Political Viewpoint

BY Coun Carole Mulroney, City Councillor for Leigh Ward.
I am very proud to be part of the Joint Administration at Southend. We have worked hard as a group of, some would say, disparate souls, but overall it has been a meeting of minds. And the reason for that is that we care for Southend and its residents and we are all socially conscious and ALL pull together to get the best results we can.
That is part of the Lib Dem ethos, working together, locally, for the good of the people we serve. And serve is the right word – we serve you. So if we get it wrong you are quite right to call us to account, we are not infallible. We are on the cusp of momentous times in our corner of Essex. The forthcoming Local Government Reorganisation is a massive change in terms of administration, but our aim is to try and make it as painless as we can for residents. You may not even notice much in the way of service changes – after all Southend has been providing all major services for years, whereas Castle Point and Rochford have been under the Essex Council umbrella.
I believe Southend has an opportunity to shine along with Rochford and Castle Point and be a beacon of unity, overcoming teething problems and learning from each other. I say this because although Southend has been a Unitary authority for years and Rochford and Castle Point have not and did not carry out the full range of functions – there is much we can teach each other. Rochford is very rural with many parishes – Southend, has on occasion seen their one parish (Leigh) as a thorn in their side.
So I would not be at all surprised if the Rochford cohort could teach Southend a thing or two about dealing with multiple parishes. Castle Point on the other hand is a different type of authority of itself with different challenges.
That is why the Local Plans of all three Councils need to be aligned and there will be much work that has to be done in pulling this together to provide a strategic overview for all three to complement each other and defend our area from overdevelopment.
The other challenge will be budgeting. Southend is used to running its own full-range budget, a budget this year, which despite the hype from opposition parties, is making huge investments into our City to improve the lives of residents. And without tapping into its reserves. I would call this budget a labour (pardon the pun) of love.
I know how hard it is to be the portfolio holder in charge of a massive area of the Council services. The balancing act is exhausting, and you can’t do everything.
But Oh my goodness what a lot we’ve done. From millions extra going into our roads, pavements and bus services and concessionary fares – so cruelly axed and altered by successive Tory administrations – to freezing parking charges, protecting our libraries and, most importantly, looking after our most vulnerable residents, young and not so young.
Improving our parks – absolutely decimated by the Tories – the main ones of which are now Reformers – one can only imagine that they will revert to type should they be given the chance and our parks and gardens, our roads and pavements and our libraries and children’s centres will once again be under threat. A leopard doesn’t change its spots whatever the party banner.
Here in Leigh, many people think we are cocooned from these issues, but that is far from the truth. It was the Tories (now Reformers) who wanted to get rid of our community centre under concrete, wanted to close out beloved library – which may get a new lease of life as a joint library and town museum if Leigh is lucky enough to do well in the Town of Culture competition – and let our roads and pavements turn into rollercoaster rides – it takes a lot to put these things right.
And Southend’s Joint Administration, whether singly or in partnership with Castle Point and Rochford, is up to the challenge and to take on working with those councils in the spirit of co-operation and community to make the new South East Essex Council an exemplar to all.
I hope to be part of that and to continue to serve Leigh as I have done for the last 12 years – working with colleagues, advisors and many friends in the community. And that is why I am still standing on 7 May and standing up for Leigh.
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