Colchester goes to the polls on May 2.

Darius Laws' Conservatives need to win eight out of 17 seats to gain control of Colchester Council, while Labour's Tim Young will be hoping his party strengthens its hands in the ruling coalition.

Darius and Tim went head to head in the latest Colchester Chat podcast.

  • Darius revealed his party's plans to scrap plans for a 21,000 garden town in West Tey and build high density homes near train stations.
     
  • Tim stood by the garden community bid, saying it is the only way to guarantee infrastructure.
     
  • Darius outlined ambitious heritage plans, but Tim questioned where the money would come from, putting forward a more modest plan to make Colchester a top tourism attraction.
     
  • Tim revealed plans for "car free days" in Colchester town centre, while Darius favours planting more trees in urban streets.

Next week's podcast will feature Lib Dem council leader Mark Cory and Green party candiate Mark Goacher.

The Colchester Chat podcasts are also available on iTunes and Buzzsprout.