The battle for Windsor and Maidenhead

The Conservative council leader, Cllr David Burbage reports

All out local elections are on May 5 in Windsor and Maidenhead, and the record of the Conservative Council is under scrutiny from opposition and the press. We are a unitary council with 57 seats – currently 37 Conservative, 15 LibDem and 5 other independents. We are running a full slate, but neither the LibDems nor Labour have managed to match this.

Our website has been updated to promote our manifesto and give information about the local track record since 2007.

Happily, our national status as a vanguard authority for the Big Society and for financial acumen (having twice cut council tax, last year by a record 4%) has put us in good stead with the local electorate, as has our fulfilment of all 53 of our 2007 manifesto pledges. On the doorstep, our efforts have been noticed.

Our 2011 manifesto has been published and features an even greater number of pledges than in 2007.

These include our 5 key pledges:

• Aim to limit Council Tax rises, at or below the rate of inflation, without cutting services
• Increase the number of Community Wardens to 18
• Continue to spend more money on the roads
• Protect the Green Belt
• Keep the weekly bin and enhanced recycling collections

and a whole host more including:

• planting trees and woodland
• more community use of publicly owned facilities
• maintained funding for the voluntary sector
• work to ensure planning policy is fair to all with no special privileges
• develop new allotments (we have a waiting list)

Finally, in the back of the manifesto is a set of principles which underpin what we think “good” looks like in running our authority, such as:

• never forget whose money it is
• find best practice rather than invent a new wheel
• always put outcomes before processes and, of course, “Residents First” !