Conservatives in South Gloucestershire are promising voters better school standards, record recycling rates and free parking in council-owned car parks in the upcoming local election. Voters will head to the polls on Thursday, May 4, to choose who should run South Gloucestershire Council.
The Conservative party is defending a narrow majority of five seats from the Liberal Democrats and Labour in South Gloucestershire. In a revealing interview, the current council leader, Toby Savage, promised that local public services would continue to improve if his party keeps control.
Asked what’s better about South Gloucestershire compared to four years ago — the last time local elections took place — Cllr Savage pointed to improved school standards, recycling rates and record levels of house building taking place within the district.
Read more: South Gloucestershire Council election dates and candidates list in full
“If you look at the promises we stood on four years ago,” he said, “you can see very clear progress. School standards was our number-one promise in the elections four years ago, and 90% of schools are rated good or outstanding. That equates to an extra 10,000 pupils who are now being taught at good or outstanding schools. That’s been backed up by record levels of investment into education, including building a number of new schools across the district.
“On recycling, we’re now up to 60%. That’s the second best in England for unitary authorities, councils that we’re comparable with. That means we’re sending far less waste to landfill. We want to go further than that, so we’ve piloted over the last year soft plastics recycling from the kerbside, with 2,000 households across the district. It’s something that we’re keen to expand to cover the whole district over the next few years.
“We’ve also made progress on housing and regeneration as well. We’re currently building the most homes we ever have in South Gloucestershire, and within that, the most affordable homes that we ever have. We’re making sure though that we focus on brownfield regeneration, because as well as building homes that we need, we need to protect what’s precious about the district, including protecting the green belt and the countryside.”
Cllr Savage added the council is taking a more active role in redevelopment projects. This includes buying the Kings Chase shopping centre in Kingswood, as well as land around Yate train station. Plans include redeveloping both areas with new homes and jobs, as well as rebuilding the train station.
Recently the council also rebuilt an old Victorian railway bridge running over Gipsy Patch Lane, as part of a £57million project. The old bridge used to cause a bottleneck for traffic passing through the narrow road underneath, but now the road has been widened to include a bus lane, as well as a footpath and cycle path.
“It was so narrow that every time you passed through it you wondered if it was an accident waiting to happen,” Cllr Savage said. “It’s now a much wider bridge that can incorporate not only general traffic lanes in both directions but also bus lanes, footpaths and cycle paths. That unlocked the Metrobus service which now links Parkway with Cribbs Causeway.”
Car parks to remain free
The Conservatives are promising to keep all council-owned car parks free, if they win the election. Charges have recently been introduced in many car parks across Bristol, and Cllr Savage said South Gloucestershire was “one of the last in the country” to still offer free parking.
“One pledge we’re making is to keep parking free in all council car parks”, he said. “We think we’re one of the last councils in the country to offer that, but it’s an important way to keep costs down for motorists and support people to shop local and support their local high streets.”
One area needing improvement, according to Cllr Savage, is how the council works with the West of England Combined Authority (WECA). A recent auditor report slammed the relationship between the region’s political leaders and urged them to cooperate better on issues like buses and housing.
“The relationship between the combined authority and the councils needs to improve,” he said. “My hope is that the very damning report by the auditors is actually the moment to take stock and realise that we need to work together better and work far more collaboratively.”
Bus issues addressed
Bus passengers have been left stranded in many parts of the district, and the wider West of England region, as several subsidised routes have been axed and bus companies have struggled with a shortage of drivers. Cllr Savage said the shortage was now easing, and one solution to the region’s bus crisis was exploring franchising — which would see the bus network brought back under public control. But he opposed giving the West of England new precepting powers, which all other combined authorities in the country have.
“There are a number of additional issues that have contributed to the problems we’ve had on the bus network,” he said. “One is the shortage of drivers and there are encouraging signs that that is now easing as a problem. We should start to see new drivers come onto the network over the coming months.
“I’ve already said that I would be supportive of [franchising]. The WECA mayor has not facilitated a regional discussion on bus franchising. Were he to do so, I would be making it quite clear that we’re open to the idea of bus franchising and we should get on and investigate the matter properly.
“There are a number of decisions made within the combined authority where money could have been better spent. Until I’m convinced that the combined authority is making efficient use of its existing resources, I don’t think the case has been made for a new tax to be slapped onto already hard-pressed taxpayers when we’re still in a cost of living crisis.”
Housing crisis
Another key area South Gloucestershire has bickered with the West of England over is housing. Two attempts were made to draw up a regional housing plan, but both of these have now fallen through. The three councils in the region are instead drawing up individual Local Plans, which will guide how development should take place over the next few years.
“There were times when we were supposed to have meetings about it that got cancelled at the last minute,” he said. “At the eleventh hour we were told that South Gloucestershire was going to have to accommodate 37,000 homes — 10,000 more than the indications are that we need locally. It was impossible for me to be able to support such a damaging document.
“The ship has sailed on a regional plan. We need to get in place a new Local Plan that can guide future developments and set new standards around design and environmental sustainability. We can do that quicker if the local councils are left to progress that themselves. But there will still need to be cross-boundary discussions, because people will travel in and out of Bristol.”
Travelling around South Gloucestershire by bike or on foot is set to get easier and safer over the next few years. The council is already working on building new cycling routes on main routes linking Yate and Thornbury with Bristol, Cllr Savage said. But South Gloucestershire won’t follow Bristol and Bath with introducing a Clean Air Zone in any part of the district.
“We’ve made a start on the A432,” he said, “and the first phase of new cycling and walking infrastructure is now in. But that’s just a phase so we do need to work our way along the whole stretch, so if you live in Yate and want to make your way to Bristol, you’re able to do so from start to finish along a safe corridor. We’ll also be completing the link between the A38 and Thornbury through Alveston. Alveston Hill is notorious for being quite a difficult route, particularly if you’re not an experienced cyclist.
“We’re looking at how we can improve air quality in a number of parts of the district. But I don’t think the case has been proven or can be justified for a Clean Air Zone in any part of South Gloucestershire.”
Perhaps the issue Cllr Savage has received the most criticism over the last four years is how the council handled the major changes to Thornbury High Street. Many residents and businesses criticised the ban on car traffic, which was later watered down. Changes are currently being made permanent, and drivers will be allowed to drive through the street, but with much less parking than there was previously.
“All of our high streets are struggling, he said, “not just in South Gloucestershire, but nationally. And they have been for some years now. There are lessons to be learned from Thornbury High Street, particularly around improving communication and explaining things better. But I’m confident that the significant investment we’re making in the town more widely is going to help Thornbury have a vibrant future and overcome some of the challenges it’s been suffering with.
“There are around 600 free car parking spaces in Thornbury, that we’re pledging to keep free. So if you do need to drive, you can drive in and out of Thornbury, you can park near to the High Street and you can shop locally. Ultimately this is about how we can encourage people to spend more time in the High Street and to make it a more pleasant experience and place to be.”
Net zero mission
South Gloucestershire is not on track to hit its net zero carbon targets by 2030, the council leader admitted. Four years ago the council declared a “climate emergency” and promised to cut greenhouse gas emissions, but Cllr Savage said much more work still needs to be done. Plans include installing solar panels on the roofs of schools and businesses, and using geothermal processes in former coal mines to power heating and cooling.
“In some aspects we’re currently not on track,” he said. “Over the next seven years we need to redouble our efforts to address those particular weaknesses. One of those weaknesses has been around renewable energy and the generation of that locally.
“If you look at Avonmouth and Severnside, there are these enormous sheds. What can we be doing to install solar panels on their roofs? Some companies are doing that, others are not, so what can we do as a council to work with those who are currently not taking seriously enough the challenge around climate change?
“The more renewable, self-reliant energy we can be producing, the more we can insulate ourselves from those global price shocks, and reduce carbon emissions. We’ll also be rolling out an ambitious programme to work with our schools and leisure centres to make use of their roofs.”
Cllr Savage is not standing for re-election on May 4, in order to spend more time with his young family. He has led the council for five years, but said he was given a “promotion to dad-of-two” after the birth of his second child in February. He also strongly denied rumours that he was hoping to stand for parliament in a potential general election next year.
“My wife would not allow it,” he said. “The reason I’m standing down is so I can spend more time with the family, so the idea of taking on a job that involves spending three or four days a week in Westminster, goes completely opposite to what I’m aiming for, over the short and medium term. I would hope to return to politics in the future but I have no idea about timescales for that.
“I’ve enjoyed what I’ve done, and I’m proud of the things that we’ve been able to achieve in South Gloucestershire. I’m pleased with the progress that we’ve made overall and I will miss this role and having involvement in local and regional issues. But life’s moved on: when I started this role I didn’t have children, I’ve now got two.”
