COUNTDOWN TO ELECTION DAY:Tony Hillier from Old Walcot asked the leaders what they would do to motivate people of all ages to get involved in local democracy.

Con (Mike Bawden): We are seeing disengagement with the electoral process. The general election turnout in 2001 was just 59 per cent, and that is frightening. We need to have consultation and debate.

Lab (Kevin Small): Local elections are the most important elections of all because they affect the daily lives of people. Citizens have a responsibility to use their vote.

Lib Dem (Mike Evemy): I don't think people have stopped caring about their communities. They have just stopped believing they can have an influence. People do still care about issues.

Green (Bill Hughes): Even when there is large public involvement the wishes of the people are just ignored, like the site of the new hospital. The other three are the parties of big business.

Andy Newman from Old Town, who is contesting the Central ward for the Socialist Alliance, asked the leaders what they had done personally to stop Britain joining the war against Iraq.

Con: Absolutely nothing. The country was taken to war on false information. Tony Blair should have done the honourable thing and resigned.

Lab: I did nothing to prevent the war. The evidence now questions whether the grounds on which we went to war were right. But we would have been in the same situation under a Tory government.

Lib Dems: I wish I had gone to the big anti-war demo in London. The Lib Dems were against the war, but when troops are in action we have to support them.

Green: I went to the large demonstration in London on February 15 and several other demos against the war.

Chris Lowry from central Swindon asked about the residents' parking scheme, which he said was letting down motorists with too many double yellow lines and not enough spaces.

Con : 4,500 passes have been issued for only 3,000 parking spaces. There is an imbalance and we are reviewing the scheme. There are more cars in Swindon than there used to be.

Lab : The parking scheme is a growing concern. We should take on board the comments of all residents and everything should be done in consultation with them.

Lib Dem: All parties on the council supported parking wardens but we need to make changes. There may be too many double yellow lines but you need to have them.

Green : It's another tax. There are too many cars and not enough spaces. The only solution is for people to become less dependent on motor vehicles and we need to have better public transport.

Liza Lishman from Old Town asked why the council could not do more to support voluntary groups like the Women's Refuge and Home-Start.

Con: We don't have an unlimited pot of money and the Government is continually reducing the amount available.

The amount we do have is under pressure and we need to make sure we get value for money.

Lab: We have a very good record of funding the voluntary sector and we are committed to supporting children's and family projects but we do need a review how we can best target limited resources.

Lib Dem: If you make cuts in these groups the people who use them will depend on the council for them. You have to make a judgement and ask council taxpayers to pay more.

Green: It's a disgrace that in our so-called affluent society voluntary groups have short term funding and they don't know whether they are going to survive. Big businesses should pay more tax.