Councillor, development can win the election…

There are large numbers of Councillors out there who are firmly of the opinion that development will lose you votes. And yes, it can make you lose an election… if you go about it the wrong way… 

Let me explain. The Government has ENORMOUS holes in basically every budget and there are only two ways of filling budget gaps. You either tax people (a sure vote loser for any Government) or you need to get the economy moving. The reality is that we have a post-industrial economy – we don’t make stuff anymore on large scale. The only thing we still “make” (that are in large numbers that affect the economy) is house building. 

So, the reality is that the Government needs, and indeed, will get house building to the highest numbers for a generation… they have to and no-one is going to stop that. 

But how do YOU make sure that development doesn’t cost you your seat at the next election? 

Well, let me tell you how I made my majority go up from 65 to 796 in the space of four years. 

I went out and knocked on doors if the people who live in my ward and I did this outside of election time (yes, the voters were really surprised to see me outside of an election) and I asked them what they needed in their area and generally about what the Council could and could not deliver. This was a very interesting exercise as I very quickly found out what the residents wanted to see from the Council. 

Being a young, brave Councillor, some patterns very quickly emerged. There was the day-to-day stuff… potholes, broken street lights, missed rubbish collection, dog poo… but there were also comments about the play areas in the three large parks in my ward. These play areas were all showing their age and one only had a slightly rusty swing left. There was also a disused bowling green that was attracting anti-social behaviour. Then there was the problem with one of the primary schools where part of the building was leaking so much that in rainy weather, they had to close off that part of the school. The local swimming (a Grade II* listed building used in a number of Poirot episodes) that leaked and was in some desperate need of restoration. I got this all fixed at no cost to the Council. 

I welcomed all developers and summoned the ones who applied (but didn’t bother to come and see me) in my ward for permission. I had my “S106 shopping list” that I pulled out of my pocket and (with officers) negotiated what I could get. I then TOLD the residents (with leaflets) how I got things done that could otherwise not get done. At the next election I had a 26.1% swing towards me and won by a landslide. That ward is now two wards with the level of development and infrastructure that followed. 

Any Councillor can do this and if you get the benefits of development and tell people you too can win big not just for the election but more importantly for your community. 

Until next week,

Henry