This election is a crucial opportunity for us to be a strong opposition to the Labour-run council, and to deliver the change that our community and city desperately needs.

We are tired of paying the second-highest council tax in the country while our services are cut, our streets and parks are dirty, and anti-social behaviour and criminal activity are on the rise.

It is time for a change, and we are here to provide it.

Nottingham is a brilliant city, but it has the potential to be so much more. 

Our pledges, as laid out in our manifesto, offers a fresh vision for Nottingham: a city which is friendly to businesses, students, those in rented accommodation and those who want to own their own home.

A city which lets residents keep more of their own money by cutting taxes and parking charges, is renowned for leisure and tourism and provides taxpayers with better value for money for their council services.

This is the Conservative vision for a better, brighter and stronger future for Nottingham.

If elected on the 4th May 2023, your Nottingham Conservatives will work tooth and nail towards our 8 pledges set out below.

 

Only the Conservatives can provide the necessary opposition to Labour and were the first to warn of the financial disaster of Robin Hood Energy. Labour have run up Nottingham City’s debt to £1.175 billion through their incompetence and we are now paying interest and charges of over £1 million per week on that debt.

We would:

• Call for the Government to launch an inquiry into responsibility for failures at the council - Robin Hood Energy, Enviroenergy, Housing Budget Spend, etc.
• Enforce live-streaming and recording of full-council sittings and curtail the number of private 'behind closed door' meetings held by council leadership
• Scrap the Executive 'clique' that runs all elements of the decision-making process and replace it with a radically transparent Committee based structure
• Bar Councillors from sitting on the boards of any of the Council's majority or wholly owned companies to eradicate all ‘conflicts of interest’ in the council

 

We should not have to pay to park outside of our homes and we will work hard to achieve and fight tooth and nail to defend this. Residents should not be used as a ‘cash-cow’ to cover the losses of the Labour Council. In ending Labour’s crusade against the car, we would find commonsense solutions to encourage greater use of public transport.

We would:

• Call for the immediate halting of all charges to renew residential parking permits across the city
• Work towards better ‘School Bus’ schedules for pupils of all ages and communities across the city to better address problems with school parking 
• Simplify the process for applying for and renewing residential parking permits to include easy checks of vehicles registered at an address as proof of eligibility
• Increase the presence of Community Support Officers across residential areas to tackle dangerous parking and problematic ‘non-resident commuter’ parking

 

In addition to the £491,000 from the Chancellor's Spring Budget, the Government has awarded over £1.4 million as part of the Safer Roads Funding for the city to fix pot holes. Nottingham Conservatives will ensure that this is spent wisely. We will get pot holes repaired before they become a danger to cars, cyclists and pedestrians.

We would:

• Ensure that funding from the central Government is fairly and equally shared across all areas and communities in the city
• Require utility companies who litter our roads with unattractive and, often, poor quality 'patches' of tarmac must return them to an attractive state comparable, if not better, than the previous state
• Enable our planning officers to impose penalties for companies that run over when working on roads which causes severe delays and disruptive congestion

 

Nottingham has the second highest council tax in the country. Labour councils charge more than Conservative ones. Conservatives will vote to limit council tax increases and will pressure the Council into not throwing away millions of pounds tax-payer money on their wasteful “left wing” pet-projects that leave the burden on residents.

We would:

• Fight to severely limit, if not freeze, council tax increases to help residents coping with rising cost-of-living pressures
• Levy a Basic Minimum Student Council Contribution to cover council services provided to all student residents of the city through fees on the Universities
• Call for the immediate reduction of charges for vital council-provided services such as bulk-waste collection, tip access and leisure centre entry
• Support work towards a devolved administration for Nottingham, Derby and both counties, with a directly elected Mayor and shared services

 

In close cooperation with our local police, we will work to deal with our local police officers and the Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner to deal with nuisance anti-social behaviour across every community in our city to ensure that every resident feels safe in their home, their area and their city.

We would:

• Bring together local organisations and communities to integrate already established CCTV networks, such as at Tram Stops and the wide array of Video Doorbells, into a wider set of state-of-the-art CCTV cameras to ensure that when evidence is readily available, justice comes quickly and effectively
• Better support and equip council and charitable teams to help those dealing with homelessness into a better situation and protect the vulnerable from drug dealers and falling into a spiral of criminal activity to fund addictions
• Engage our Police Community Support Officers and Council Outreach Teams to be actively involved in our schools in teaching good citizenship and safety

 

A complacent approach by the Labour-led Council to preventable issues, combined with a severe lack of care and logical investment, has left many embarrassed to admit that they are from or live in the city. This is wrong. We want everyone in the city to have a deep level of pride in where they live.

We would:

• Create vitally needed Grot Spot Teams who will quickly respond to complaints about addressable issues such as fly tipping and graffiti, and investigate preventative measures such as punitive fines and CCTV
• Better equip our sanitary and parks teams to ensure verges are cut, parks are cleaned, and childrens’ play areas are safe from broken glass and needles
• Install more dog waste bins equiped with free compostable bags and create more safely fenced areas for dogs to run around in, off leash, and keep playing fields safe from harmful and disgusting dog waste

 

The half-demolished Broadmarsh site, the desolate ‘Island Quarter’ and a central library with no books stand as monuments to Labour’s failure. We believe in fiscal responsibility and developing our economy. We will focus on our strengths and potential, reopening our city to the region and nation.

We would:

• Bring council services, the job-centre, citizens advice and the central library into a ‘central hub’ in the old Debenhams Building on Market Square and Remove council teams from Loxley House, next the station, to bring in a large company, like Capital One next door, and deliver more jobs and investment
• Create a new ‘museum quarter in the Lace Market featuring new museums exploring the city’s integral links with medicine, sports, lace and the medieval era, as well as redeveloping the eastern Broad Marsh site to include world-class cinemas and much needed 'anchor' attractions such as an aquarium and food hall
• Develop a hub for pharmaceutical research and innovation at the Island Quarter, rivalling that of Oxford and Cambridge, partnering with Boots and our Universities

 

Strong communities are also built on strong support and stronger values. The Labour Council appears vastly more interested in squeezing money out of residents who have lived here for decades and caring more on attracting students. We will empower our Community Groups and energise the community spirit that got us through Covid. 

We would:

• Protect neighbourhood funding at a minimum of £5000 per Councillor for every ward in the City to spend on local priorities in your community
• Solidify links between our local communities and representative groups and the planning process to better protect and support services for communities
• Build ‘green’ with a new minimum, proportional requirement on all new buildings to include proactive environmental elements such as green roofs and bee-bricks bee-brickwalls, bee bricks, integrated solar panels and heat recylcing mechanism
• Bring greenery into the heart of our city and each of our communities with initiatives to ‘re-wild’ neglected areas including the River Leen and Canal