Adur elections: Who deserves your vote?

This week, each party – and two Independent candidates – have set out why they deserve your vote. Lists of candidates, including those for Lancing and Sompting parish councils, are also detailed – though the latter is uncontested: CONSERVATIVE The Conservative candidates in Adur are standing on their track record for keeping taxes down and while making Adur a better place to live for all ages. This coming year we have already agreed to spend over £1million in Lancing and Sompting, improving leisure facilities. We will be continuing with the Lancing regeneration project. Both leisure and regeneration projects use a small amount of council tax but most is funded by leavening money from other sources. We will also make improvements in Shoreham and Southwick, including £100,000 on new changing rooms at Wadurs and new cricket nets for Southwick Cricket Club. We deplore the negative campaigning that is going on. We leave the name calling for others. Your local Conservative candidates are seeking office to give something back to the area they love. We believe in people before politics. GREEN Adur residents should vote Green, because we will hold the council to account over vital issues such as housing, schools, healthcare, the local economy and voluntary sector – all areas suffering as a result of the Conservatives’ national austerity policies. Our candidates are committed to opposing austerity, enhancing our local environment and using our natural resources more effectively. In particular: – Supporting the local voluntary sector, by actively working alongside community organisations to save services under threat due to national austerity measures and local decision making. We value grassroots development and will also help new community groups to start up and become self sustaining, through our collective experience in this area. – Involving the community in decision making, including planning applications. We are proud of Adur’s thriving town centres and independent businesses, which we need to protect. – Protecting our natural surroundings, our homes and our economy by encouraging the use of our precious outdoor spaces, campaigning for them to be better maintained, and contesting any attempts to build on floodplains. – Drawing attention to local air quality and pollution, to make sure these issues are given a high profile and that appropriate solutions are found. LABOUR Adur needs to do better: on the environment, on housing and on democracy. Above all this council needs to listen to the people it serves. It was Labour that got Ropetackle built in Shoreham. Labour’s team got the farmers’ market off the ground. That was when Labour ran the council – making Adur a force for good. A strong Labour team will give power back to local people. We’ll scrap the cabinet system. Every decision that matters will be made openly. And every Labour councillor will answer to the people they serve with regular surgeries and reports. Labour will put our environment first, with rigorous monitoring of air quality, with decent homes and well-kept streets people can be proud of. Adur’s housing stock has been mismanaged for years. Tenants have waited too long for basic repairs. That just stores up problems for the future. Labour’s independent arbitration service will give council tenants and leaseholders a voice with powers to order urgent repairs and compensation. Labour’s Freedom Pass will help pensioners forced to travel further for routine medical appointments. Free rail travel on the Brighton-Chichester line, as well as bus travel, will cost less than the pay rise councillors recently approved. LIBERAL DEMOCRAT We are a strong voice for you. We care about Adur and will vote for measures that we believe will benefit the town. However we will oppose any plans that pick on the poor and vulnerable. Our local priorities are: – Support for low cost rental housing for all – Increased flexibility in free child care – More help with living costs for vulnerable people – The promotion of cheaper energy schemes, and support remaining in Europe in order to improve it for the residents of Worthing and beyond. – We also back a fair education policy, not mass produced academies. It seems that some parties do not see that there are a lot of people who simply cannot earn enough because they’re poorly paid. These people need supporting, not kicking, not victimising. We will also oppose any schemes that do not make financial sense and which seem to be a result of party political dogma or personal agendas. UKIP A full house of candidates will contest every seat in Adur District, alongside a major push for Lancing Parish. “Daily we are approached by Adur residents, furious at the way their council ignores their needs and fears,” explained UKIP Lancing county councillor and local chairman, Mike Glennon. “People are gradually realising that a council so dominated by one administration, with strings ultimately pulled by David Cameron, offers little chance for representation of local interests.” UKIP already holds six seats on the district council and, as the main opposition party, will be defending seats, as well as expanding its presence. “UKIP councillors have campaigned tirelessly, both on district and parish to resist the crushing impact, which mass housing development will bring to our public infrastructure,” said Mr Glennon. “The current dogmatic toadying to Westminster-driven construction quotas, much of it destined for flood plain, is appalling. “Adur District Council needs to think carefully about what is and what isn’t in the interests of our local people, to heed their voices. I am certain, however, this won’t happen until UKIP forces it upon them. With the support of voters, that is precisely what we intend doing.” INDEPENDENT – SHOREHAM BEACH RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION Shoreham Beach Residents’ Association (SBRA) nominates Independent councillors – free from political allegiance and party ties. This proud tradition dates back over 60 years and our councillors’ independent stance means that our councillors work with residents to secure the best possible deal for the Beach community. Joss Loader is chairman of Shoreham Beach Residents’ Association and editor of its magazine, Beach News. A qualified journalist, Joss has a passion for communications and worked as news editor on both the Shoreham and Worthing Heralds and as a reporter for the Evening Argus. She also held senior PR and communications roles for high-profile organisations – including the NHS, Shoreham Power Station and the Royal Armouries Museum. Joss has lived on Shoreham Beach since 1998. During her time as Chair and Vice-Chair, SBRA’s successes have included: – Campaigning for the completion of the Lower Beach Road car park and Ferry Road schemes – Promoting the expansion of the boardwalk – Fighting for better planning enforcement and control – Campaigning for highways and parking improvements, including calls for double yellow lines by The Longshore at The Saltings roundabout – Lobbying for Beach Green to be protected as an open green space. INDEPENDENT - KEITH DOLLEMORE For some reason, a Conservative councillor for a Sompting Ward chose this year to move to Manor Ward. The very local Conservative branch supported him and, I think, expected me to move to Sompting. I have little connection there so I am standing as an Independent in the ward I know, where I and my close family live and have done for many years. I have served the Manor Ward, Lancing and Adur for 17 years. For most of this time I have been chairman of an executive committee and, with the change to leader and cabinet system, a cabinet member. I have had responsibility for most of the council’s front line services and have overseen the introduction of our envied waste collection service, our graffiti-busting operation and improved street scene, changes to our car parks and the smooth introduction of the civilian parking enforcement, introduced a program of children’s playground renewal, installation of out door gyms and wheelchair friendly picnic tables, the ‘Lancing Vision’ concept, energy-saving LED street lamps, (the first in West Sussex), refurbished toilets on Beach Green, the renovation of Queensway, helping towards the general improvement of Lancing and the introduction of Lancing village market. BUCKINGHAM Kevin Boram (Con) Cyril Cannings (Lib) Darren Compton (UKIP) Leslie Groves-Williams (Green) Michael Thornton (Lab) CHURCHILL Daniel Ballance (Lab) Pat Beresford (Con)* Steve Creed (Lib) Robin Monk (UKIP) COKEHAM Mick Clark (UKIP) Raj Dooraree (Lib) Paul Mansfield (Con) Barry Mear (Lab)* EASTBROOK Les Alden (Lab) Dave Donaldson (Con)* Patrick Ginnelly (Green) Frances Hearne (UKIP) HILLSIDE Angus Dunn (Con)* Steve Gilbert (Lab) Jenny Greig (UKIP) Keith Humphrey (Lib) Helen Mears (Green) MANOR Carson Albury (Con) John Ballance (Lab) Keith Dollemore (Ind)* Jason Lock (UKIP) Steve Martin (Lib) MARINE Peter Harvey (UKIP) Tom Hilditch (Lib) Joss Loader (Ind) Adrienne Lowe (Lab) MASH BARN Bradley Douglas (Lab) Liz Haywood (UKIP)* Neil Maguinness (Con) Doris Martin (Lib) PEVEREL George Barton (Con) Nilda Dooraree (Lib) Alun Jones (Lab) Ray McLeod (UKIP) SOUTHLANDS Kieran Francis (Lab) Paul Graysmark (UKIP)* Tony Nicklen (Con) Drew Tinsley (Lib) SOUTHWICK David Bowen (Lab) Annie Brown David Edey (Lib) Bill Jarman (UKIP) Peter Metcalfe (Con)* ST MARY’S Cindy Golds (Con) Paul Hendy (Green) Nevvy Merrett (Lib) Sean Ridley (UKIP) Sami Zeglam (Lab) ST NICOLAS Brian Coomber (Con)* Jan Kimber (Lib) Louise Miller (Green) Irene Reed (Lab) Jean Turner (UKIP) WIDEWATER Ann Bridges (Con)* Clive Burghard (UKIP) Lee Cowen (Lab) Gloria Eveleigh (UKIP) Nicholas Pigott (Con) Jacqueline Pilkington (Lab) Andrew Serhan (Lib) Lancing Parish Council CHURCHILL (FOUR VACANCIES) James Butcher (Con) Lee Cowen (Lab) Steve Creed (Lib) Paul Hendy (Green) Keith Humphrey (Lib) Janice Kempshall (Con) Ray McLeod (UKIP) Robin Monk (UKIP) Emma Purnell (Con) Leslie Sampson (Con) MANOR NORTH (TWO VACANCIES) Carol Albury (Con) Mick Clark (UKIP) Frederick Lewis (Con) Jacqueline Pilkington (Lab) Drew Tinsley (Lib) MANOR SOUTH (TWO VACANCIES) John Hollington (Con) Steve Martin (Lib) Ann Saunders (Lab) Jed Smith (Lab) Glenn Souter (Con) Jean Turner (UKIP) MASH BARN (FOUR VACANCIES) Richard Aulton (Lab) Douglas Bradley (Lab) Liz Haywood (UKIP) Pat Izod (Lib) David Lambourne (UKIP) Jason Lock (UKIP) Neil Maguinness (Con) Doris Martin (Lib) Angie Mills (Con) Nicholas Pigott (Con) Andrew Serhan (Lib) Gareth Smith (Con) WIDEWATER (FOUR VACANCIES) Ann Bridges (Con) Clive Burghard (UKIP) Cyril Cannings (Lib) David Devoy (Lab) Raj Dooraree (Lib) Mumin Elshahri (Con) Gloria Eveleigh (UKIP) Joe Pannell (Con) Geoff Patmore (UKIP) Frances Smith (Ind) SOMPTING PARISH COUNCIL All of the parish council elections are uncontested: COKEHAM NORTH Ken Bashford (Lab) Barry Mear (Lab) COKEHAM SOUTH Mick Clark (UKIP) Tony Nicklen (Con) Michael Thornton (Lab) PEVEREL SOUTH Alun Jones (Lab) David Lewis (UKIP) PEVEREL NORTH No candidates nominated