Council tax took centre stage in the battle for control of Kingston Council as Conservative and Liberal Democrat campaigners launched their competing platforms for next month's council elections.

All 48 council seats are up for grabs on May 6, and the Conservatives are hoping to overturn the Lib Dem's two seat majority and end eight years of yellow rule.

Tory councillors put a pledge to freeze council tax for two years at the centre of their campaign, saying they would deliver it by refocusing an existing cost-cutting programme, and hoped to extend the freeze for a further two years.

Lib Dems said they would keep council tax “as low as we can”, but said a zero increase could not be achieved without service cuts.

Kingston has the highest council tax in London, but Conservative leader Councillor Howard Jones, said: “I would feign to say in four years time I would be very surprised if we were in the top quartile of council tax payers in London.”

Finance also figured in another of the Conservatives' five 'borough pledges', with a commitment to publish all councillor expenses, and council contracts worth over £500, while Lib Dems pledged not to increase council staffing unless they could be paid without increasing tax bills.

Both campaigns launched their manifestos on Wednesday, April 7, with the Tories unveiling “Kingston, worth fighting for” with a multi-media presentation in screen one of the Odeon, which was advertising Alice in Wonderland.

In contrast, the Lib Dems launched "Kingston – the best place: Safe, green and successful” with a low-key reception in a riverside bar.

Lib Dems focused on the fight against climate change, promising to make Kingston “the most sustainable borough in London” by helping people change daily routines and reduce their costs and carbon footprint.

Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Derek Osbourne said: “The key elements are around sustainable Kingston, with even more environmental focus in terms of how we manage our affairs.

“We will make sure in planning and transport we have as much sustainability as we can. This differentiates us from the Tories because they have climate change deniers in their group.”

Conservative councillors had strongly opposed the introduction of fortnightly collection of landfill waste in 2008, but now say the estimated £800,000 cost of reintroducing the weekly scheme could be too expensive, and would await to examine the details of the contract if they won power.

Both parties said they would consider any requests from the Rose Theatre for further council funding on their merits, but Conservatives said they remained sceptical about its business case and could put the issue to a public vote.

Coun Jones said: “There are people in this borough who are deeply upset. We must hear them. A referendum might be a good way of saying to the people 'We like the Rose but it's not a core part of the council – do you want to pay for it?'”

Both parties pledged action to tackle run-down council housing, with Lib Dems promoting a 'trickle transfer' of properties to housing associations or tenants groups as they fell empty, and a search for 'hidden homes' in disused spaces on estates to provide new affordable housing.

Tories urged another vote on transferring housing stock to residents associations, but with clearer reassurances for tenants about security of tenure.

Coun Jones said: “Stock transfer seems to be the only option, but it needs to be handled in a more sensitive way. If it is not led by tenants it is not going to go anywhere. Maybe the residents should be running it, getting into bed with housing associations.”

While both parties backed the expansion of primary and secondary schools, the Conservatives raised doubts about the size of the proposed eight form of entry secondary school in north Kingston, and the use of the Surbiton Hospital site for the new primary school.

Both parties promised action to put more bobbies on the beat, work more closely with the voluntary sector, increase residents' involvement in decision making, resist back garden development and better promote Kingston as a tourist destination.