April is a month of many festivals, from those with wide public awareness in the UK, such as Christianity’s Easter and Judaism’s Passover, to Sikh Vaisakhi and Hindu New Year. Whether you’re celebrating a religious festival or just enjoying the bank holidays, I offer my best wishes.

For councillors, this time of year is far from relaxing, with only a week to go before local elections. New boundaries mean these elections are really significant, with every councillor up for re-election together for the first time since 2004 and control of Crawley Borough Council hanging in the balance.

With all the chaos of central Government right now, some people might be considering staying at home, but these elections aren’t about central Government or Brexit, they matter in their own right: they’re about the local services we all rely upon day-to-day. So much is at stake.

Crawley is one of only 17% of councils still providing a weekly bin collection, that’s because rather than giving into cuts like Conservative West Sussex County Council, Crawley Labour has worked hard to replace all the money the Conservative Government has taken from Crawley. We’ve achieved it without relying on council tax. While West Sussex is putting your tax up by £65.69 and the Conservative Police Commissioner by £24, Crawley’s £4.95 increase reflects inflation.

However bad things gets, we remain focused on delivering for Crawley. We’re the same local party that built Crawley and delivered top-notch facilities for residents, like: K2, the Hawth and Tilgate Park. We’re members of this community and we want it to thrive. That’s why we’re asking for your support to continue delivering for Crawley.

Because every councillor is up for election, you will have as many votes on your ballot paper as there are seats in your ward,  please make sure to use all your votes. Polling stations will be open on Thursday 2nd May from 7am to 10pm, and you don’t need your poll card to vote.

Postal voters will have already had their ballots through, but any which haven’t been posted by Election Day can be handed in at any polling station in Crawley.

Cllr Peter Lamb

Labour Leader, Crawley Borough Council