Your Lib Dem pledges for 2010

In this time of economic uncertainty it is clear that any administration running Maidstone Borough Council will have to make tough and difficult choices. Under the Liberal Democrats you will get a united team dedicated to the ruthless cutting of council waste, not just at budget time but 365 days a year.

Emphasis will always be placed on providing those services appropriate to the borough, working in partnership with other agencies where there is joint responsibility, but eliminating from our budgets any service which should be wholly the responsibility of another authority such as KCC or the Health Service.

We pledge old fashioned, prudent housekeeping to keep council tax increases low, always at or below the national average. We will not plunge the council into debt with schemes like the High Street repaving project because the burden of repayment will fall on local taxpayers.

Here we list our ten promises by which we can be held accountable. We listen very carefully to what residents tell us.

We are giving a cast iron guarantee that the Church Street Public conveniences will be re-opened (see Promise 1 - Putting the Pride back into our County Town), that your weekend freighter service will be maintained (see Promise 2 - Our environment), and that Mote Park is safe in our hands (see Promise 3 - Parks, open spaces and rivers)

We stand for a borough that is dedicated to the service of its residents and is safe, clean and green. We will waste less and deliver better core services.

Promise 1 - Putting the Pride back into our County Town

Lib Dems would re-open the Church Street Public Toilets

We must be ambitious in our vision for the future of Maidstone Town Centre by creating the conditions to deliver an economically vibrant, environmentally excellent 21st Century 'green' county town. We believe that our first priority must be to tackle the chronic congestion and air pollution which blights the County town. We will cancel the £4.5 million High Street re-paving scheme and invest instead in measures to address the gridlock and regenerate blighted neighbourhoods.

• We will re-open the Church Street Public Toilets all year round
• We will re-open the riverside public conveniences between March and October each year
• We will review the current system of paying local businesses £600 a year to allow the public to use their toilets
• We will work closely with KCC, landowners, government, the Environment Agency, primary Care Trust and others to create a radical master-plan that will tackle the congestion, pollution and traffic danger which blights Maidstone for businesses and local residents alike.
• We will work to introduce a Low Emission Zone in the County Town and in partnership with KCC work towards a truly21st century Park and Ride service linked to express bus routes.
• We will pursue policies to help the small businesses that define the character of the County Town to thrive.

Promise 2 - Our Environment

Lib Dems would save the Freighter Service

We must adapt to climate change and make better use of natural resources. We believe it is possible to become both a carbon and waste neutral borough.

• We will keep the 'Freighter' service as a free service. We will work out ways of making it more environmentally friendly.
• We will sign up to the 10/10 pledge to cut council CO2 production by 10%
• We will seek via KCC to be a pilot for a waste to energy scheme for all our council vehicles.
• We will champion environmental sustainability in the borough by ensuring that all planning applications submitted to the borough are of the highest green credentials.

Promise 3 - Parks, open spaces and rivers

All our open spaces are increasingly under threat, if not from destruction by degradation. We are losing once common wild-life at a frightening rate. We will be ambitious and tough in seeking to stem this tide of local extinction and loss. Our rivers and streams are in poor shape and urgently require multi-agency intervention to rescue them. We will ensure that MBC leads the way in bringing together relevant partners to achieve a real renaissance of our waterways.

• Mote Park, both land and the remaining two buildings, are safe in Lib Dems hands. We will never support a sell off of any part of Mote Park.
• Maidstone council will draft and adopt a tough target-led Local biodiversity Action Plan to make it a national leader in wildlife protection. We will ensure that policies to protect our beleaguered wildlife habitats, flora and fauna are observed by all Council departments, their individual staff and partner agencies.

Promise 4 - Safety and Cleaniness

Litter fines have gone down under the Conservative administration. The Lib Dems had zero tolerance when in control during 2007/08

As local residents you have the right to enjoy your local environment. We therefore believe in zero tolerance of litter, graffiti, fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour.

• We will re-invigorate our Clean and Tidy Borough Campaign by ensuring that we use civic wardens and other staff to enforce a zero tolerance approach to littering.
• We will engage key agency partners in the campaign and use the Clean Neighbourhoods Act to ensure that statutory partners and private landowners take appropriate responsibility for their land.
• We will work through the Community Safety Partnership to target anti-social behaviour problems in a constructive and timely manner.

Promise 5 - Your Health / Recreational facilities

The health and well being of our citizens is paramount and we need to encourage recreational activities in young and old alike.

• If elected, on day 1, we will reduce the rental on all our council playing fields by 20% to make them more affordable for local clubs and teams in the current challenging economic climate.

Promise 6 - Housing

The need for more affordable homes for our citizens is acute and many residents have told us that the current points system is unfair. We only have to look at our utility bills to realise how gas, electricity and water costs are rising.

• We will deliver more affordable homes, that are water and energy efficient. We will abolish the current points system of allocation and replace it with a new fair system that is accessible to all residents and empowers them to choose where they will live.

Promise 7 - Residents' Parking

Lib Dems would review residents' parking

The residents parking scheme is perceived as unfair and the recent introduction of a charge for the first residents parking permit by the Conservatives is seen as a stealth tax with residents gaining nothing.

• We will review residents parking to ensure that current parking zones work to the best advantage of all residents and adjust zoning where appropriate.
• We will consult permit holders on the current cost structure and seek greater fairness.

Promise 8 - Planning

Our vision for the future of the Borough is to be tough and determined in conserving what is best (our countryside, historic features, and high quality residential neighbourhoods) and regenerating what is not (our obsolete office districts and tired/blighted residential neighbourhoods). The Local Development Framework will place an emphasis upon urban regeneration and countryside protection - but allied to tough policies to protect the character of our best residential neighbourhoods. Practical planning policies will be developed to protect the vitality and viability of our villages and prevent them from becoming dormitories. Optimum sustainability in terms of energy and water efficiency, sustainable urban drainage solutions, renewable energy generation, flood protection and open space provision will be delivered through a progressive approach to policy formulation.

• Within a month of coming to power we will draw up a programme of work which identifies, prioritises and puts into place a suitable time frame for the completion of a list of practical local planning policies.

Promise 9 - Culture

Maidstone and the surrounding villages and hamlets have a long and rich history and strong cultural and literary identities. We will ensure that this history and culture is preserved and celebrated. Just as we delivered the powerful spectacle of the re-enactment of the Battle of Maidstone and worked to ensure that the battle is remembered in the naming of new developments such as Havoc Square, we will work to instil real pride in our borough in local people.

• Maidstone council will work to re-establish pride in Maidstone by celebrating our indigenous culture and history with public events, art works, street and building names and through tapping the creativity of our young people.

Promise 10 - Back to the floor

The council exists to serve residents and must treat every individual with respect. Staff at every level of the authority will be challenged to continually improve the experience of residents when dealing with their council. All too often politicians and officers in high positions become removed from the people they represent and serve.

• The Leader of the Council, the Chief Executive and the directors will spend one day a month going "Back to the floor" working at the sharp end of service delivery out and about in the borough and listening to the views and concerns of residents. This will keep the Council in touch.