Wrexham Independent Group launch council election campaign with ‘key aspiration’ list

Wrexham Independent Group have launched their campaign for the local elections on May 5th saying it is “based on a cleaner, greener and sustainable future”.

David A Bithell, leader of Wrexham Independent Group, said that if elected his prospective candidates are supporting “key aspirations” listed below.

Mr Bithell said, “We are seeing significant pressure in our health services and access to local doctors surgeries and we need to put pressure on the Welsh Government to ensure that waiting times, access to critical services and response times are improved. There needs to be more accountability for public health services.

“We are also keen to invest in green jobs to support the significant climate challenge where we have seen the effects over the last few years with more flooding events, an example was following storm Christoph where damage caused considerable inconvenience for local people. We are pleased that the pressure we placed on the Welsh Government, a grant of £2.8 million has now been awarded and we hope this will be completed before the winter.”

“We will also campaign for better and affordable bus services to support the climate emergency. The current system following deregulation of bus services is led by profit which leaves many communities cut off without any bus network. We need a seamless system linking bus and rail networks fit for the future with affordable ticketing structure.”

“As we build and recover from the pandemic we are keen to support new jobs and apprenticeships so that young people build careers”

The group published the above picture of the launch, showing Sonia Benbow Jones, Tina Mannering, Bill Baldwin, Amanda Bradley, Alison Tynan, Gereld Davies, Paul Williams, Rondo Roberts, David Bithell – and not in picture are other members of the group John Pritchard and John C Phillips, Sharon Mazzerella.

The “key aspirations” published from the Group are:

• Support Cleaner streets & litter free zones
• More investment in roads and infrastructure
• More council homes to meet growing demand and review the housing allocations policy
• Campaign for better and affordable bus services – the current system is not working and we need more investment to support and meet future demand and encourage more people to use public transport in light of the climate crisis. Demand responsive services linking bus and rail hubs and support a “one ticket approach” for seamless travel. Also more investment in active travel schemes to encourage walking and cycling.
• Support more investment in new green technology to reduce costs and burdens of the taxpayer in the long term
• Maintain council tax levels as low as possible
• Support the protection of green open spaces and wildflower areas to support biodiversity
• Protecting local public services and creating more jobs including apprentices
• More investment in our school buildings to ensure that all children have 21st century facilities
• Support more investment in older people services to meet growing demand.
• Work with the health board to address the growing demand on the NHS and Welsh Ambulance services including better access to doctors surgeries
• Continue the work to decarbonise and meet the climate challenge and continue to support new methods of technology to reduce energy costs. We will also look to maximise income generation from technology and reinvest in carbon projects

You can only take part in the May elections if you are registered to vote, and time is running out. It’s quick and easy – it takes just five minutes online at www.gov.uk/registertovote. 

We’ve invited all candidates to take part in a Q&A on our website, so if you want to find out who wants to represent your local community you can keep checking our page to see if your local candidates have filled theirs in! Wrexham.com/election2022/