Royal Borough elections: Labour zone in on social housing

With the local elections now just two weeks away, we are featuring the main pledges by the Royal Borough parties as they compete for your vote at the ballot box. This week, we will be focusing on the Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, The Borough First Independents and the Green Party. We are also aiming to focus on residents’ associations, independent candidates and smaller parties within the next week to give everyone a chance to make their case.

Social housing, overdevelopment and St Mark’s Hospital improvements are among the list of issues the Maidenhead Labour Party candidates are looking to tackle in its manifesto pledges.

The party wants to review borough plans to prevent overdevelopment and to increase investment in the High Street to make it ‘an attractive place to visit’.

Climate change investment ‘now’ is also top of the list, with ‘revitalised’ public transport services to reduce the Borough’s carbon emissions.

It wants to see a borough plan for transport links and pedestrian and cycle routes and a review of the flood prevention schemes.

Tackling anti-social behaviour ‘will be a priority,’ the party added; residents ‘want everyday problems of potholes, graffiti, broken streetlights and fly tipping fixed quickly.’

Another priority is community support to help those who are isolated due to age or mental health issues.

Labour also wants to improve services provided at St Mark’s hospital; and to improve services for older and vulnerable people in the Borough.

“The education of our young people is vital so we will provide fairer education funding,” Labour’s manifesto says.

Employers and employees ‘will be supported to grow our local economy.’

It also has some views on finances.

“The Conservatives have controlled our council for 16 years of broken promises and financial blunders. We need urgent action to reverse 16 years of failure,” the part said.

The Borough needs ‘genuinely affordable and social housing that will benefit residents instead of developers,’ the local Labours added.

Pat McDonald, who is running in Boyn Hill, said: “It’s disgraceful people can’t afford to live in the town the grew up in,

“We need council-owned houses, managed properly, for local people.”

Social care is also a priority – the elderly have been affected by cuts at the local and national level, Mr McDonald said.

“We have an ageing population and we need to put ourselves in a position where we can care for them properly,” he said.