Conservative Manifesto 2023-2027 Final
Our ten-point plan to deliver a Royal Borough of Opportunity
1). Keep council tax low and deliver effective value for money services by a clear plan to:
- Deliver efficient services through effective contract management and bringing services back in-house where it demonstrates clear value for money and the best quality of service.
- Maintain our status as having the lowest council tax outside of London.
- Pay off a significant proportion of the council’s borrowing. Borrowing which has been undertaken to forward fund infrastructure and invest in our assets.
2). Crack down on crime and anti-social behaviour by a clear plan to:
- Increase the number of additional neighbourhood police officers paid for by the council from four to eight.
- Create a new environmental crime enforcement team to tackle fly-tipping, graffiti, grot spots, and littering.
- Establish a new enforcement hit squad comprised of the community wardens, expanded neighbourhood police team, and the environmental crime enforcement team.
3). Promote schools of choice by a clear plan to:
- Expand parental choice by increasing the number of school places across the borough and target 100% schools as good or outstanding, with a new link to key local employers around skills and career opportunities.
- Deliver a new primary school and a new secondary school for Maidenhead, with potential for the latter to be linked to an existing grammar school.
- Open a new special educational needs free school in Windsor for the benefit of local families, and
- Ensure the delivery of the new SEND centre in South Ascot Village School.
4). Create housing opportunity by a clear plan to:
- Deliver hundreds of new socially rented homes across the borough and give local people on RBWM’s housing register first right of refusal on new affordable housing within their area.
- Improve standards in the private rented and social housing sectors to promote greater tenant choice.
- Develop new forms of low-cost homeownership models for local people through a new RBWM Home Buy scheme, and
- Maintain crucial support for our successful Rough Sleeper Pathway.
5). Tackle climate change, enhance our environment, and promote sustainability by a clear plan to:
- Expand our ground-breaking climate partnership to secure £millions in private sector funding to tackle climate change, loss of biodiversity, and declining wellbeing.
- Enhance our local environment through effective enviro-crime enforcement, more regular street cleaning, and continuing to invest in our parks and open spaces.
- Increase recycling levels to 60% by keeping recycling and food waste collection weekly.
- Tackle flooding through new technology, upgrading existing drainage systems, and a new package of measures for the Thames between Datchet and Old Windsor.
6). Promote a vibrant and prosperous local economy and thriving town centres by a clear plan to:
- Develop an affordable key worker housing offer to attract and retain employees across key target industry sectors and the public sector, with a target of 5,000 homes over 10-years.
- Promote a Business Improvement District for Windsor and Ascot,
- Create a new skills and education matching programme between schools and businesses.
- Commission a “future of the high street study” to drive investment into our town centres.
- Expand the first-hour free resident parking discount scheme, review all parking charges, and introduce on-street one-hour free parking for residents.
7). Enhance our cultural, heritage, leisure, and civic offer and facilities by a clear plan to:
- Support our cultural and leisure offer through continued funding of Norden Farm and Old Court.
- Expand Windsor leisure centre and promote the Oaks leisure offer.
- Explore the potential to create new parish councils for Windsor and for Maidenhead.
8). Protect the vulnerable and securing the health provision we need by a clear plan to:
- Introduce a new model of care for looked after children – Family First – to deliver better outcomes and deliver more specialist accommodation for vulnerable adults and children.
- Expand our adult social care offer to promote greater independence and choice of care.
- Prioritise mental health and well-being through an effective partnership with the NHS and hold them to account to deliver new health services at St Marks Hospital, additional GP capacity within Windsor, plus the promised new medical centres in Ascot and the Sunnings.
9). Hold developers to account, resist unwanted and inappropriate development, and protect our green belt by a clear plan to:
- Increase the amount developers have to pay to provide the infrastructure needed to support new housing development.
- Expand the number of school places across the Royal Borough and promote new enhanced medical facilities, especially GP surgery space and primary care clinics.
- Adopt a brownfield first approach, limit housing growth to a sustainable level, protect our heritage assets, and promote local design codes to guide new development.
- Work with an organisation like the Prince's Foundation to devise a new masterplan vision to guide the future development of Maidenhead, deliver the vision for Windsor, and ensure the delivery of the agreed vision for a new Ascot High Street.
- Resist unwanted flats through the suspension of permitted development rights to prevent the loss of key commercial space to residential.
10). Tackle congestion, investing in our highways, and promoting sustainable transport by a clear plan to:
- Fix more potholes and implement highways upgrades that will reduce congestion, increase road safety, and speed-up journey times.
- Explore options for a new on demand bus service across the borough.
- Promote walking and cycling to improve air quality.