Wish candidates explain why they want to be a councillor. They also answer questions sent in by the public via social media.
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Eight candidates are standing for the two Brighton and Hove City Council seats in the Hove ward of Wish.
Gemma Margaret Marie Therese Furness is a nursing assistant standing for the UK Independence Party.
I want to help my community in any way that I can.
Robert Stuart Nemeth is a beekeeper standing for re-election as a Conservative.
I am one of those people who gets really frustrated when I see things not being done properly and I always think I would like to work to do it better myself.
So it seems a lot easier just to get elected and try and have some sort of impact before they go wrong.
I am involved with a number of different groups in the area including Friends of Hove Lagoon, The Secret Garden Group and Blooming Boundary Campaign.
Adam Imanpour runs a small business and is standing for Labour.
Brighton is where I grew up so I know it well. I currently run a small family business which has given me great insight into why a Labour Council is needed.
Garry Ian Michael Peltzer Dunn who is standing for re-election as a Conservative.
Having been a councillor for a great number of years I have been involved with many people and hope that I have made a difference.
Living in Wish ward I am in daily contact with many local residents and I very much hope to keep this close relationship for the next four years.
Being accessible to residents is essential and I ( together with my fellow councillor Robert Nemeth ) will continue to hold three help surgeries each month.
Andrew James Coleman and Alasdair Buchanan Howie are standing for the Greens.
Al Emery is standing for the Liberal Democrats.
Alex Braithwaite was suspended but is listed as standing for Labour.
What are you views on the design, impact on traffic of the Valley Gardens phase three project in Old Steine which includes making Madeira Drive one way? Is this is suitable for a safe public area?
Andrew Coleman and Alasdair Howie: The Valley Gardens project was envisaged as a desperately needed green lung for the city centre and to improve walking and cycling.
Phase three covers the area that is the city’s ‘accident blackspot’ – it’s a critical opportunity to cut serious injuries, many to cyclists.
The last Green council administration won £8 million of external funding to pay for the project.
Labour’s delays to the scheme threatened this hard-won cash – and left the Council scrambling to get the project to completion. In this late and rushed process, there was inadequate consultation with residents and local businesses.
Greens have pushed for better acknowledgement of the concerns raised.
We have won assurances over new cycle lane provision and have heard that organisations such as Bricycles and Friends of the Earth now on board.
Gemma Furness: I am not familiar with all the details of the scheme but I am totally opposed to removing the roundabout at the Palace Pier.
Adam Imanpour: The designs are currently being drawn up to a detailed design stage.
All comments and issues raised are being addressed and we hope to see a detailed scheme which meets the needs of all residents and businesses/ visitors expected.
Those detailed designs will have to ensure that the city keeps moving while addressing the impacts of the climate change emergency and supporting a modern city where sustainable transport routes are protected and enhanced.
Garry Peltzer Dunn: I am totally against this scheme which I considered to be ill conceived and will I am convinced, lead to further traffic delays.
The decision to make Madeira Drive in effect a long cul de sac is absurd and the only exit point ( Dukes Mound ) will only cause further traffic delays on the A259.
There is a huge problem with dog owners leaving waste behind, either in bags or just out in the open in parks and street. What will you do to tackle dog owners not picking up poo?
Andrew Coleman and Alasdair Howie: We need to ensure that the city’s enforcement officers (following the abandonment of Labour’s disastrous outsourcing experiment) make tackling owners who do not pick up their dogs’ waste a priority, alongside fly-tipping.
It’s not just about ‘sticks’ – we need more ‘carrots’ too.
More designated bins – especially in areas popular with dog walkers – will help dog walkers who intend to do the right thing.
Gemma Furness: There are sufficient bins to put the waste in. Why are we employing dog wardens who do not appear to be enforcing the rules.
Adam Imanpour: Our new enforcement officers who have been brought in-house are out and about in neighbourhoods, and targeting those whose antisocial behaviours are affecting all our lives.
We need to both educate and enforce our way out of this problem, and we want that message to get through to all who chose to leave dog mess across our city.
Garry Peltzer Dunn: I often hear the comment that the dogs are filthy. Not so, it is the owners who do not clear up their pets mess.
Owners should be made to have a supply of plastic bags and residents be able to have a system of contacting the council to report repeat offenders.
The council is planning to roll out the installation of electric charging points. To what extent do you support this and will you commit to making these electric vehicle only parking spaces?
Andrew Coleman and Alasdair Howie: We are fully committed to rolling out electric vehicle charging points, both on street and in car parks.
The speed and scale of the rollout needs to significantly increase.
Charging points need to be installed sensitively, so that they do not obstruct pavements or cycle routes – and we need to look at innovative options for using eg existing street lamps to act as charging points.
We support the policy of reserving spaces by charging points for electric vehicles.
We also need to put in place further incentives to help people switch to zero-emission transport, whether that it is by moving to an electric car, or by making journeys by electric bus, cycling or walking.
Gemma Furness: I believe that this is an elitist Green vanity project and there are not enough parking spaces as it is.
Adam Imanpour: We fully support the installation of electric vehicle charging points (EVCPs), and in fact it is the Labour council that successfully bid for £300,000 funding from the government to allow the installation of 200 EVCPs.
Test sites are already in operation.
It was noted at committee last June that the scheme might need to allow for mandatory parking bays for electric vehicle charging in the event, for example, it becomes clear that electric vehicle owners are having problems accessing advisory bays, or to adapting over time to increased demand.
Garry Peltzer Dunn: Totally support the provision of charging points and the prohibition of non electric cars parking in the reserved changing parking bays.
If you design with children in mind you also make it good for older people and create a healthier and more inclusive place that everyone can enjoy. How are you going to make the city safe and attractive for children to move around independently?
Andrew Coleman and Alasdair Howie: Improving pedestrian routes, road crossings, cycle routes and bus services all make the city safer and easier for children, older people and others with mobility difficulties to navigate.
We would also like to see better enforcement of speed restrictions on our roads – cars are the number one cause of death and serious injury for children and young people and we would like to see our streets made as safe as possible for everyone.
In addition, tackling anti-social behaviour and drug related activity give children, parents and older people more confidence that moving around the city independently is safe.
Adam Imanpour: We need a range of measures to be delivered across the whole city – better protected cycling and walking routes are key to this as well as a safe reliable public transport system.
We are also committed to setting up a fund to support improved community safety and neighbourhood policing measures to give people confidence in the safety and responsiveness of their local communities.
Garry Peltzer Dunn: This question is multi faceted. If we consider design of buildings then all parties both old and young should be considered.
If we refer to safety in the city then as the infrastructure is already in situ then in order to improve safety it needs a city wide study in order to formulate where and how such measures would be possible in order to achieve the desired effect.
Children in Brighton and Hove should have playgrounds that are working and safe. Too many have old or damaged equipment. What do you plan to do to support young children in the city enjoy play equipment in our parks?
Andrew Coleman and Alasdair Howie: Our playgrounds are a vital resource for families.
For all those of us with children and no garden or a small garden they are a regular and essential part of our lives.
If equipment is left broken for long periods of time this is disappointing for children at best, and at worst can be dangerous.
We need to understand that this is not a trivial issue and respond much more quickly when play equipment needs to be repaired or replaced.
Gemma Furness: Of course we should be concerned with maintaining children’s play equipment, but where space permits, every park should have a mini pocket adventure play area (bushes and trees).
Adam Imanpour: Under a Labour government the value of play was recognised, and Labour gave significant funding to local councils for playground equipment.
Locally Brighton and Hove got £2m.
This was great news, but since then government commitment has not been the same.
So the council had a report in 2016 looking at how we could keep our playgrounds as great places to play despite funding pressures, and many playgrounds across the city have been benefiting from improvement works, from Victoria Recreation Ground in Portslade to Saltdean Park.
Garry Peltzer Dunn: Yes they should. This is where local councillors can champion their own areas in order to get new equipment.
This is what I and my colleague Robert Nemeth have been doing during the last four years and if re-elected would pledge to continue so to do.
There is a general lack of council housing available across the city and many people who cannot afford market rents. How will you help people get access to a council house or flat?
Andrew Coleman and Alasdair Howie: The Green council (2011-15) built Brighton & Hove’s first council houses in a generation, oversaw the delivery of 508 affordable homes and set in motion construction projects that are still transforming the city today, including the new homes in the North Laine.
In addition, we renovated council homes to make them more energy efficient, saving residents money, and we installed solar panels on 300 council homes.
We will improve on that legacy by developing 1500 homes over four years on mostly brownfield sites including those above car parks and shopping centres.
We will seek to buy the Brighton General Hospital site to avoid its privatisation.
We will also:
- spend unused borrowing resources towards delivering 600 new council houses (the current Labour council has built fewer than 200)
- increase the help available for those struggling with housing costs
- increase the social housing stock by buying off-plan from developers
Gemma Furness: My motto is local homes for local people.
Adam Imanpour: We are committed to building an additional 800 council owned homes for the lowest possible rents within the next four years.
This comes on top of our living wage housing scheme with Hyde Housing, and our innovative ‘right to buy back’ scheme, where we are buying back council homes that were lost under Mrs Thatcher’s Right to Buy scheme.
Garry Peltzer Dunn: Politicians of all parties should make the provision of new housing a priority not just for the next council term but for many years to come.
