Local elections 2025: Climate, traffic and rubbish

BBC News

29-04-2025

In the run-up to the local election the BBC is looking at the issues that matter the most to you, as part of Your Voice, Your Vote.County councils and other authorities hold elections on 1 May.Traffic, climate change, litter and recycling centres were important to Sarah Turner from Leamington Spa in Warwickshire.Shop units were empty, the main road gets congested and visting household waste sites could be tricky, she said. Other people who contacted the BBC said the environment and climate change should be the county council's priority.
"On the main street in [Leamington's] Parade, there's just hardly anything, you've got so many empty shops," Ms Turner said.Traffic through the town is another issue, she added, even though there was lots of cycling and walking provision."You'd be silly to take a job the other end of town to where you live," she said."With climate change and everything else, the Greens seem to be the only ones protecting what green spaces we've got left."
Household recyling centresw (HRCs) should be able to take rubbish from anyone, instead of charging fees for businesses to take their waste thier."You'd think that this service would stop half of the stuff being dumped everywhere," she said.
Warwickshire County Council has signed up to the Leamington Town Centre Vision - a scheme designed to regenerate the town over the next decade.It has also committed to becoming a net-zero organisation by 2030 adding it would support the county to achieve net-zero by 2050.
What do the parties say?
Candidates and parties in the Leamington Willes ward were contacted to have their say.Will Roberts, the Green Party candidate, said:Support was needed for town centres, and a fund was recently put forward for more events to drive footfall thereThe party prioritised making short journeys to walk and cycle to schools, leisure and work saferImproved infrastructure was needed, and money needed to be better directedLocal access to parks and the countryside was vital, and the party had worked to try and reduce the number of greenfield sites for developers that need to come forward in the local planThe party would review the household recycling centres to see where they can be made more accessible and increase their recycling rates.Sarah Millar, on behalf of the Labour party, said: Supporting local businesses and growing the economy was a priority The party believed the active transport policy in the county was often "paid only lip service". It believed the county could "do better" in terms of cycle provisionA masterplan of better sequenced road works would be developedGreen spaces would be protected and a green municipal board for Warwickshire be developedThere was a need for better enforcement of fly tipping and the party would look into the "pay as you throw" approach for commercial vehicles.Paulo Viana, candidate for the Liberal Democrats, said:It would boost small businesses and abolish business rates, replacing them with a commercial landowner levy to help high streets.Encourage residents to travel to the town centre by walking, cycling or using public transportThe party wants to see cycle routes from other areas of Leamington joining the Kenilworth to Leamington cyclewayThe party would invest in accelerating the decarbonisation of all county council buildings and transport, with savings invested in local servicesStreet trees would be well maintained and more trees planted where possible HRC booking slots should be reviewed.Reform UK did not respond for comment, but its national manifesto said:It wants to free more than 1.2m small and medium-sized businesses from corporation tax, and abolish business rates for high street-based small and medium-sized enterprises, offsetting with online delivery tax at 4% for large multinational enterprisesNet-zero and related subsidies should be scrapped along with an annual £10bn of renewable energy subsidiesIt would keep road speed limits low where safety is critical, otherwise it would scrap 20mph zonesExisting rail and road links would be imprroved focusing on coastal regions, Wales, the North, and the Midlands.The Conservative Party did not respond for comment, but its 2024 manifesto said:It would ease business rates for high street, leisure and hospitality businesses by increasing the multiplier on distribution warehouses that support online shopping over timeAccess to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises would be improved, including through expanding open financeIt would invest £4.7bn for smaller cities, towns and rural areas in the North and Midlands - to spend on transport priorities. This will cut congestion and upgrade local bus and train stationsThe cost of tackling climate change for households and business would be cut, and net zero delivered by 2050Red tape that holds back the planting of trees would be cut.
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