South Cambridgeshire District Council and Conservative group leader Cllr Peter Topping on the May 3 district council elections
South Cambridgeshire is at the heart of one of the most prosperous and fastest growing regions in the country, consistently rated as one of the best places to live and work in the UK.
The biggest challenge we face is finding the homes and the infrastructure to keep pace with that scale of growth, so that families can enjoy our villages and their green spaces.
Conservatives have run the district council for the last ten years, and we are proud of our record as a successful administration, with a low council tax, yet delivering good services for our residents.
We have made savings by joining up services with other councils, so that for example our bin lorries don’t turn back at an artificial border!
Last year we asked residents what they valued most about living in South Cambridgeshire, and our plans for the coming year reflect their responses. We will make sure that the houses built – mainly in new settlements like Northstowe and Waterbeach, and in our villages as well – are designed to a high quality.
We want to maintain the rural look of our district, with plenty of green space, as well as meet the needs of existing and future communities by improving transport links so that people can move around more easily.
We will deliver a range of affordable homes, using the £100m we secured from government under the devolution deal, and we aim to continue building council houses.
We will continue to support our villages and the people who live in them. Based on the success of our Community Chest grants, we will launch a green energy loan fund to encourage investment in sustainable energy schemes. We will roll out projects that tackle isolation and help elderly people to stay in the villages they have grown up in. We will take a firm line – working with the police – on illegal trespass and encampments, because we believe that the law applies equally to everyone.
We work closely with local businesses and want to see better mobile services as well as improved broadband. We believe in planning to help small businesses thrive and prosper in pour villages so that people can live and work locally.
I am very pleased that Conservative candidates standing for election include young people who want to ensure that the future of our district is secure for their generation, and that our knowledge-based economy, which is so important to the future of the UK, delivers jobs and an excellent quality of life.
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Simon Saggers, Green Party candidate on the May 3 South Cambridgeshire District Council elections
Cllr Neil Davies, Independent candidate on the May 3 South Cambridgeshire District Council elections
Full list of candidates standing for election to South Cambridgeshire District Council
