Political Viewpoint

BY Rayleigh Liberal Democrat Councillor Andy Cross.

WE’RE well and truly in the midst of a multi election year!

On the second of May we have local elections: District and Town Council in Rayleigh and in Eastwood the City Council election, plus we all have a vote in the Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner election.

Additionally, at any time the Prime Minister thinks advantageous, there will be a General Election. We are sure many people may already be a little fed up with all this, but we are asking for Rayleigh & Eastwood News readers’ patience. Please don’t be put off by the process. It is vital you hang in there.

We have seen an unprecedented period of one party rule. Conservative government, Conservative County Council, Conservative Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner, Conservative District (until 9 months ago), Conservative Rayleigh Town Council and in Southend a Conservative City Council.

Now at every level the Conservatives are coming apart at the seams.  It is time for a change, we all know that, but it must be the right sort of change.

The good people of Rayleigh have already removed the Conservatives from leadership of their District Council. The Lib Dems in the new joint administration aim to maintain and improve local facilities – no mean task in the current economic climate. Following the Conservative administration’s unpopular attempts to demolish Mill Hall (The Mill Arts & Events Centre) and sell off the site to a developer to build flats, the new joint administration including Liberal Democrats has committed a million pounds to ensure The Mill’s future after years of neglect (the Conservatives even voted against this funding of course).

The Lib Dems have also been able to arrange a reduction in short stay parking charges at some of the less popular car parks in Rayleigh Town Centre and around the District. So Lib Dems in the new joint administration are already making progress.

Rayleigh Town Council should be less political, but they have been only too eager to co-operate with Conservative colleagues on the District Council, often to the detriment of local people.

A few years ago the Town Council took over the responsibility for Crown Hill Toilets and instead of refurbishing the historic toilet block, as requested by residents and local architects, they opted to have new toilets built on a small adjacent Conservation Area garden, in line with the wishes of their Conservative District Council colleagues.

After several years empty, the old toilets had their internal fixtures and fittings ripped out and have been turned into a mini-pub. Not the carbon neutral, sustainable and cost-effective approach the Lib Dems would have favoured.

The Police and Crime Commissioner has proved to be a ‘back room boy’, more concerned with meeting government’s financial targets to cut the cost of policing and the fire service than providing the services required by local people. Throughout his area police stations have been closed and buildings sold off. Where police stations remain, as in Rayleigh, there are often no police front counters for the public.

The fact that the Labour Party are likely to win the general election is not good news for Rayleigh and Eastwood. Labour leader Keir Starmer has said: “I will bulldoze through planning laws”.

Frankly that is not something local people want to hear. There has been too much development in recent years, very little infrastructure has been provided and developers allowed to get away without providing the ‘affordable’ housing they promised.

The Liberal Democrats recognise that new housing will be required, but in a controlled way, using brownfield sites such as the derelict Stambridge Mills is the best way forward. If we are forced to accept new ‘greenfield’ sites for development, we would only agree to a new garden village where a developer would be obliged to provide adequate new infrastructure, not piggy-back on the already overstretched infrastructure of our existing communities.

The NHS throughout the country has suffered dramatically under the Conservatives. Before covid it was relatively straightforward to see a GP when you had a medical problem. Now that has changed and face to face appointments are very rare. The Liberal Democrats will give a commitment for people to see a GP within a reasonable time period.

Locally our hospital waiting lists per head of population are very bad: Rochford and Castle Point 175 per thousand of the population are on the waiting list, compared with only 60 per thousand in Berkshire West for example. This is without mentioning the drastic shortage of NHS Dentists, which has contributed to the poor state of children’s teeth compared with a couple of decades ago.

The list of problems goes on and on, including the scandal of sewage outflows throughout the country. Water company directors pocketing millions in bonuses while swimmers get sick. A recent attempt by the Lib Dems in Parliament to hold water companies accountable was blocked by the Conservative Government.

With the Conservatives pressing forward with failed policies and a no growth economy, Labour seem to be promising more of the same. The Liberal Democrats have at long last got their mojo back and will be a significant voice for new ideas and progress.

Picture: Political Viewpoint by Liberal Democrat Councillor Andy Cross

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