Kettering Borough is a good place to live but it could be so much better. It needs a stronger, more capable leadership. Above all, it needs a vision for the future. For the last 12 years under Labour control there has been little in the way of forward thinking and that needs to change. Most of the changes for the better over those years were conceived and started by the last Conservative Administration.

We kick-started Telford Way, planned the other industrial parks, and helped to create over 3000 jobs through the Kettering Business Venture Trust.

We also started the process of creating the Kettering Leisure Village and Mawsley Village.

We sold on the Newlands Centre. This sale resulted in a bigger and better shopping centre through the injection of private finance.

We created the pedestrian area, sadly 12 years later this still has not been fully implemented.

The best aspects of Kettering you see today are the result of Conservative vision and hard work without big increases in your Council Tax. In contrast, Labour have loaded increases of up to 28% on your tax and for the first time this year those people living in a Band D house will be paying more than £1000 a year.

It would help to soften that blow if they had built on and improved the Conservative vision which they inherited. Instead, they have marked time or gone backwards.

What is more important is that they have no vision for the future, just a series of Corporate priorities!

Our streets and hedgerows are dirtier and more untidy than ever. We all have a role to play and we must stop dropping litter.

We will put more resources into cleaning up our Borough.

Kerbside trees have been allowed to become a nuisance and many footpaths are a disgrace.

We will reverse the neglect and turn them into an attractive part of our environment.

Despite promises going back 12 years, Labour are only implementing recycling for 7000 houses.

We will provide kerbside re-cycling for the other 29000 houses.

The Labour plan for 29000 extra houses in the Borough is unacceptable.

We will produce an alternative plan to allow the Borough to grow naturally.

We need more quality jobs to grow and prosper. We need more choice of shops if we are to attract shoppers and create a vibrant shopping centre. To attract them we have to bring in full pedestrianisation and we have to improve the road system.

We have industrial land, we have the best location in the East Midlands and we have a high quality workforce backed up by excellent educational and training facilities. We need to convince companies to invest in the Borough. We did it before and we can do it again.

In partnership with others, we promise to find a way for Kettering to have a multi-use replacement for the McKinlay Theatre.

The Poppies and the Rugby Club need new homes and we will help them to find a location which reflects their needs and status.

There is much we can do to help and at the same time ensure that community facilities are also provided for other sports and recreational activities.

Most of our Borough is rural and we must ensure that it continues to function as an integral and important part of our economy whilst retaining its peace and tranquillity.

Accessibility and the provision of affordable homes are key requirements of a balanced rural community and they are part of our vision.

We will protect the elderly and vulnerable members of our community with faster Anti-Social-Behaviour Orders and eviction for drug dealers .Our by-laws will be toughened up where necessary.

Older people are an important part of our community and will be included in all our plans.

You might say you have heard it all before. You are right to be cautious. However, during our last administration we promised you a vision of Kettering which we delivered. So we have done it before.

We have to establish the financial state of the Borough.

We will produce a costed plan to deliver our vision over the next four years.

We will share this with you all and listen and act on what you say so that it is truly a team effort.

Our plan will include abolishing the cabinet and returning to a democratic committee system. Individual councillors will be given far more responsibility for spending in their wards as well as Parish councils.

It is time to reduce centralised, slow bureaucracy and devolve power to deliver faster, better services.

Because it is right for you, your family, your work, your future and your living environment.

Because you have Conservative candidates who represent a cross-section of Kettering people.

They include a high proportion of women, the disabled and range in age from 25 years upwards. Between them, they can bring a wide ranging and deep knowledge of business, the professions and voluntary activities. Coupled with that are a range of life experiences including families, other countries and cultures.

We believe in our vision and we ask you to believe in us by voting Conservative on May 1^st.