Candidate profiles – Nine stand for two seats in Wish ward

Nine candidates are standing for two seats in Wish on Brighton and Hove City Council in the local elections next month. They answered questions sent in by the public via social media.

Why do you want to be a councillor?

Conservative candidate Benjamin Franks, 33, is an English language teacher. He said that he was standing for election because “democracy is precious”.

His concerns are the proposed extension of the cycle path along Kingsway to Hove Lagoon. Mr Franks said: “The past four years have seen ideology trump common sense and we need a competent council to serve Hove’s residents.

“The council has not kept our streets clean and the weeds have left pavements looking a mess after Labour councillors banned weedkiller without putting any alternative in place. Our residents – paying thousands of pounds a year in council tax – aren’t happy about this.

“I love the character of this ward – the houses, the green spaces, the seafront, the fact that it’s popular with families – and I believe this needs to be protected. I want to ensure any developments are sensible and in keeping with the area.”

“This area is very popular with tourists and the council haven’t made the best of it. The Greens failed on public toilets in our area and tried to close them down.

“This is not befitting such a popular area and I will strive to make Wish a place residents can be proud of and tourists love to visit.”

Conservative candidate Paul Tanner, 39, is a retail worker. He is on Twitter @vote_tanner. Mr Tanner wants to represent Wish ward for the challenge – and because he “owes” Brighton and Hove.

He said: “Wish boasts everything Hove, and indeed the whole of Brighton, has to offer families, the aspirational, retirees, incredibly varied housing, parks, pubs, restaurants, the seafront.

“I mention this to show I’m aware of Wish’s attributes and therefore the responsibility I would face. I am looking forward to representing such a diverse people and area.”

He said that the key issues in the ward were weeding, public toilets, protecting the seafront from tall buildings, anti-social behaviour, graffiti and the proposed extension of the seafront cycle lane to the Lagoon.

Friends of Brighton and Hove Independents candidate Georgia McKinley-Fitch, 24, is a retail worker.

She has lived in Hove all her life and wants to represent the ward where she lives to “make a positive impact” in the community where she lives and work with residents to “stop the decline of Brighton and Hove”.

Ms McKinley-Fitch said: “The moment I learnt about the council’s plans for the ‘mini-Holland’, I decided I have to run in order to oppose this.

“If the council’s plans for the ‘mini-Holland’ project go ahead, I believe that will be catastrophic for both businesses and residents alike and the looming developments for the Aldrington Wharf are yet another issue that is deeply concerning.”

Labour candidate Paul Nann, 52, is a manager at a university housing department. He is on Twitter @pauljnann.

He wants to stand in Wish ward as it was his first home in Brighton and Hove and he started his family in the area.

Mr Nann is particularly keen to support residents to improve the environment around the Ingram Estate and mitigate the effects of the redevelopment of Knoll House.

He said: “There is a large development proposed that much of the community has serious concerns about. Supporting the opposition to it will be important.

“If we win the funding for the ‘mini-Holland’ project, then ensuring the residents and other stakeholders decide on the improvements to be made is crucial.

“I’ve been a committed Labour activist for many years and I felt it was time to step up and get more involved.

“The next couple of years are going to be a challenging time for Hove but I think that I have the skills, along with my colleagues, to manage a way through.

“Most of my work has been in homeless services where you must work hard and you have few resources available.

“I’m excited by the prospect of doing this for my community. I think, just now, there is an opportunity to make a huge difference to how the future unfolds.”

Labour Party candidate Bella Sankey, 39, is a former charity director, trained lawyer and human rights campaigner standing for re-election to the council. She is on Twitter @BellaSankey and on Facebook at facebook.com/BellaSankey4Labour.

She said that she was born and raised in the city and wanted to “give something back” after the Conservatives had “decimated” basic services and the city had “stagnated” under the Greens.

She said: “I was elected as Wish’s Labour councillor in a by-election in December 2022 and I have loved getting to know residents and supporting the communities in our ward.

“I want to carry on that work, achieving results and positive improvements for residents and improving people’s quality of life.

“Wish is a special place, from the Lagoon to the Ingram Estate, but it has even more potential and I want to work with residents to help realise it.

“Like much of the city, the ward is suffering from a lack of adequate basic services – from pavement weeds to unreliable rubbish collections. We need to get the basics right and improve the delivery of council services.

“Secondly, our residents need affordable, decent homes not luxury skyscrapers or overdevelopment, like the proposed Aldrington Wharf. Too many properties are damp-ridden.

“We need to get our regeneration and transport infrastructure right. The ‘Kingsway to the Sea’ project will transform our seafront and provide green spaces and activities but we need to make this accessible and work for everyone.”

Liberal Democrat Stamati Crook is a computer programmer. Mr Crook wants to represent the ward because he feels that Brighton and Hove has fundamentally liberal values which his party would represent on the council.

He wants to protect and maintain the seafront as a “place of beauty and leisure” for the whole community.

Mr Crook said: “I want to be part of the decision-making process that runs this city, especially from the point of view of those of us who live next to the sea.

“I want also to represent those of us running small businesses in the area, with an eye also for social justice.”

UK Independence Party candidate John Gartside is a retired computer systems analyst. He is standing for election because he feels that the current council does not have policies which improve either the city or the lives of its citizens.

Mr Gartside is standing in Wish ward because it is subject to a “very significant” planning application in Basin Road North, with “arboreal” buildings.

The Green Party is fielding two candidates – Guy Davidson and Sharon Hamlin.

What are your views on low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs)?

Benjamin Franks said: “I’m not a supporter of this. Wish has lots of hardworking residents and I do not feel restricting them in this way is fair. I am in favour of more car charging points for electric vehicles to be installed around the city.”

Paul Tanner said: “If Wish has a spare £500,000 lying around then we should spend it on the basics first, such as cleaning the streets of weeds and opening public toilets.

“We should not be using it to enforce unnecessary ideologies, such as shrinking the road along Fourth Avenue.

“We should be proud of all we’ve done to include cyclists but this will only cause further division between them and drivers as well as actually increasing traffic and local fuel consumption, ironically enough.”

Georgia McKinley-Fitch said: “I am completely against LTNs and any other crazy traffic scheme which punishes and fines ordinary people trying to live ordinary lives.”

Guy Davidson and Sharon Hamlin said: “We support low-traffic neighbourhoods and other schemes to make streets safer for play, walking, cycling and scooting.

“We are looking forward to seeing the results of the liveable neighbourhood pilot project once it is introduced and continuing the study into a mini-Holland in Wish and Westbourne.

“Well-planned and consulted on schemes bring a variety of benefits, alongside improved safety, with studies showing benefits such as better air quality and increased footfall for local businesses.”

Paul Nann and Bella Sankey said: “Green politicians said that Labour’s budget amendment shows we are against low-traffic neighbourhoods and not committed to combating the climate crisis.

“Yet, Labour set up the Climate Assembly in the city and were clear that we must listen to and work with communities in delivering carbon-reduction measures such as LTNs and 20-minute neighbourhoods.

“We are not against the principle of low-traffic neighbourhoods – we’ve regularly backed residents in various calls for traffic-calming measures in different parts of the city – we just don’t support poorly designed LTNs in the wrong places where residents evidently don’t want them.”

Stamati Crook said: “Broadly, Liberal Democrats support the concept of LTNs. It seems that the first attempt in Brighton in the Hanover area was botched.

“There was insufficient consultation with residents and then the funding was cut after a row between Labour and Green groups on the council.

“Maybe it would be more sensible to spend money on improving the existing pavements in these areas.”

John Gartside said: “Council tax payers do not pay for the roads to then be prevented from using them. I have no problem with speed limits for reasons of public safety.”

What are your proposals for the future of the King Alfred?

Benjamin Franks said: “The site should be redeveloped in its current location. They should build it so the sea is visible from the swimming pool inside to take advantage of the view – that way you can look at the sea but swim in heated water all year round.”

Paul Tanner said: “As an active community and tourist destination, leisure centres are vital. Which is all the more reason to ensure they’re profitable and never allow them to be such a constant burden on the taxpayer again.

“With private investment, the King Alfred could remain where it’s known and loved – but new and improved. And we can still encourage proposed additional leisure centres in other areas, with the blessing of their residents, of course.”

Georgia McKinley-Fitch said: “The King Alfred is a wonderful asset to the community. Knocking it down and rebuilding a modern leisure centre would be costly.

“I think the cheapest/Greenest thing to do would be to restore the King Alfred and reopen the bowling alley.”

Guy Davidson and Sharon Hamlin said: “We wish to end the long delays in redeveloping the King Alfred site.

“Through the introduction of the Sports Development Plan, the council is continuing to progress works to build a new sports centre in the west of the city.

“Recently the council put out a call for sites to explore where this centre could be located and is developing business plans to see whether the current or additional sites are the best way forward.

“We want work to begin within the next few years and will continue to push for this progress.”

Paul Nann and Bella Sankey said: “Fifteen years after the plans to redevelop the King Alfred were shelved, Hove and Portslade is still awaiting a new leisure centre.

“The council is developing a Sports Facilities Investment Plan (2021-31). This sets out a vision for good-quality, accessible, sustainable facilities and services over the next 10 years including a new swimming pool.

“A key part is to deliver a new facility to replace the King Alfred Leisure Centre with one that offers an improved environment for residents and visitors to enjoy. Labour will work to make sure it will be a facility that meets local needs.”

Stamati Crook said: “We believe that Brighton and Hove should have a first-class swimming centre that can support the city’s three swimming clubs, local families and also act as an attraction for tourists.

“Such a centre will require a 50-metre pool, diving facilities, spectator area and family swimming and leisure area (flumes, etc).

“The centre will also need to have the supporting infrastructure such as public transport links and car parking to meet the needs of competitions and peak tourist periods.”

John Gartside said: “I would rather the discussions on the future of the King Alfred are held in the context of the need for an Olympic standard pool in the city, namely one that is 50 metres long and covered.

“Such a development would not necessarily have to be on the King Alfred site if a suitable alternative site, more centrally located, can be found.”

How will you ensure the council carries out meaningful consultations and listen to residents’ concerns?

Benjamin Franks said: “There should be a minimum threshold of responses to consultations required before the council can make decisions in the ‘name of the people’.

“With the Kingsway cycle path extension, a grand total of 48 people responded to the consultation and 33 people were in support.

“This was not conducted properly and Labour and the Greens are making such a huge decision on such a small percentage of feedback. I would fight against decisions being made with such a flimsy amount of support.”

Paul Tanner said: “Brighton and Hove has become undemocratic. The extension of the A259 cycle lane is a classic example of the Green-Labour coalition forcing through their decisions at our expense while neglecting the more pressing basic services that already we pay for.

“The local Conservative Party is committed to having a more approachable council that will consult residents on such local changes in order to be more reflective of Wish and its needs.”

Georgia McKinley-Fitch said: “Widespread publicity for impartial consultations with pre-defined parameters in terms of how many responses are needed and in the affirmative to progress an idea or scheme, incorporating resident suggestions where possible.

“Make all results fully available on the Brighton and Hove City Council website, along with FoI (freedom of information) requests.”

Guy Davidson and Sharon Hamlin said: “There is a need for the council to improve its consultation process and Greens have been looking at ways the council can do this behind the scenes.

“We have been impressed by consultations like Planning for Real and the Climate Assembly in meaningful citizen engagement and will look to use these methods where appropriate and possible.

“Councillors play a vital role in ensuring adequate consultation is carried out and the views expressed are taken on board.”

Paul Nann said: “I’m not a fan of the ‘holding a meeting, on Tuesday at 1.30pm, with a slideshow telling people what’s going to happen to them’ style of consultation.

“Consultations must happen when people can attend. I will insist that effort is made to engage with people who would not otherwise engage.

“Consultation is a dynamic, inclusive process and not a tick-box exercise. If I feel a consultation has not been meaningful then I will speak up.

“The purpose of consultation is to find problems with an idea. I’ll never trust a consultation that doesn’t result in an element of ‘thinking again’.”

Bella Sankey said: “One of the most frequent complaints on the doorstep is the lack of consultation.

“For too long, the Green administration has done things ‘to’ people rather than ‘with’ them – from bike lanes appearing in places that cyclists don’t want them to madcap proposals to close public toilets.

“The Labour Party knows that residents are full of ideas and insight as to how to improve their local areas and what is needed.

“So we will make consultation and engagement meaningful again and enable residents to take pride in their communities.”

Stamati Crook said: “The council does undertake consultations, some of which are statutory. Although they can be expensive to organise, often the response is not very great.

“Generally, those who oppose change in our city speak louder than those who support it. A good example would be the Victoria Gardens project and the changes to traffic flow on entering the city.

“Many people only knew about this once work had started and it was too late to change things.

“More effort should be made to ensure that all residents are consulted on new plans and more is done to explain the outcome of those consultations.”

John Gartside said: “UK Independents believe in allowing councillors local autonomy so listening to local people is how we work. We cannot tell other political parties what lines to follow.”

Polling day is Thursday 4 May. Photo ID is required for those voting in person.