Eleven candidates are standing for three seats in Patcham and Hollingbury 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?
Brighton and Hove Independents candidates Paul Denyer, is a local businessman. He said: “As a well-known local business owner, and life-long Brightonian, I feel wholeheartedly that the incumbent administration and their predecessors have consistently let the people of our city down.
“Like so many others, I’ve become disheartened by the decline of Brighton and Hove’s infrastructure, and I am truly passionate about working to improve services and restore Brighton and Hove’s unique heritage for the people who live here.
“It is imperative that national politics is separated from our local politics. Our city desperately needs change and I have the skills, expertise, time and energy to help.
“I live here unlike nine of the eleven candidates standing in Patcham and Hollingbury. I firmly believe that councillors should live in the area they represent, walking the same streets, using the same buses, having their bin collections missed at the same time.
“The main bones of contention here are the Royal Mail being built on the farm, no youth facilities in the entire area, weeds, potholes, pavements and recycling.”
Conservative candidates Alistair McNair, 46, is a manager and teacher of international students in the tertiary sector, who is standing for re-election to the council.
He said: “I have always been keen to volunteer: teaching English to orphans near Kyiv, Ukraine, and being a church warden in both Kyiv and Hove.
“Having spent a year in Poland and eight years in Ukraine, I have seen what can happen to countries and people when there is poor governance and a lack of civic society.
“On finally settling down in Brighton and Hove in 2011, I felt I should play a full role in the local community and help stop the obvious deterioration of our city.
“I have represented Patcham and Hollingbury since 2019. I am proud to be chair of governors at Carden Primary School.
“I have been on the Duck Fayre Committee since the fayre restarted in 2019. I go to community groups such as Neighbourhood Watch and Friends of Withdean Park and attend all the churches in the ward.
“I enjoy helping volunteers look after our new wood in Carden Hill. In 2022, I was nominated for a Local Government Award for my work in helping support Ukrainians across the city.
“I would love to continue helping residents, refugees and community groups.
“Over the last four years, Anne Meadows, Carol Theobald and I have had to fight a number of battles to keep Patcham and Hollingbury the place locals love.
“We successfully stopped the development of urban fringe land next to Horsdean Recreation Ground. We worked with residents to keep Carden Primary School two-form entry. And we are currently fighting to stop the Royal Mail building a sorting office in Vale Avenue.
“We are also fighting for better rubbish and recycling in our ward. These challenges will be ongoing, and only Conservatives have a clear and consistent position on them.”
Conservative candidate Anne Meadows works in corporate governance at the Royal Sussex County Hospital and is standing for re-election to the council.
She said: “I have always wanted to help residents and those who feel they cannot stand up for themselves. I feel I have been making a difference to the area in the two short years I have been a councillor for Patcham and Hollingbury.
“I attend many community meetings and support local organisations. In addition, I want to reverse the damage that is happening to our city by this Green and Labour coalition.
“I live in the ward and feel I have contributed and feel I have a lot more to contribute as a voice for the residents.
“I am also an experienced councillor so understand a lot of the issues that residents face when contacting the council.”
She said that the key issues in the ward were
- the Royal Mail sorting office proposal at the Patcham Court Farm site
- weeds on the pavements and weeds too long on the grass verges
- rubbish not being collected in a timely manner and when residents try to sort it out for themselves, they get frustrated with the poor response or lack of response
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Conservative candidate Carol Theobald, is a housewife who is standing for re-election to the council. She said: “I wish to retain my council seat in Patcham and Hollingbury that I have represented for 30 years.
“I grew up and attended the local schools in Patcham and Hollingbury. It is a pleasant place to live and has a lovely community. Residents are very supportive especially if there are important issues in the ward.
“I’m concerned about the proposal for Royal Mail to move to the Patcham Court Farm site, retaining Carden Primary School as a two-form entry school, the facilities in the playgrounds, the dreadful appearance of the Patcham roundabout, development on the urban fringe, litter on the A27, missed refuse and recycling collections, potholes and the condition of the grass verges.”
Green candidate Sophie Broadbent, 45, is a carbon literacy trainer in advertising production.
She said: “I enjoy taking an active part in community groups and have volunteered widely in Brighton and Hove, including five years as co-chair of Westdene Primary School PTA, as a breastfeeding peer supporter for the Sussex Community NHS Trust and as a therapeutic counsellor for Change Grow Live – Brighton and Hove Recovery Service.
“Since learning about the climate emergency, I want to see more action at local government level.
“So I have decided to put the management and people skills I have developed in my career as a television producer into public service.
“I am a local parent with a daughter at Patcham High School and we have many friends in this wonderful ward.
“I enjoy taking part in community events and using the incredible local businesses and services we are so fortunate to have here.
“It would be an honour to be given the chance to actively listen to and represent local interests as part of this city.
“I want to conserve and protect Patcham and Hollingbury’s fantastic green spaces and heritage now and for future generations. And I also want to help maintain the smooth running of council services for everyone.”
Green candidate Norma Fletcher, 64, is a sound therapist. She said: “I would like to see a positive change in political culture, an increase in honesty, empathy and understanding.
“I’m standing as a councillor for the Green party because they represent a genuine opportunity for the social, environmental and political changes we as a community so desperately need.
“I’ve developed essential organisational and practical skills working in the film and music industry, easily transferable and useful for responding to residents’ needs – basically getting things done efficiently and effectively with a smile.
“This is the right time for me to fulfil this role. I have the life experience, time and energy.”
“My two adult children went to school in the ward for over a decade. I’ve still got friends here. I enjoy the green spaces and would work to preserve them for the future.
“I feel I can relate to and represent the local community from younger families to older people at different stages of their lives.
“I would like to improve and expand people’s services and increase business and creative opportunities as well as deepening a sense of connection between Patcham and Hollingbury, the centre of Brighton and Hove, our green spaces and the sea.”
Green candidate Daniel Rue, 27, is a key account manager. He said: “I’m standing as a candidate because I would like to see more honesty and integrity in local politics.
“Too often residents are misinformed or misled for political gain. People deserve someone who will fight for them, empower them and give them honest answers about what is happening in their area.
“Having volunteered with the Greens for a while now, I have seen what good, hard-working councillors can do for a community and I would like to bring that to Patcham and Hollingbury.
“I’m standing in Patcham and Hollingbury as it is somewhere myself and my partner would love to start a family. Despite its natural beauty and community spirit, the area has unfortunately long been taken for granted by its current councillors and young families are under-represented.
“Patcham and Hollingbury has never had a Green councillor but I believe if we want to see change and improvement in the area we need to fight for it and that starts by voting for change and not more of the same.”
Sophie Broadbent, Norma Fletcher and Daniel Rue said: “During canvassing we have met hundreds of residents and active community groups campaigning on local issues.
“Concerns about the proposed development of the Patcham Court Farm site by Royal Mail are particularly strong for many important reasons.
“And protecting Patcham from the threat of flooding is vital. Residents have told us how important regular household waste and recycling collections are to them and how they would love to see this service expand to include food waste collection.
“Keeping the pavements safe and accessible is a top priority. We’ve heard first-hand about parking pressures and safety concerns about speeding traffic.”
Labour is fielding three candidates – Tyler Bennington-Poulter, Ben Kent and Liz Wheeler.
The Liberal Democrats are fielding one candidate – Caroline Brown.
Too many roads are in a bad way. What will you do to make sure white lines are clear and potholes repaired?
Paul Denyer said: “We need to stop the council spending money in areas that don’t need to be spent – for example, £13 million on Beryl bikes – and put that money towards white lines and potholes as well as basic services.
“We also need to carry out proper due diligence on the company filling in the potholes because that clearly hasn’t happened this time. Within weeks the potholes are back.”
Alistair McNair said: “Carol Theobald, Anne Meadows and I have spoken frequently to engineers at the council, leading to County Oak Avenue and Vale Avenue being resurfaced.
“Denton Drive and Mackie Avenue are also due for resurfacing, hopefully in May. We frequently report potholes and succeeded in having those in Mackie Avenue repaired within three days.
“We also successfully request yellow lines and white lines and through social media try to ensure residents can have a say about proposed lines.
“We often ask for pavements to be improved and will keep pressuring the council to ensure Patcham and Hollingbury is not forgotten.”
Anne Meadows said: “Restore white lines where required and make sure potholes are repaired as soon as they appear so that they do not get too bad.
“Otherwise, that requires even more funding to put it right. Use the funding from cycle lanes that the Greens prioritise and use it to repair the roads as they are for all road users.”
Carol Theobald said: “The potholes are really bad and I have been taking photographs and sending them to highways officers. Some have been repaired.
“I have asked for lines to be painted, especially on corners. A larger proportion of the council’s highways and transport budget should be allocated to road maintenance.”
Sophie Broadbent, Norma Fletcher and Daniel Rue said: “The council budget for highways and traffic management is set at £41.9 million for 2023-24, up £1.5 million from the previous year.
“We work hard to ensure that our roads, pavements and cycleways are safe for people to use and as councillors we’ll encourage residents to report potholes and potential repairs directly to us or through the council website.
“The highway safety maintenance team carry out regular inspections of every one of our roads, pavements, footpaths and cycle lanes. All reports of potential hazards received from members of the public, councillors and other agencies are also investigated by the team.”
How will you improve our embarrassingly low recycling rates?
Paul Denyer said: “We need to go back to basics and examine why the recycling rate is so low. People are confused about what they can and can’t recycle as this differs across the whole country.
“Many people also don’t know that low-grade plastics can’t currently be recycled in our city.
“We need a city-wide education campaign to reduce contamination. A few non-recyclable or unclean items in a bin means that the entire load is contaminated and can’t be recycled.”
Alistair McNair said: “Recycling (and rubbish) collections are extremely irregular in Patcham and Hollingbury. We are given endless excuses: staff shortages, broken-down lorries, lack of driver training.
“We communicate with Cityclean management on an almost daily basis. Often even residents with assisted collections are missed.
“We have successfully lobbied for CCTV in places but we need permanent improvements across the ward which will come about through meetings with senior management, continued communication with residents but, most importantly, we need a council which takes rubbish and recycling seriously.
“Labour and Greens have had 12 years to improve the service and have clearly failed.”
Anne Meadows said: “Rubbish and recycle bins will be collected on time – it’s simple but effective and that makes residents happy – with better and more robust management of the service to keep it on track.
“We must stop the proposal for rubbish collection every two weeks which means if one collection is missed, that is a month before you get your rubbish cleared.
“Make sure rounds are completed before they knock off for the day.”
Carol Theobald said: “The recycling rates are appalling. The council should be collecting more items similarly to other councils such as certain plastics.
“There should be a more reliable collection service. The council could do more work with schools to emphasise the importance of recycling and keeping our parks and streets clean.”
Sophie Broadbent, Norma Fletcher and Daniel Rue said: “Much of the issue with low recycling is caused by the 25-year PFI contract the Labour administration entered into with Veolia in 2003 – extended another five years by the Conservatives.
“But we are exploring ways of collecting additional materials although the lack of a UK market for lower-grade plastics means adding pots, tubs and trays would provide only a small increase.
“To significantly increase rates, Greens tried to introduce a food waste collection but were blocked by Labour and Conservative councillors. We’re committed to continuing to try to introduce this and increase kerbside recycling collections to weekly.”
Young people are being priced out of living in their home town. How will you increase the number of truly affordable homes for young people?
Paul Denyer said: “A few things need to happen – and fast including a grown-up conversation with the universities about their expansion plans.
“And for the council to identify land and properties that it already owns that could be used for new affordable homes.”
Alistair McNair said: “This council has allowed many housing problems to proliferate. There are lots of empty council houses and many council houses are in utter disrepair with bad windows and serious damp problems.
“Greens and Labour are determined to build on and destroy our precious urban fringe despite there being brownfield sites available.
“Many families are desperate to move to bigger homes which would free up housing for young people but the council is poor at helping families move. We should also encourage shared ownership models which would help young people get a foot on the housing ladder.”
Anne Meadows said: “Ensure that our council-owned housing is being used appropriately. Sixty per cent of those who present as homeless in the city are from out of town and should be reconnected to their home towns.
“This will help ensure that our local young people have a greater chance of being housed when they need it.
“Bring back into use the empty properties in the city. More prevention of homelessness. Work with the landlords of HMOs so that young people can live more independently in the HMOs. Finally, working in partnership with other organisations to help local people get a home.”
Carol Theobald said: “I have mentioned at Planning Committee on many occasions the fact that applicants are not providing nearly enough affordable homes in their planning applications.
“The City Plan states that up to 40 per cent affordable homes should be provided in (bigger) new housing schemes. This rarely happens and the Planning Committee approves many new housing schemes with no affordable housing.”
Sophie Broadbent, Norma Fletcher and Daniel Rue said: “We’ll develop a private rented sector strategy to improve standards, enforcement and opportunities for low-income households, improving awareness of responsibilities and helping to control rent costs.
“We will tackle rogue landlords by introducing a licensing scheme for private rented properties, with an additional licensing scheme for houses in multiple occupation (HMOs).
“We will regulate short-term and holiday lets to the maximum degree allowed under legislation.
“When the powers become available, we will double the council tax on second homes/Airbnbs. As of spring 2023, we are already delivering 497 new sustainable council homes, with a further 229 during 2023-24.”
Polling day is Thursday 4 May. Photo ID is required for those voting in person.
