Local elections are just weeks away, with Salfordians set to decide who they want to represent them on the council. Residents can vote to decide their local councillors, the Mayor of Salford, as well as the Mayor of Greater Manchester on May 2. But the city is facing a number of issues, including a housing “crisis”, and growing numbers of people presenting as homeless. The town hall’s budget has been slashed in recent years, forcing councillors to make savings and look at ways to boost their income, including this year’s five percent hike in council tax. Ahead of the local elections, the Local Democracy Reporting Service asked major parties what they are promising residents before they head to the ballot box. Conservatives Conservative councillor Robin Garrido is leader of the opposition on Salford council, and has outlined his party’s plans for the future of the city. Key pledges from Salford Conservative Group include aiming for no increase in council tax, creating a neighbourhood plan for each Salford ward to help decide planning applications, reviewing the council’s waste and recycling services to look at how it can be done differently, and dealing with road congestion throughout the city. It also includes a zero tolerance approach to crime, using office space behind Salford Civic Centre to help the homeless, and disposing of the council’s share in Salford Community Stadium. Mr Garrido said: “Deprivation is at an unacceptable level, homelessness/rough sleeping continues despite the Government giving large grants to Greater Manchester and Salford. No progress has been made in planning to improve our infrastructure, our roads are constantly gridlocked, not helped by the fact that in some areas you cannot even get a bus. “We would bring forward major plans to improve our infrastructure. “We have the spectre on the one hand of the Labour City Mayor saying how short they are of money and blaming the government, whilst on the other hand they are proposing to saddle our city with millions of pounds of debt buying the remaining shares in the rugby stadium. “Our city is riddled with potholes and our drains are constantly blocked with a huge backlog of which they are only scratching the surface. We would clean up our city and bring back pride by ensuring that fly-tipping becomes a thing of the past and seƫng an example to all by cleaning our roads and pavements regularly. “It is time that we had a fresh leader at the helm by electing a Conservative city mayor who would be held to account by more Conservative councillors and also by regular reporting back to residents.” Greens There are no Green Party councillors in Salford, but the party is standing in the Salford mayoral race and has a candidate in every council ward this year. With housing a major issue in Salford, the Greens are focused on brownfield developments, and protecting green spaces around the borough. The party is also calling for more affordable homes and tackling issues with roads and active travel networks. The party also wants to pay for its pledges by abolishing the position of salford mayor. A spokesperson from Salford Green Party said: “Salford Greens want to protect the greenbelt from developers, prioritising brownfield land for private and social housing. We stand for improved insulation of existing housing stock with new build to reach 100 percent sustainability at affordable prices. We will improve existing roads and add additional cycle infrastructure. “This is paid for by abolition of the mayor. With the Greater Manchester mayor making Salford’s mayor a waste of money on bureaucracy. “There is a Green candidate in every ward in Salford so if you want Green, vote Green.” Labour Mayor of Salford Paul Dennett is looking to win a third term in office and boost the share of Labour councillors in Salford. The party’s focus includes making improvements for children and education in terms of investing in early literacy, bringing health and care services back in-house with the aim of reducing health inequalities, and protecting heritage assets and celebrating diversity in the city. Salford Labour plans to ‘level up’ the city, as well as building 600 new council homes and investing in green infrastructure as part of its plans. Mr Dennett said: “Politics has always been about working hard to get things done for the people you seek to serve. Representing Salford over the past eight years has been the most rewarding and humbling experience in my life. “Salford Labour’s vision for our city is inclusive and radical, putting people and communities at the heart of a shared vision for Salford. We want to build on the work of the last eight years to deliver our vision for a greener, healthier and more prosperous Salford for all. “Being a Salfordian is a unique and special thing. We have a proud heritage to celebrate and we’ve had lots of success so far; from building council houses again, restoring Buile Hill Mansion, ensuring our care workers are paid the real living wage, to working with Mayor [Andy] Burnham to bring our buses under public control and progress delivering an integrated and accessible public transport network. “However, after over a decade of Tory austerity we’ve still got more to do to realise our vision and aspirations for our great city, communities, and people. “Salford Labour, Paul Dennett, Andy Burnham, your Labour councillors, are asking for your three votes for Labour at this election on 2nd May.” Lib Dems Paul Heilbron became the only Lib Dem councillor in Salford following a by-election victory earlier this year. Representing the Quays ward, he’s focused on cleaning up litter and waste dumped around the area, something his party is helping towards through organising regular community litter picking events. He’s also focused on improving walkways, and is campaigning to prevent overdevelopment, focusing instead on creating “sustainable” communities, with suitable infrastructure. Mr Heilbron said: “For the waterways, in light of the River Irwell being named the river with the most sewage released into it in the past 12 months this is more important than ever. Salford Liberal Democrats will be following the national party’s leadership of being the party battling the hardest to clean up our cities and country’s waterways. We have already seen huge successes in our campaign to clean up the Quays and this is where a lot of our energy will go into. “Towpaths and pedestrian infrastructure all over the city are falling apart, that is why we launched our SaveOurWalkways campaign in 2023. Just look at the success we have had already on the river Irwell towpath from Exchange Quay down to the city centre, there is a lot more to come. “We are the only party peddling caution at the overdevelopment in the East side/ Manchester end of Salford. We need to build sustainable communities that have enough infrastructure, public services, social provisions, green space and affordable homes to cater for the exponential growth in the population.” Others A number of independents and smaller political parties are standing for election in Salford in May. This includes the Communist Party of Britain, the Women’s Equality Party, Reform UK, the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, and independents.
