For an experimental 6 month period there will be no left turn into Qeensfield from Cricklade road between 7.30am-9.30am and no right turn out of Queensfield between 4.30pm-6.30pm this will stop the estate being used as a cut through avoiding the Moonrakers roundabout. Joe does feel that not enough is being done to ease the traffic congestion around the Stratton area and calls for investment in our roads, this follows the Conservative councils decision to build on yet more green spaces in Stratton increasing the congestion.

Success was also celebrated by Jenny Millin (Mordeon) and Steve Wakefield (Toothill & Westlea) who retained seats which were won by the Conservatives in 2007.

Labour won 9 seats in Swindon against 10 for the Tories and 1 for the LibDems (just). Voting figures are available here

The increase in Labour’s %  share of the vote since 2007 (seats are re-elected on a 4-year cycle) are as follows

• Toothill 18.5%
• Freshbrook 17.9%
• Central 12.0%
• Shaw 9.5%
• Old Town & Lawn 9.2%
• Abbey Meads 8.7%
• Eastcott 8.5%
• Covingham & Nythe 8.0%
• Walcot 7.5%
• Dorcan 7.3%
• Parks 4.9%
• Moredon 4.8%
• Penhill 4.4%
• St Philip 3.8%
• Wroughton 3.4%
• Gorsehill 2.8%
• Highworth 2.3%
• St Margaret 2.1%
• Haydon Wick 0.8%
• Western -0.4%

Across Swindon the average Labour share of the vote increased from 24.4% in 2008 and 31% in 2010 to 38.8% in 2011.

A huge vote of thanks is due to Labour campaign workers in each ward – and to the electorate of Swindon.

Please contact Swindon Labour if you wish to get involved in our activities and help shape local Labour policies during the next year.

• Support jobs with money raised from repeating the bank bonus tax – not hold back recovery with the VAT rise and cuts that will put almost one million workers out of their jobs.
• Protect police numbers – not cut them while wasting £100 million on new elected police commissioners.
• Protect your frontline local services – not make unfair cuts which will hit the least well off the most.
• Get the deficit down through strong growth and sensible cuts – not by slashing too far, too fast, and putting your local economy at risk.
• Stand up for young people – not kick away the ladder by tripling tuition fees; scrapping EMAs; cancelling Building Schools for the Future; and slashing school sport

DOWNLOAD THE SWINDON LABOUR MANIFESTO 2011

Voting Stations are open from 7am till 10pm.

Guidance on voting procedure is available from Swindon Borough Council.

Labour Candidates and their contact numbers are:

1. Abbey Meads – Mark Viner (07811 142 413).
2. Central – Derique Montaud (07711 556 261).
3. Covingham & Nythe – Peter Watts (01793 529163).
4. Dorcan – Ged Meheran (07989 918 352).
5. Eastcott – Chris Watts (07776 238 327).
6. Freshbrook & Grange Park –  Neil Heavens (07817 262 258).
7. Gorsehill & Pinehurst – John Ballman (01793 694 584).
8. Haydon Wick – Tim Page (07717 669944).
9. Highworth – Anthea Beaumont (01793 762 517).
10. Moredon – Jenny Millin (07879 023 903).
11. Old Town - Cindy Matthews (01793 644 388).
12. Parks – Fay Howard (07952 350 656).
13. Penhill – Paul Baker (01793 334 598).
14. Shaw & Nine Elms – Michael Heal (07810 872 849).
15. St Margaret – Nigel Chalk (01793 346165).
16. St Philips – Joe Tray (07813 170 202).
17. Toothill – Steve Wakefield (07775 911 922).
18. Walcot – Ellen Osa (07577 923 694) .
19. Wroughton – Geraint Day (07753 957 565).
20. Western – Des Moffatt (07709 066 707).

Polling Stations locations are available from THIS LINK:

To use this link you’ll need to know your Polling District. Check on your card – the Districts in each Ward are as follows:

1. Abbey Meads - AM1-AM4.
2. Central – CE1-CE4.
3. Covingham & Nythe – CN1-CN4.
4. Dorcan – DN1-DN4.
5. Eastcott – ET1-ET5.
6. Freshbrook & Grange Park –  FG1-FG4.
7. Gorsehill & Pinehurst – GH1-GH3.
8. Haydon Wick – HG1-HG5.
9. Highworth – HW1-HW5.
10. Moredon – MD1-MD6.
11. Old Town - TL1-TL5.
12. Parks – PK1-PK4.
13. Penhill – PH1-PH4.
14. Shaw & Nine Elms – SE1-SE4.
15. St Margaret – SM1-SM3.
16. St Philips – SP1-SP6
17. Toothill – TW1-TW3.
18. Walcot – WA1-WA3.
19. Wroughton – WC1-WC5.
20. Western – WE1-WE4.

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OFFER YOUR HELP IN NORTH SWINDON OR SOUTH SWINDON

Swindon has had to cope with a cut of £12 million (19%) in its Government support ‘formula’ grant over the next two years.   Yet Wiltshire Council had a mere 2.2% cut from its grant this year and Dorset actually got an increase!  How can they afford to waste so much on vanity projects?

The Tories say we’re all in this together, but Swindon has come out worse than most other authorities in the SW, and has been borrowing a staggering £600,000 a week for the last 2 years!  Along with loan charges this is a lot of money for the 70,000 households in Swindon to pay back.

Yet the Council keeps wasting Council Tax payers money on vanity projects like £450,000 on a Wi-Fi project in a town that has more high-speed connections than any other part of the UK! Are we in Disneyland?

What about £51,000 on hospitality and bottled water, or £240,000 on a town centre dribbling fountain, or £400,000 on communications, or £446,000 on consultants, or £20,000 on legal fees to expel street traders from the town centre, or £600,000 on the Mechanics Institute, or £64,000 on a canal feasibility study, or £500,000 for the BIG weekend, or £349,000 for a pile of tabernacle stones that are now covered by weeds in a field in Wroughton?

Don’t get us wrong:   there are cut-backs necessary in the Swindon Council budget, but these shouldn’t be made in services for the vulnerable and disadvantaged – as the Tories are doing – they should be in vanity projects, external consultancies and public relations exercises.

Joe Tray, Labour Candidate – St Philips Ward (currently held by the Tories)

Ellen Osa, Labour Candidate, Walcot Ward (currently held by the Tories)

In order for Swindon Borough Council to be fair to all of its local residents, it needs to give them a greater say over how their Council-taxes are spent, it needs to find a way of attracting and encouraging voluntarism, while not expecting hard-working, Council-tax paying families to do the jobs they expect to be done by their local Council and they need to find new ways of encouraging local communities to improve the areas they live in.

Despite their ‘Big Society’ rhetoric, Tory-led Swindon Borough Council has yet to address any of these points in any meaningful way. They have failed to give communities and families a greater say over how their Council-taxes are spent, with it still being unknown how the vast majority of developers money to the Council is spent; they have failed to encourage and incentivize greater voluntarism from local residents and they have failed to sufficiently engage with Swindon’s local communities over ways they can improve their area.

A Labour-led Swindon Borough Council would:

• Transfer community buildings to community ownership, with strong community support to help ensure trusts are maximising their potential and implementing sound financial management
• Investigate the possibility of a Council Voluntary Credits Scheme that will reward volunteers through cheaper use of Council facilities and we would look at the feasibility of rewarding voluntarism through the reducing of Council taxes
• Give loans to communities and community groups to purchase local land and/or derelict buildings, should they wish to
• Invite community groups to turn in to trusts, so that it would be easier for them to receive grants and loans for community development

I hope you’ll be getting my February newsletter soon (my January newsletter is available here as a PDF).  In the second leaflet I want to discuss some of the Tory broken promises, and give my priorities for the St Philips Ward:

• Fight for an increased budget for road resurfacing & road repairs in the Stratton area. The Tory lead council are keen to spend money on the Internet highway with WIFI but are allowing our roads to fall into a dangerous condition
• Protect services for the elderly and vulnerable. I feel we should protect our elderly and vulnerable  who are paying for the Banks mistakes and the international recession.
• Introduce a “Community Payback” scheme –  where local residents have a say in the punishment of anti social behaviour offenders.
• Ensure that all street lighting in residential areas remain switched on at least until midnight. This is needed to protect and make we that live in this area feel safe at night.

Please get in touch with me on j.tray@ntlworld.com

Joe Tray, Labour Candidate, St Philip Ward

And it wasnt the SNOW  WAT DONE IT.  It was snowing in the rest of Europe and all countries managed to record positive growth (even Ireland).  The US experienced almost the coldest and most disruptive winter on record but still grew at more than 3%.  And remember that Labour’s policies in the second quarter of 2010 achieved a growth rate of +1.2%, which then declined under the Tories to +0.7% in quarter 3 and now has reached a shameful -0.5%.  Ed Balls is being proven right all the time.

US consumer spending, which makes up more than two-thirds of economic activity, rose by 4.4% in the final quarter – the fastest pace since the beginning of 2006. This added 3% to overall economic growth. “This is what we need for the recovery to be self-sustaining,” said Harm Bandholz, chief US economist at UniCredit Research in New York.

In contrast a poll of consumer confidence in the UK on Friday revealed an  ”astonishing collapse” in confidence that fuels fears that Britain is heading for a double-dip recession.  The GfK NOP consumer confidence index dropped eight points this month to -29, with a spectacular drop in the number of people saying they planned to make a major purchase.  A drop as fast as this has only been seen 6 times in 35 years – the last time in 1992 – when the Tories were also steering us into recession!

Add to that the expected fall of £2.2 billion in spending because of the VAT tax rise, and increasing unemployment, and decreasing Government spending, and local-government cutbacks.

The Tories might know how to manage a sweetie shop or possibly a grocers shop, but not an economy.  They’re not much good at picking economic winners in Swindon either – look at the Canal, WiFi and town-centre fiascos.  The sooner we get Labour back, both nationally and on the Borough Council the better.

Joe Tray, Labour Candidate St Philips.

As Nick Clegg warned before the election the VAT changes are a bombshell for all of us.  Costs on average per year will be:

• £125 for a single pensioner
• £275 for a pensioner couple
• £225 for a one parent family
• £450 for a couple with children

Add that to the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development’s estimate that the 20% VAT rate will cost 250,000 jobs over 5 years.

And the fact that both Clegg and Osborne in April said they wouldn’t increase VAT.  Can you believe a Tory-led Government?

FACTS ON THE SWINDON BUDGET

Despite the Tories and Liberals on Swindon Council saying that the budget settlement from the Government was “better than expected”, with cuts of only 2.4% – it was actually a 19% reduction over 2 years in the main Government ‘formula’ support (£61.2m in 10-11 to £49.5 in 12-13).  Whereas some neighbouring counties have lost only 1 or 2%!

And remember what has already happened in Swindon – cuts of £5.3m in adult social care and £968,000 in children’s services .  Together  with threatened job losses of 10,000 to 12,000, including up to 350 in Wiltshire police.

And let’s remember the other Tory changes since May: wages have been frozen, retirement age has risen, pensions are being attacked, the tuition fee cap has tripled and Education Maintenance Allowance has been scrapped.  Bankers are left unscathed while ordinary people pay the bill!!

What to do about it ? – join the Labour Party (see the link opposite – there’s an offer for the under 27s) or send a message of support to swindonlabour@gmail.com.

I’m delighted to have been selected again as Labour Candidate in St Philips, the ward where I have lived most of my life.  Government funds to Swindon are being cut by 19% over the next two years, and we’ve hardly heard a squeek of complaint from the Tory Council.  What have the two Tory MPs done to fight for Swindon at a time that neighbouring Councils have received much lower cuts?  What complaints have the 9 Tory councilors for Stratton made?  VAT has increased to record levels, fuel prices are rocketing, train fares have gone through the roof and unemployment has soared since May.  More than ever this is the time to fight the worst of the cuts being imposed by Swindon Borough Council.  I look forward to doing just that as your local Councillor from May 2011 onwards.

Please contact me on j.tray@ntlworld.com – particularly tell me the 3 things you’d most like to see improved in Upper Stratton.

Joe can be emailed on j.tray@ntlworld.com.

Caption:  Joe Tray (Candidate) and Teresa Page (Chair of Upper Stratton Labour Party)

Teresa Page adds:

As Chair of the Upper Stratton Labour Party, and Councillor for St Philips ward from 1994 to 2004 I’m very pleased that  Joe Tray has agreed again to stand for Labour in Upper Stratton.  Joe is a local firefighter and has lived the ward for 36 years.  He will work for all the electorate, and ensure that there is an independent Labour voice in Stratton, which currently has 9 Conservative Councillors.

Together they have 72 years experience living in St Philip, and compare that with 0 years for the Tory Councillors in the ward!!!).

Joe fought the May 6th election for Labour and is particularly grateful for the votes of residents who helped him come to within 51 votes of his conservative opponent.

TORY FAILURES IN SWINDON

• Failed to regenerate our Town Centre.
• Cuts to services to the vulnerable and proposed cuts to Dial a Ride.
• Failed to deliver a University for Swindon.
• Benefits Service branded the worst in the country.
• Cuts and closures of libraries, Park & Ride, clinics and day-centres.
• Council in financial disarray while spend on vanity schemes like WiFi and a canal goes ahead.
• Roads in shocking state despite grants from ex- government
• No investment in sustainable transport or the Northern relief road

PLEDGES FOR ST PHILIPS

As Labour Councillors we would..

• Lobby the Council to fix the shocking state of roads in St Philips.
• Campaign against double taxation in Stratton Parish.
• Fight planned housing development on green spaces – such as the Headlands site.
• Support the local neighbourhood police team and community workers in providing youth facilities.
• Work with the Parish and Borough for improved footpaths, play areas and parks to make St Philips the greenest ward in Swindon.
• Help to strengthen local community groups and services.
• Support businesses and employment opportunities in Stratton.
• Support improved services for the elderly.
• Be available to listen to all the community on issues that affect them

Help us fight for St Philips.  Give us your views.  Leave comments on this post.

And contact us on…….

Joe: mobile: 07813170202; Email: j.tray@ntlworld.com

Teresa: mobile 07810470399; Email swindonbansee@yahoo.co.uk