January 19th, 2012

Crawley has experienced five and a half years of Conservative rule at the Borough Council.  This followed 33 unbroken years of Labour councils which was exceptional in the UK, let alone in the South East of England and in West Sussex.  For the most part the Tories were tentative in their approach in the first couple of years.  I suspect they thanked their lucky stars for the golden legacy of a respected debt free council with highly dedicated and motivated staff they inherited from Labour.

In case anyone doubts it Crawley Borough Council was strikingly different to the minimalist long term Conservative district councils typically found in the shire counties after 1979.  A proud leader among district councils in Leisure and the Arts, Environmental Services, Housing and Economic Development the Labour council strove  ambitiously to ensure provision of a wide variety of services for the people of Crawley, sometimes in the most hostile of circumstances – the Hawth for example was developed and built by the council in the 1980s at the height of Thatcherite contempt for local government.  The success of the Labour council came from a conviction that through bold local action the well being of the community could be enhanced and it was.

In recent years Crawley’s Conservatives have predictably shown their true blue right wing colours.  The management of the Hawth has just been transferred to a private company along with the council’s loyal staff there.  At Tilgate Park the Nature Centre, Walled Garden and areas of the forest are all heading towards private sector management.  All this suggests the Tories are very keen to push through more privatisation, sapping the council’s capacity and expertise even further and bringing it into line with the slimmed down Conservative district council ideal. What will be next to go?

In short we are all now as citizens involved in a debate to decide the future direction of Crawley.  The first phase of this will be the four month run up to the local elections on Thursday 3 May.  I think it is no exaggeration to say that a struggle for the heart and soul of Crawley is going on right now.

Councillor Colin Lloyd, Labour, Tilgate.