We will deliver a new ground Indoor Market in the heart of the city centre, either in the Kings Quarter or Blackfriars developments, the Eastgate Shopping Centre or another prominent location.

Evening Economy – We will continue to make our night-time economy safer and more diverse, aiming to achieve “Purple Flag” status for Gloucester – an accreditation that acknowledges excellence in the management of the evening economy – following on from our recent launch of “Best Bar None” scheme for licensed premises. We will deliver a new cultural venue for the city as part of the Kings Quarter development.

Leisure, Sport & Culture

Rugby World Cup – We will make the most of the Rugby World Cup, maximising both the economic benefit and the legacy of sporting participation, with the resultant health benefits, and volunteering. We will lever in as much investment on the back of the tournament, to make improvements to the city, as we can. We will implement our newly-adopted Visitor Economy Strategy to build Gloucester’s tourist industry.

Making the most of our history – We will deliver Phase II of the City Museum transformation project (first floor) to tell the story of Gloucester more effectively. We will work towards reopening of the Roman remains at the King’s Bastion under Kings Walk.

Festivals & Events – We will continue to develop the city’s portfolio of events like the Tall Ships Festival, History Festival and Paint Jam street art festival to name but a few.

Sports Hub for South of City – We will work with partners to deliver a sports hub at Blackbridge including a new training facility for Gloucester City Football Club.

Robinswood Hill Visitor Centre – We will make more of Robinswood Hill for tourism, conservation and leisure purposes, including delivering a new visitor centre.

Parks – We will continue to deliver the Public Open Space strategy, including planting 5000 new trees, refurbishing two play areas each year and delivering £200k per year of investment. We will continue to plant World War I commemoration areas in memory of those who gave their lives.

 

Community

Housing stock transfer – We have successfully completed the transfer of the Council’s Housing Stock to Gloucester City Homes, paving the way for greater investment and new homes to be built. We will continue to work with GCH and other partners to meet the city’s housing need.

Crime – We will upgrade the city’s CCTV system and install 4G wifi in the city centre at the same time. We will work with the Safer Gloucester Partnership, the CitySafe Manager, the Police, businesses and residents to bring crime down.

Flooding – We have successfully delivered numerous flood alleviation projects across the city and will continue to invest to protect our homes and businesses.

Recycling – We are widening the range of recyclable materials that we collect at the doorstep and will expand that further when the vehicle fleet is renewed next year. We are also planning to create a new household recycling centre on Eastern Avenue.

Communities and localism – We will use Asset Based Community Development principles across the Council’s work, building on the strengths of communities. We will work with, support and listen to our communities and use the provisions of the Localism Act wherever possible for their benefit. We will join up physical and social regeneration, so that everyone in the city benefits from the huge amount of investment we are attracting.

The voluntary sector – We will continue to support voluntary and community groups financially and will help them to lever in funds from other sources. We will strengthen our partnerships with advice agencies to ensure residents have access to support.

Community budgets – We will keep the £1000 a year budget for councillors to spend in their wards that we introduced last year.

Seagull programme – We are taking a new approach and bringing more resources to managing the city’s seagull problem and have initiated an intensive three year programme of egg and nest removal, together with the use of birds of prey.

This is an exciting and deliverable programme for Gloucester, showing real vision and leadership. Only a Conservative-run council can make it happen and keep Gloucester on the up!

Paul James – Conservative Leader, Gloucester City Council