Promoted by Paul Harvey on behalf of the Independent Forum at 40 Ruskin Close RG213QH
What do we stand for
Serving The Community
Our guiding principles are focused on rebuilding trust, renewing our democracy, restoring your faith in what your Council can do for our Borough. We believe in the common good; that Basingstoke & Deane Council has a responsibility to be better; to meet the needs, ambitions and aspirations of the people of our borough. We believe that by the strength of our shared common values with cooperation and localism we can unleash the potential of our borough.
United By A Common Goal
We are building something very special. We are a collective of like-minded councillors who are not bound by party politics. We are totally focused on our residents and what we can do together: working for our borough. We have started to deliver as a new Council administration. Independent Councillors working with councillors from all other groups - working together for our Borough: We do not attack other people - we want to change that kind of politics.
Delivering results
We have achieved a lot in just a year, since taking over running the Council in May 2023.
We are working with other councillors from all groups. We have identified priorities that we hope meet the ambitions and aspirations of local people across our Borough.
Our policies
Development in our Borough
We are holding developers accountable and putting our communities first; protecting our towns and villages from overdevelopment. We’ve reduced the housing number by 20% in the first five years of the new draft Local Plan - down to 693 homes a year. We’re adopting much stronger policies to control development. We want Government to empower councils so we can ensure infrastructure comes first. We want high environmental standards and we're pushing for net zero in all new builds. We want to reduce housing to a scale we can cope with, which delivers the much needed socially rented affordable housing we all know we need, but which also protects our communities from overdevelopment. We will deliver Manydown and in doing so protect our villages.
Leisure Park & Sports
We’ve announced a new Aquadrome, which could include new ice facilities, soft play, clip and climb wall, gym and spa. We are working to keep ice in Basingstoke. We are also looking at proposals for a Skate Park and BMX facility. We are working on bringing new leisure facilities to Basingstoke. We’ve delivered new cricket and hockey pitches. We’ve renewed the tennis centre. We are talking positively with Basingstoke Town Community Football Club about their future. We want to revitalise our leisure and sports offer. We've agreed heads of terms with Great Wolf Resorts and we will reprovide the Golf Course and other facilities.
Housing & Regeneration
New homes in our Borough should be net zero and built to the highest standards. We want socially rented homes that people can afford and homes that meet our local needs. We are working with partners like Sovereign on their plans for a regeneration programme planned for the next 30 years to begin to address the housing issues many of our communities in Basingstoke & Deane are facing. This means forming an active and coordinated partnership with our housing associations and combining funding. Delivering Manydown will unlock upto 1,400 new affordable homes.
Town Centre
We will create a renewed retail and leisure offer in Basingstoke town centre. We will work with Festival Place to bring in new shops and leisure uses. We want to bring open space back into the town centre. We’ve kept the AA in Basingstoke, retaining our major employers is a priority. We are looking at a new Business Charter to promote best practice and a new Basingstoke Living Wage. We want a university to open a new campus in Basingstoke. We will work to renew the Top of Town, starting with a deep clean.
Play areas and green spaces
We will protect the green spaces we have and insist on the highest possible green space standards on new developments. We will accelerate investment in renewal of our play areas. We have already invested £230,000.
Our Villages and Towns
We oppose speculative development in our towns and villages. We want local people to be able to set the future, not top down diktat from Central Government. We removed car parking charges from Whitchurch, Overton and Kingsclere. We're investing in supporting our Parish Councils as partners.
Biodiversity & Tackling Climate Change
We have developed a new Biodiversity Strategy that will protect and enhance our natural world. We want to protect and enhance our rivers and environment, re-naturalising to help tackle climate change. We will challenge the water companies for dumping raw sewage in our rivers. We will fit solar panels on council owned buildings in our business parks and on our community centres. We will roll out new EV charging locations, such as a hub facility on the Leisure Park. We will support greener cleaner EV taxi’s. We’ve made all our waste collection lorries run on green fuel - saving 98% on emissions.
Invigorating our Democracy
We want to reinvigorate local democracy through greater transparency and community engagement – such as a youth council and ecological emergency forum – to shape council policy. We visited over 30 parish and town councils this year, talking about the future of the Borough. We are talking to people hearing the issues you care about, and getting on with the job of delivering.