Election: Belper South Candidates

All wording is exactly as given by the parties. We have changed nothing.

Candidates in this ward

James Brooks

“By day a computer programmer, originally from Chesterfield but happily settled in Belper with his wife and daughter. James spent five years teaching English in Siberia, where he met his wife when she bravely saved him from an aggressive drunk at a bus stop. He loves Star Wars but hates onions.”

The Green Party only produced literature for one candidate.  The below is from that literature, which was intended for Duffield.

John Porter
“I have lived with my wife in Belper and Milford for over twenty-five years, initially because my work with British Rail transferred to Derby. The last ten years of my career were spent in crisis management, being asked to steer companies through difficult times and I would like to put these skills and experience to good use helping the Borough Council to provide services to the people of Belper South. Since 2015, I have been working on the Neighbourhood Plan for Belper, so I am well aware of the challenges that we face. I am standing in this election because I believe that, with a Labour Council in control of the Borough and the Town, we can make some great changes that will benefit the people of the town. We will support local businesses, tackle traffic and parking problems and also protect our valuable and irreplaceable assets such as the Green Belt and our World Heritage status. Only recently, the Conservativeled Borough Council tingted to remove large tracts of land around Belper from the Green Belt so that houses can be built on them. A Labour council would prioritise building houses on brownfield sites, ensuring that the need for starter homes and opportunities for downsizing are provided, as there is a real need for one and two-bedroom homes. I am aware of the huge amount of voluntary effort and energy contributed by the people of Belper South in creating urgently needed facilities. If elected, I will actively support the building of a new Blue Box Centre for the people of the Parks estate and the Alder Road Children’s Centre. I care about our environment both globally and locally. We need dog wardens to ensure our parks and pavements are clean and healthy. Part of my work with Belper Neighbourhood Plan has been to monitor traffic and air pollution and I intend to continue with this as a councillor, finding solutions which make Belper a healthier place in which to live, work, study or visit.”

Paul Hillier
The pledges for all conservative candidates are the same.

Kate Smith

From the local manifesto, as we were not sent candidate information…

“What do we stand for…

• The future – one where we keep our beautiful scenery, our vibrant wildlife, an unpolluted atmosphere and a stable climate.

• Young people need a decent education and the chance to use their talents. We want them to be just as free to study, live and work as other young Europeans.

• Local power to influence decisions – free from the heavy hand of the state.

• Efficient local services, using the best mixture of free enterprise and council workers to deliver what people need.

• A transparent planning system to give local people more say on where and what type of new homes are built in Amber Valley.

• Putting more resources into the Local Plan system.This means working closely with parish councils and residents to ensure locally identified needs are met. It means working proactively with developers to unlock brown field ‘land banks’ such as the ex Stevenson’s site at Bullbridge and with social housing and older people’s home providers to build appropriate housing.

• Assisting the local health trust and social services in making decisions that plan ahead for social care needs in an ageing population.This means ensuring Derbyshire Community Health Services plan for a better-resourced and locally responsive range of services to replace the ageing Babington Community Hospital in Belper and ensuring new Primary Care Centre at Heanor is likewise adequately resourced.
• Working with local people to help provide leisure facilities for the needs of all ages. This means unlocking the stalemate over future developments to improve Belper’s leisure centre, listening to teenagers about what they would like to see in Amber Valley and getting the resources to build new facilities, or support and improve existing ones like the voluntary-run Strutt Centre, Blue Box and Drop-Inn in Belper. It means working with others to create new cycle routes and provide community taxis for evening and Sundays for people without access to cars.  It means putting resources into support for local heritage organisations like Heage Windmill, the Midland Railway Trust and Belper North Mill.”