Three candidates have been confirmed for the Wilmslow Lacey Green ward in the local election on Thursday, May 5th.
This will be the first election using new electoral ward boundaries following a review by the Boundary Commission and means Wilmslow now has 4 wards: Wilmslow Dean Row, Wilmslow East and Wilmslow Lacey Green, which will each have one councillor, and Wilmslow West & Chorley with two councillors.
I recently caught up with the three candidates who are competing for the single seat in the Wilmslow Lacey Green Ward, they are:
Jonathan Michael Kelly - Labour
Jon Kelly is a Railway Manager and lifelong Wilmslow resident. He is a former Borough Councillor and in 1997 he was the Tatton Labour candidate who stepped down for Martin Bell.
Jon told me "People voted Liberal for change but got the same old cutting Tories. Labour will fight to protect our council services.
"We have a rich East Cheshire history which is poorly promoted. We must use it better to create jobs and leisure opportunities.
"We must get higher design standards for public and private buildings to make them modern and attractive with less impact on the environment."
Oliver Romain - Liberal Democrat
Oliver, 41, lives in Wilmslow with his wife, Janet, and twenty month old son Arthur. In addition to running his own business, Oliver is founder of Wilmslow Freecycle.
Oliver told me "I am grateful for the support Lacey Green and Styal residents have already shown and look forward to continuing to work hard for my local community.
"Residents will now have the opportunity to elect a single councillor to represent them at Cheshire East rather than sharing three councillors with thousands of people from across Wilmslow. Currently two of the Tory councillors representing Lacey Green don't even live in Wilmslow and the Tory candidate lives in Alderley Edge. Residents tell me they are looking for councillors who live locally and can be regularly seen out and about looking out for the interests of the local community.
"I am honoured to be sharing an election platform with my experienced colleague Colin Shepherd who is standing for Wilmslow Town Council. Together we offer a strong independent voice for Lacey Green and Styal residents from a truly local and hard-working team.
"We are committed to listening to the concerns of local residents and working to improve the community. Whether it's tackling road safety and maintenance issues, keeping streets and footpaths clean, calling for improvements to public transport, encouraging re-cycling or promoting public safety the local Lib Dem team are fully committed to giving residents a fairer deal."
Don Stockton - Conservative
Don Stockton, 50, previously owned a business in Wilmslow before selling it and becoming a councillor nearly 3 years ago.
Don told me "I have only ever been a councillor on Cheshire East and having enjoyed the challenges, alongside my colleagues, of setting up the new council I have stood again to carry on with that work.
"I wish to work closely with the new councils of Wilmslow and Styal to improve our local areas - making them places we can all be proud to live in. I have a keen interest in roads and wish to prioritise the basic repair of the road surfaces as opposed to new spending on lines and signage etc.
"I want to support relations with the airport and am currently involved in addessing issues with them, regarding the new perimeter fencing imposed on us all by the DfT, for security purposes, and I stand with my colleagues in support of the improved recycling system to be introduced throughout Cheshire East, relying on only 3 bins as opposed to the multitude of collection boxes that can be seen when other systems, which I believe will result in much higher recycling rates when people realise just how easy it is.
"Parking in the areas surrounding the bottom end of The Carrs has become a problem and I am working with local residents in an attempt to find the best solution and speeding is also an issue for all and I am keen to support community groups who wish to address issues in their areas by taking responsibility."
Please use the comment box below if you have any questions you would like to ask Jon Kelly, Oliver Romain or Don Stockton.
There will not be an election in the Wilmslow East ward, it is uncontested because only one candidate stood for that seat, Councillor Rod Menlove.
Use the tags below to read other candidate interviews and articles about the local election.
Photos: Jon Kelly and Oliver Romain.
