Local elections 2011 - our five commitments

From talking to local residents it is clear that many feel disappointed with the level of representation offered by our councillors.

Too many councillors once elected are never seen again, or move away like the Lib Dem from Horsham Park who lives in Hastings, but still claimed travel expenses when he attended council meetings.

The poor level of representation we have received in areas like Horsham Park over the last four years is a major motivation for us to offer residents a greater commitment to public service at a time when important decisions are being made about cuts to local services. Residents feel their views are not listened to and many people don’t even know who their councillors are! We believe that anyone elected to represent local people should do just that - represent their views on local matters - so if elected we undertake to:

1. Be visible in the local area
2. Attend both council and planning meetings
3. Consult regularly on issues of local concern
4. Feed back on council meetings through regular newsletters and publish a report on our website after council meetings, highlighting what we have said and how we voted
5. Organise regular surgeries to offer help and advice with council issues

 More information about the 2011 elections, including a full list of candidates,  can be found here.

Countryside Properties: Labour's objections

Below are the full texts of the speeches we made at the planning meeting in objection to the application to build 963 homes in Broadbridge Heath, with only 20% of the proposed development addressing local housing needs.

Lib Dems and Tories vote to dump almost 1000 homes on Broadbridge Heath

At a planning meeting last week the Lib Dem and Tory councillors voted to build nearly 1000 homes on Broadbridge Heath, doubling the size of the village at a stroke.  

Horsham Labour party spoke against this application, on the grounds that the plans contain insufficient affordable housing, with just 20% of the development site to be affordable. Our reactions are below.

Congratulations to Duncan

This week Duncan Enright won a council byelection for Labour.

OK maybe it is only a town council byelection but this was in David Cameron's back yard and he won convincingly with 66% of the vote - four times as many votes as the second-placed Liberal Democrat.

If that can happen in Witney then maybe the idea of Labour winning a council seat somewhere in Horsham and getting the chance to hold Horsham council to account is not so unlikely as everybody has said.

The result in Witney shows that it can happen with a lot of hard work and a good candidate.  If you would like to help Horsham party this year get in touch.  There will always be doors to knock on, leaflets to deliver, and posters to display for anybody who wants to lend a hand.

We already have some excellent candidates for the May elections, but they can't do it without all of our help.

Merry Christmas from Horsham Labour

Horsham Labour party would like to wish everybody a merry Christmas and a very happy New Year and we look forward to seeing you all at the polling stations in May!

No opposition on Horsham council

Following the news reports of a £1.6million gap in Horsham council's finances, the chair of Horsham Labour party wrote a letter to the local papers.

The letter states that the Liberal Democrats councillors on Horsham district council fail to provide an effective opposition to the ruling Tory group, with the result that matters affecting the town of Horsham are decided largely by councillors from outside the town and with no significant scrutiny from councillors who represent the town.

Lessons not learnt after all?

The snow and ice in Horsham is now beginning to melt but the number one topic mentioned by many residents, was why has the local council yet again failed to grit our pavements and the vast majority of our roads which once more became treacherous to the point that only the brave or foolhardy could venture out to work over the past few days.

Horsham old town hall

Horsham Labour Party canvassed residents' views about the ongoing saga of the old town hall.

We are in favour of retaining the town hall for the community and do not want to see it become yet another restaurant venue, and are appalled by the way our Tory council has handled our community facility.

The future of the Old Town Hall

With the news last week that Bill's Produce have pulled out of the deal with Horsham council to buy the Old Town Hall and turn it into another restaurant, the future of the building is now in the balance again.

Public opinion was overwhelmingly in favour of keeping the building as a community resource - a community centre for the centre of the town, and a venue for local performers.

Horsham district council pushed their plans through in the face of much public opposition, making it clear that they had no intention of changing their mind.

Now there is an opportunity to re-visit the decision, with the possibility that this will still be unresolved by the time the council is up for re-election, meaning that perhaps the public will get a chance to make their views known in a way the council has to take notice of - with their ballot papers!

Support for Unison

Today's County Times carries a letter from Bruce Milton, the acting branch secretary of the Horsham branch of Unison, responding to comments made by councillor Philip Circus.

Mr. Milton points out that, far from being cocooned from the effects of recession, staff at the town hall have already suffered more than most with cutbacks and wage freezes.

Planning meeting speeches

Last week Horsham district council's development control committee met to decide on the Berkely Homes development.

As was reported in the local press this week, the committee voted to grant outline planning permission, subject to a Section 106 agreement.  Our opposition to this decision is already well-documented here and some of our comments were reported in the County Times' reports.

Below are the full texts of the speeches made at the meeting by our members.

Horsham Labour party rejects latest offer from Berkeley Homes

This week's County Times reported on a press release from Horsham council about the Berkely Homes development, which said that an extra £7.25million 'could' be available for affordable housing.

Horsham Labour party's chair, David Hide has responded to this in a letter to the editor, explaining why this new development is not as good as it appears at first glance.

The full text of his letter is reproduced below.

Happy Easter holidays - unless you used the council's play schemes

Tomorrow is the start of the Easter holidays, when many working parents would have been using Horsham council's play schemes to look after their children while they work - if the council had not decided to scrap the scheme.

It is too late now for Easter, but Horsham Labour party are continuing to put pressure on the council to reconsider their decision before the summer holidays.

Criticism is not 'sabotage'

By Ray Battersby

After being absent from the UK for a month, I would like to respond to those who - in my absence - have commented in the local newspapers on the fact that I referred the cost of the hospital feasibility study to the District Auditor.

It's not just us who say so!

This week's edition of the County Times contained extensive coverage of the Berkely Homes decision, but it also contained a couple of other related items that support Horsham Labour party's arguments for affordable housing and show why our ongoing campaign is so necessary.

A window of opportunity

At tonight's meeting, Horsham district council's development control committee voted to defer a decision on the application from Berkely Homes.

This is almost entirely due to the efforts of Horsham Labour party, who have campaigned extensively to prevent the council allowing this application to proceed with anything less than the 40 per cent allocation of affordable housing specified in the council's own strategic plan.

Development Control: 16th March 2010

Horsham district council's development control committee (North) met tonight to make a decision on an application for outline planning permission for land between Horsham and Broadbridge Heath.

Having campaigned extensively on the affordable element of this application, and petitioned the council on behalf of hundreds of local residents, members of Horsham Labour party spoke at the meeting.

Horsham council votes to kill off play schemes

Horsham council decided in the full council meeting on Feb 24th to cease their play schemes in order to save an estimated £52,000.  The budget report also included the transfer of about £400,000 to reserves so the scheme could easily have been saved by reducing the transfer accordingly.

Horsham Council fails to show commitment to affordable housing strategy

Members of Horsham Labour Party met with a cross-party group of councillors and council officers last week to discuss the Council’s response to Horsham Labour Party’s housing petition.

Play scheme closures put jobs and children at risk

Horsham Labour Party became aware this week that Horsham council are proposing to cancel several play schemes in the district.  One concerned parent also wrote to the County Times, resulting in a story on page three.