Our pledges to you

There are lots of promises we could make, but we are sticking to a few that we know are affordable, practical and will make this district an even better place to live.

Greener

We will take kitchen waste out of our bins

Moving to alternate bin collection has increased recycling rates but caused concern about kitchen waste. We promise to take the kitchen waste out of black bins as soon as possible, initially by providing kitchen waste composters, then working with the County Council to introduce weekly doorstep kitchen waste collection and, doorstep fortnightly glass collection.

We will improve the energy efficiency of homes and offices

Reducing energy use is important to you. We will improve the energy efficiency of buildings owned by the council. We will change planning policies to make it easier both to require more energy efficiency and to support home energy generation. We will lprovide help for those living in older buildings to play their part without changing the character of our area.

We will protect our town and village green edges

Our district is one of the best places in the country to live. Our towns and villages are compact and green fields are never far. We will stick with policies that protect the boundaries of our communities. The only exception will be for affordable housing where local people want it.

Safer

We will modernise and expand the Council’s CCTV system

CCTV makes residents feel safer, assists the police and courts and reduces anti-social behaviour in areas where it is introduced. We promise to replace the current worn-out system with modern technology and to cover trouble spots that don’t have cameras.

We will campaign for lower speed limits where residents want them

The speed of traffic on many of our roads is too high. Lower traffic speeds make our communities both safer, greener and more pleasant with more walking and cycling and less traffic noise. We will campaign for lower speed limits both in villages and urban areas where residents ask for them.

We will increase the number of wardens and reach out into the towns and villages

The Community warden scheme introduced into some parts of Winchester by the Liberal Democrats has been very successful . It now needs expanding further out not only into more urban areas, but also into the villages and market towns.

Fairer

We will keep Council Tax below the rate of inflation

Liberal Democrats are committed to getting rid of Council Tax but while we are stuck with it we have to do our best for those struggling to pay. While the Liberal Democrats controlled the Council we had several years of 0% increase. If elected we promise to keep the increase in Council Tax next year at or below the retail price index.

We will work to provide a range of housing for all ages and needs

The current Conservative administration has said its priority is to provide homes to meet the needs of local business. We think this is wrong and our priority should be providing appropriate living accommodation for those who already live here. Many of our older residents would move and free up larger houses if they had somewhere local and more suitable to go into. Many of our young people are stuck living at home because they have no prospect of buying which is why...

We will make houses available to rent

House prices have now risen so high in Winchester that even part-buying a house is out of reach for many of our young people. We will make sure that when so called ‘affordable’ housing is built as much as possible is housing to rent. and not just shared ownership.

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