12/04/2013 - Burgess Hill Town Division County Council Elections Special 2
The Labour Party offers a positive, responsible alternative to the Conservative led Town, District and County Councils and keeps you informed throughout the year
Labour — Winning here in Burgess Hill
On 2 May 2013 Burgess Hill residents have the opportunity to elect more Labour councillors.>/p>
Last May two Labour councillors—Janet Smith in Meeds North and David Andrews in St. Andrews— were elected to Burgess Hill Town Council. Labour can win and does win elections in Burgess Hill.
With your support on 2 May, JANET SMITH will become the councillor for Burgess Hill Town Division of West Sussex County Council.
JANET SMITH lives in Burgess Hill and is the Labour councillor for the Meeds North ward of Burgess Hill Town Council. She is studying for a PhD, carrying out research in social and political history, and has been invited to present a paper at an international conference later this year. Janet also does voluntary work, befriending elderly people in the area and is a former Library assistant.
Janet has grown up children, some at university. None can afford to buy their own homes. Huge university fees have to be paid, thanks to Lib Dems’ broken promises. Janet has an excellent understanding of, and a keen interest in, every stage of education from Sure Start to adult learning.
VOTE JANET SMITH ! VOTE BURGESS HILL !
Burgess Hill Town Division of West Sussex County Council covers Meeds North, Leylands and Dunstall Wards. The Polling Stations are:
Meeds North Ward: Cyprus Hall, Cyprus Road
Leylands Ward: Marle Place, Leylands Road
Dunstall Ward: St Edward The Confessor Church, Royal George Road or the Dance Studio, Triangle Leisure Centre (check your polling card)
THE CONSERVATIVES HAVEN’T BEEN RUNNING WEST SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL FAIRLY . . .
West Sussex County Council—Cutting Services whilst Stacking-up Reserve Fund West Sussex County Council have cut funding for Social Services and road repairs, whilst allocating £35.8M to the council reserve fund over the years 2011-2014. The Coalition Government policies have undoubtedly led to difficult decisions but the Conservative led county council has enthusiastically pursued Government policies apparently without protest, leading to cuts that are too deep and go too far. There appears, however, to be no shortage of money to use expensive consultants to undertake work that used to be done by paid staff, whilst £2 million has been cut from youth services, cuts that include careers advice by fully qualified staff.
Services such as road repairs, administrative services and grass cutting have been privatised. This leads to extra expense as the companies undertaking work that was previously done by paid staff have to make their profit—frequently sub-contracting work to other companies who also have to make a profit!
The contractors often use low-paid, short-term contract, staff. The Labour Party nationally is developing policies to replace low paid, low security jobs with stable well-paid jobs with a decent, living, wage so that the jobholders can build a secure future for themselves and their families.
Using Developer Funding fairly
When planning permission is granted for housing sites the developers are obliged to make funding available for improvements to the facilities for the local area.
Part of that funding is passed to West Sussex County Council to improve the services that they provide. What happens to this money is far from clear, so the Labour Party is pressing for total transparency on the use of this money, with full details of how the money is spent being provided to local councillors. Not all of the money is actually being spent, which may mean that the money has to be returned to the developers—or even the Government.
Some of the money has recently been used for self-service machines in the Library. This new technology does not directly benefit residents, nor the staff who are likely to suffer from job losses. The priorities have been wrong.
The money should be used to improve bus services, which should have good connections with inter-town bus services and train services, to improve junction safety and to reduce traffic speeds in residential roads. West Sussex County Council restricts the number of safety improvement schemes to three for each county division. Waiting for years for safety improvements is simply not acceptable.
. . . BURGESS HILL NEEDS LABOUR COUNTY COUNCILLORS TO LOOK AFTER THE INTERESTS OF RESIDENTS
Labour Councillors will put Burgess Hill, and the residents of Burgess Hill, first when pressing for action to improve our town.
They will seek to rebalance the cuts made by the Conservatives to ensure that:
provision for adult care is improved
residents can remain in their own homes
children have easy access to fully funded children and family centres and a Sure Start service that is defended from hidden cuts
residential street parking by drivers from elsewhere, who are trying to avoid excessive charges for our shopping centre and railway car parks, is reduced
the work that Burgess Hill Town Council carries out for West Sussex County Council under contract is enhanced to include work such as grass cutting.
Making our roads safer
Many roads and pavements in Burgess Hill are breaking up as a result of bad winter weather and are being patched up rather than properly repaired.
Short-term repairs do not last. Proper repairs, using highway engineers’ skills, would be far more cost effective in the long term and reduce the risk of West Sussex County Council being sued by motorists and pedestrians when accidents inevitably happen.
Many of our roads, such as West Street and residential roads such as Park Road, have dangerous speeding traffic yet nothing is done to deal with the problem. West Sussex County Council obstinately refuses to even consider 20mph speed restrictions in some residential roads, which are used effectively in neighbouring counties.
ON THURSDAY 2 MAY you can vote for more of the same top-down, ‘We know what’s good for you’ politics or for JANET SMITH who will fight Burgess Hill’s corner at West Sussex County Council.
Janet Smith’s 5 pledges
PUTTING BURGESS HILL, AND THE RESIDENTS OF BURGESS HILL, FIRST, ensuring that money raised from developments in our town are spent on improvements in our town
INCREASING LOCAL DECISION MAKING to ensure that the views of Burgess Hill, a town of 30,000 people, are taken seriously
IMPROVING DELIVERY OF COUNTY COUNCIL SERVICES that are important to residents, repairing potholes and pavements
FIGHTING UNNECESSARY SPENDING CUTS AND WASTE whilst supporting realistic and responsible council budgets
A COUNCILLOR WHO IS AVAILABLE TO TALK TO YOU, pressing for action on your concerns