Between now and the general election in 2015 when the whole of Ledbury Town Council will be up for election, I'll be telling the voters of Ledbury what I'm doing towards my manifesto ideas set out here...

What Rich Hadley Stands For
Ledbury deserves better than it's getting. From Herefordshire Council, from the regional economic development agencies, and from Ledbury Town Council.
We are losing out continually and our best interests as a community are sometimes not being well served by our Town and County Council representatives. I want to see more enthusiasm, vision and creative energy brought to bear in overcoming our problems. It's not good enough to just blame everything on the cuts and stand helplessly by:  the point is what can we do for ourselves that would make a positive difference?   
I believe that Ledbury must stand up for itself as a community and at the same time push our Town Council to do a much better job of protecting our long term social and economic interests. 

My priorities include: 

Town Centre
Do everything to sustain and build our retail economy and nothing to harm it. The town centre is Ledbury's biggest employer and wealth generator as well as a vital part of the community.
  • Keep the public toilets open at any price: they are a vital facility for locals and tourists  
  • Maintain the floral displays: they make the town beautiful and everyone in it feel good
  • Promote Ledbury High Street as a brand: actively attract shoppers from the town, locality and region
  • Develop a regular all-round events programme that enlivens the streets and brings the community together

Town Centre

Local Democracy

Local Ownership

Jobs and Economy

Culture & Creativity
Local Ownership
Set up a community fundraising organisation to invest in community facilities and encourage voluntary action
  • Launch a Community Benefit Society that can raise money through public subscription and a share offer to invest in key local projects
  • Provide a mechanism to put forward alternative plans that are in the best interests of the Ledbury community - not profiteering external developers
  • Support local energy generation and community housing schemes
  • Bring volunteer and active citizen groups together to focus energies and enable productive collaborations to happen
  • Concentrate on encouraging young people to design and run their own projects, and participate in town life
Culture and Creativity
Attract resources to support arts and events, promoting a more vibrant local scene. Other towns of Ledbury's standing and size support a rich programme of live events and festivals throughout the year catering to all sections of the community - from young to old, classical to popular.  They bring people together, generate prosperity and attract visitors.
  • Build on the success of the Poetry Festival and develop a range of seasonal festivals,  playing to our strengths and carving out a niche for Ledbury
  • Develop additional performance and gallery facilities that could sustain a wider range of events and programmes
  • Put in place facilities for band practice, rehearsal space, mixing and recording, and a local community radio station
  • Pull in money from funding agencies like the Arts Council, Lottery and trusts and foundations.  
Local Democracy
Push for a more accessible and responsive Town Council that reaches out to all sections of the community.
  • Meetings should take place in a variety of community venues that are physically accessible to everyone (eg John Masefield School and the Community Hall)
  • Council business should be made more informal, demystified and more energetically communicated so that people feel they have a stake in discussions and feel motivated to participate
  • Members of the public should be entitled and encouraged to participate where possible during town council meetings, not just a few minutes at the start where they can be safely ignored
  • There should be regular 'Meet the Council' sessions where councillors are on hand to talk informally to members of the community
Jobs and Economy
Create opportunities for business investment leading to sustainable, well-paid employment. Ledbury is brilliantly located on a railway mainline and connected to the national motorway network, close to the booming Thames Silicon Valley full of high-technology companies. 
  • Develop a local economic development strategy that can actively focus energy and resources into attracting new businesses to town
  • Identify sites for the potential development of a high-technology/science business park
  • Push for improvements to the rail line, including the doubling of rail track between Malvern and Hereford
  • Investigate the development of a Conference/Meeting centre in Ledbury coupled with additional hotel accommodation - attracting business tourism as well as leisure visitors