By-election Manifesto - Andrew Combes
About Me
I have worked in the charitable sector, local and Central Government and now the private sector. I know what councils are good and bad at doing, but possibly more importantly I know what life is like earning a living outside of the council environment.
Why stand for re-election?
The only vested interest I have is in seeing this community remain a healthy and self sustaining place to live. We all know that Local Government is far from perfect but it is the system we have got, so far better to engage fully than snipe from the sidelines.
What do I want to change?
We need to continue to strengthen and upgrade our infrastructure. We need to wean ourselves off grant funding. We need to develop robust evidence based business cases for what we do. In short we need to concentrate on the unglamorous stuff that supports and sustains the community - that is what councils are good at.
Health and Social care
We need to defend on island solutions. We need to protect Park House. We need to keep people in their own homes for as long as possible. We desperately need to develop lifetime homes and extra care housing. We need to do this on sites that place our older community members at the centre rather than the periphery – the old secondary school site can and should be developed for the benefit of the community not the private sector.
Housing
We need more housing for our young people; however, we must recognise that cannot simply build our way out of the problem. We need to better maintain our existing housing stock. We need to continue to work to support those in council (and private housing) looking to downsize to more manageable and accessible units. We need to ensure that we do not loose social housing stock to the open market.
Transport
We need solutions that are affordable, reliable, low carbon and work for the community and visitors. The Council is not a transport company but we can set out a vision of what success would look like for future transport to and from these islands.
Tourism
Is and will remain the main economic driver for our economy. I want to see the Council maintain an active engagement with the IP to ensure that we do not try to grow beyond what the islands and community can support.
Energy
We need to pause and review. We need to concentrate on what we can do well here - cutting down use /wastage of energy has to take priority over generation. Of course parallel to this the Council can also make an immediate start by switching to a 100% green energy supplier.
Water
We need to continue to work towards what is now our biggest waste problem - water. We have limited supplies and we need to continue to work to make sure that 1. We don’t waste it in the first place and 2. We adequately treat and dispose of the dirty stuff.
Our Council
Is here to serve the needs of the community in an efficient and cost effective way. It therefore needs to be able to better communicate and engage with the community, clearly demonstrate that it is running as efficiently as possible, be transparent and accountable in its finances and is delivering what the community wants.
So why vote for me?
I will listen
I will represent the community
I will do my homework
I will make decisions in the best interest of the community.
Printed and published by Andrew Combes, 22 Sally Port, St Mary's