MOTORISTS take centre stage of the Southend Conservatives election pledges as the party vows to end the debate over seafront parking charges and “fill every pothole” in the city.

If Tories remain in power after voters go to the polls on May 2, the party has pledged to end the ping pong over 6pm to 9pm parking charges once and for all and insist they will not be resurrected.

Alongside parking and potholes, the group has also promised to protect the city’s green belt despite the need for new homes and continue to invest in attractions like the iconic 1.3-mile long pier.

Tony Cox, leader of the council, said: “Before pothole repairs were only lasting two weeks and then crumbling. We were doing double the amount of work so what we are doing now is repairing them – a permanent repair once and saving huge amounts of money in the process.”

To protect green belt land, the party has ruled out agreeing to the building of 7,000 homes on the green belt North of Bournes Green Chase.

Mr Cox said: “What we don’t want is to merge Southend with Rochford. Once you lose that green belt, it’s gone. We are providing more homes at Fossetts. What we can’t do is lose green belt.”

Conservatives say they will also continue to look for solutions to re-open the Kursaal and will maintain support for Southend United.

The Tory leader said: “On the pier, we are committed to bringing in a commercial operator. With the Kursaal, there’s more that needs to be done clearly. We want to get that back, so we’re leaving no stone unturned to try and get that back open.”

A new leisure contract due to come into force in 2025 could see senior citizens benefitting from free swimming sessions under the Tories plans.

Unsurprisingly, finance also features heavily in the manifesto as the council struggles to ward off a possible £35 million deficit over the next five years.

Mr Cox said: “Redundancies are always a last resort. It’s got to be more around doing things differently, changing the way we do services. One thing we haven’t done is close any services. It’s been done in different ways in some areas but we’ve not had to stop them. There are inefficiencies.”

The part has also promised to increase the powers of the police and community safety team to cut anti-sociable behaviour.

The Echo will be publishing manifestos or election commitments for all political parties in the run-up to the May 2 election.