MEMBERS of Swindon Council’s Liberal Democrat group have launched their campaign for the local elections.

The group, which has four councillors compared to 17 Labour and 37 Conservative, believes it could hold the balance of power after the all-out elections on May 3.

Normally only one third of seats are available in Swindon at any one election, but this time every seat – 57 in total – will be up for grabs because of redrawn ward boundaries.

The Lib Dems plan to stand on five key policy areas: protecting and celebrating green spaces; regeneration; culture, arts and heritage; listening to the people and working together; and protecting the urban environment.

Many of their key pledges surround day-to-day and issues, such as helping communities to resolve the problems of graffiti and litter on private property, parking on grass verges, and to ensure the cleanliness of unadopted alleyways.

They promise to reinstate the recently abolished council parks department and double the number of enforcement officers and give them powers to tackle dog fouling, littering and car parking.

Group leader Coun Stan Pajak said: “These are the basics. When you talk about the problems, they are litter and mess in areas. It’s the graffiti, the quantity of dog mess.

“You have got to get the basics right.

“We all want to live in an area that’s free from mess and that’s what we’re looking at. I think some people want to see some of the basics and then people want to look at the bigger things.”

In an unusual step, the Lib Dems propose that if they take the balance of power, they will seek to appoint a ‘Cabinet of all the talents’ by inviting all groups to nominate a member and work together for the benefit of Swindon Coun Pajak said that both parties were saying they would win, maybe indicating that it will be a hung council.

“I have an inherent dislike of the cabinet system because it seems to put power into just one party,” he said.

“And I think if we can share knowledge that’s better and we can put people with their own party’s backing in a role they might work well in.”

The Lib Dems pledge to review the processes of recent controversial decisions, such as Croft School and Whalebridge junction, and produce a plan to ensure meaningful consultation of residents in all decisions at the earliest stage.

The party also promises only to accept developments where adequate infrastructure is in place, to find a viable and sympathetic use for the Locarno and Mechanics’ Institute by the end of the municipal year, dramatically increase the profile of Swindon’s arts and culture and ensure sustainable funding for the Big Arts Day.