In the run up to the General, Borough and Town Council elections on May 7th we will be publishing brief interviews with each of the candidates that respond to our request.
To read the interviews with other candidates click on the tags at the bottom of the article. For example, forthcoming pieces on the other candidates for the Wilmslow West & Chorley Ward of Cheshire East Borough Council will all be tagged 'Wilmslow West & Chorley Ward' and 'Borough Elections'. Candidates representing the same party or group will also be connected via the tags.
Richard Barraclough is the Green Party candidate for the Wilmslow West & Chorley Ward of Cheshire East Borough Council.
Richard has lived in and around Wilmslow for 40 years. He is semi-retired, having spent his working life developing computer software, mainly to improve the efficiency of manufacturing processes. He enjoys playing golf and going to the theatre. Richard is a member of Wilmslow Green Room AmDram Society where he works behind the scenes.
Speaking about why he is standing for election and what he considers to be the important issues facing Wilmslow, Richard told me "I, along with thousands of others, recently joined the Green Party. I joined because I am concerned about the world my grandchildren are set to inherit. All the other political parties don't realise that their policies are slowly trashing the planet.
"In Cheshire East, I am keen to preserve our open spaces. Where we do build new homes, they should be carbon neutral. We have the technology. We should use it."
He added "I strongly support the local campaign to re-instate Lindow Moss to it's natural state. I am totally opposed to HS2. The £50bn cost and the environmental destruction is too much. Money would be better spent improving East-West communications and ultra fast internet everywhere.
"I am also opposed to fracking. We need to be shifting away from fossil fuel dependence to clean, renewable energy resources. We know fracking can cause water contamination as well as air and soil pollution. Money would be better spent on energy conservation."
