Building a City we can be proud of

Southend is being let down by this Tory government and Tory council. The Labour Party has plans to build a city we can be proud of. This is our five point plan to get Southend back on track and undo years of Conservative neglect:

(1) Introduce a free bulky waste collection

Labour is committed to introducing a free bulky waste collection service to tackle flytipping and help with the cost-of-living crisis. This works well in other councils and is an important tool to help us keep our city clean.  The Tories broke their promise to keep weekly bin collections so with bins soon to be collected once every two weeks, we are concerned that flytipping may increase.

(2) Fix more potholes and pavements

Labour will fix more potholes and pavements than the Tories currently do by investing £6.5m in our repairs budget. Labour proposed additional investment at the last budget setting meeting but the Tories voted against it.  We need to spend at least £6m a year just to stop the roads from getting worse.  Labour has a track record of investing £10m a year and we aim to get back to that level asap.

(3) Tackle antisocial behaviour

Labour will tackle antisocial behaviour by ensuring that every area has a named Community Safety Officer and we will hire more Community Safety Officers to cover the whole city.  Labour has recently secured funding for three new Community Safety Officers and also three new Civil Enforcement Officers to tackle dangerous parking around our schools.

(4) Attract more visitors to Southend

Events like El Galeon, LuminoCity, and City Jam brought thousands of extra visitors to Southend. We are committed to bringing 20 weeks of events to our pier each year and 6 major events like the Halloween Parade and LuminoCity to Southend each year to boost the economy and create 1,000 new jobs by 2030.

(5) Protect libraries and children’s centres

Labour is committed to protecting our libraries and family centres from Tory cuts.  We saw off the planned cuts to library services this year but we know it remains an aim of the Tories to close at least two libraries, with more in their sights.  We will cancel any plans to close libraries and expand services in family centres to give local children and families  the best start and the right support.

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