OPPOSITION parties on Warwickshire County Council (WCC) have outlined a post-Covid way forward for the county.
Liberal Democrats, Labour and Green members have presented their joint policy ideas for key areas including the economy, health and the climate change.
They say a total refresh of the WCC ‘Economic Growth Strategy 2020 – 2025′ is needed.
Ideas include establishing a stronger social enterprise model and having a task force approach across Warwickshire creating active town centres with retail hospitality and tourism a priority.
Post pandemic they are looking at an agenda of reducing health inequality and closing deprivation gaps, including extra investment to tackle child poverty.
They also want to see more investment in Children’s centres/Family centres, increases in health visitors and family nurse practitioners, and the use of council-owned land as part of social rented housing projects.
Ideas for tackling climate change include reviewing all transport routes, improving air quality by rolling out Zero Emissions Zones in towns across the county, investment in park and ride and e scooters parks, increased cycling infrastructure, plastic free towns including introducing investment in water fountains in public buildings and town centres, and a local food strategy with more food produced closer to home.
They also say money to start the economy post-pandemic should be focused on green technologies and companies.
They are also keen to see changes to the way WCC operates, including more staff working remotely from home.
The three group leaders Labour’s Helen Adkins, Green Party’s Jonathan Chilvers, and Liberal Democrats’ Jerry Roodhouse said: “Covid has brought extra pressures onto Warwickshire residents and goes beyond any one political party and it is In this spirit we have come together to produce a document that we hope the Conservative administration will take into account. We need to see a step change in how we deliver for the future post Covid.”
