Devon Conservatives

Manifesto 2011

RECYCLING

Under the Conservatives, the Council has brought in improved recycling collection of glass, cans, plastic bottles, textiles and batteries; and not just in the towns, but right across the District. The volumes collected have rocketed to over 47% with your support and it continues to rise! The weekly food waste collection is now available to all 60,000 households. Waste and Recycling costs you just £1.13 per week

In a new Conservative Council we will increase the range of items we recycle, with all plastics being top of the list. We are also looking at ways of extending our recycling service to cardboard and garden waste in partnership with Otter Rotters.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Local families of East Devon need homes they can afford to rent or buy. We are working with many partners to build more affordable homes around the District. We have already built at Axminster, Colyton, Dunkerswell, Exmouth, Lympstone and Woodbury over 100 last year. Many more affordable homes (300 in phase 1) will be part of the soon to be started eco-town of Cranbrook .

We have retained our housing stock and currently have 4290 properties. Our housing stock is independently judged as high quality because of the £20 million we have invested in repairs and renovations over the past four years. This money has provided many LOCAL businesses with work.

New Housing at Stowford Rise Sidmouth

REGENERATION OF KEY RESORTS

Conservative - led EDDC has worked with a number of partners to deliver vital regeneration projects in two of our key holiday resorts. Exmouth and Seaton are now bucking the national trend and are well-placed to take advantage of the upturn in the economy when it arrives.

PLANNING FOR GROWTH PROTECTING OUR UNIQUE ENVIRONMENT

East Devon can’t stand still or we’ll see a rising age profile and a stagnating community. The key is carefully managed growth, agreed through community engagement. We want to work with the people who know best – YOU, the residents of East Devon – to plan a future that allows the kind of growth that will provide homes and new jobs for our children and grandchildren, but won’t damage the unique environment that makes East Devon so special.

We can - with care cater for everyone’s needs while still preserving East Devon ’s landscape and special character. This is especially true of the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – a partnership that we’ve sponsored for many years and which the EDDC Countryside team works hard to protect and enhance.

Axe Valley Wetlands

We also want to embrace the concept of Localism in planning, because we know how critical planning is to our communities.

In the past, we’ve been constrained by planning law and policy shaped by Labour. We Conservatives support the new government’s drive to make planning local and we will deliver on that.

SUPPORTING EMPLOYMENT GROWTH

Conservatives will enable local communities to thrive and evolve to meet the challenges of the 21^st century. We will do this by:

Delivering 11,000 jobs at the Science Park and Skypark

Continuing to support and fund training

Providing more low cost units to encourage new business

Honiton Business Centre

LOCALISM – HANDING DECISIONS BACK TO THE COMMUNITY

The Decentralisation and Localism Bill encourages communities to engage more closely with local decision making –eg. Planning Policy – and gives them the option of taking over assets they believe could be better managed at a more local level. Here in East Devon there is scope for much stronger community involvement and the Conservatives want to encourage this. Early in the life of the new Council, we will be giving communities the chance to consider taking over or running some of EDDC’s assets.

Seaton Town Hall

We are keen to work in partnership with you to take East Devon forward.

We therefore ask for your vote on 5^th May so that together we can make an immediate start.