Cheshire East Council Election 2023: Candidate Don Stockton

The candidates for the upcoming Cheshire East Council election, representing Lacey Green Ward, have been announced.

Residents in the Lacey Green Ward will have the choice of three candidates to fill one seat, when they go to the polls on on Thursday, 4th May.

The candidates standing are:

• Hilliard Chris - Residents of Wilmslow
• James Robin - Liberal Democrats
• Stockton Don - The Conservative Party Candidate *

Please tell me about yourself - occupation, where you live, interests, family?

I live in my ward so experience both the rewards and frustrations of the people I represent. I walk the same deteriorating pavements and drive the same potholed roads as everyone else and I also experience the natural beauty of our surroundings. I want to enhance and protect them, hence my representations to Northern Planning Committee on behalf of local residents.

I am a retired engineer, having started my working life in the mines. I have since worked in the Insurance industry and now spend my time, while not doing DIY, trying to get a better share of funding from CEC, for highways maintenance. I recently managed to persuade colleagues to prevent Cheshire East Council increasing car parking charges.

How long have you lived there?

I have lived and worked in the area for decades and have lived in Wilmslow for the past 7 years.

Are you a member of any local groups or societies?

I have been a member of Cheshire East Council since its inception. I currently serve on Manchester Airports Consultative Committee MACC and in the past have chaired the MACTF Manchester Airport Community Trust Fund helping to allocate funding to local good causes and groups.

Why have you decided to stand for re-election as a borough councillor?

I want to see the improvements for better access to Wilmslow come to fruition. There has been a consultation about plans for both Manchester and Cliff roads, the only access routes to Wilmslow for those living within my Ward, but they need funding from this council.

Since leading the Wilmslow Parking Review, I have become frustrated by the lack of progress made and the lack of speed in the implementation of its findings. Granted, the business case for the enhancements to the Broadway Meadow car park, didn't in the end stack up, due to the pandemic and increasing costs. However, the vast majority of the rest of the proposals contained within the review, still remain to be implemented, four years after its compilation.

What do you consider to be the important issues facing Wilmslow?

The maintenance of our roads and the vitality of the town in which we live are the most important issues facing us. We need to maintain proper services, like garden and food waste collection without charge and to retain the current opening hours of Wilmslow library.

The consultation on vehicular, cycle and pedestrian access, along Manchester and Cliff Roads, has been a start in the right direction but we will need proper funding from Cheshire East Council and a plan for implementation.

What do you hope to achieve and how in the next 4 years?

I cannot achieve these goals alone. I have to work with those elected around me and have done so over the past four years, even whilst in opposition. However, I am part of a Conservative team and we need to have a majority at Cheshire East, in order to ensure we can implement these and other measures, we are campaigning for.

We won't be simply helping this Labour-run council to prioritise its own priorities outside of Wilmslow. Virtually everything my fellow local Cheshire East councillors claim as wins, were achieved through Conservative support at Wilmslow Town Council, rather than through using their influence within Cheshire East.

I will also continue to help the people of Styal, by working with Styal Parish Council, to improve the lives of those living in a geographical area that forms around half of my ward. Their roads and access to Wilmslow are in need of improvement as well.

What experience and personal qualities will you bring to the role?

I am a hard-working practical Councillor. I used to work in the coal mines where I worked to become a Chartered Mining Engineer and part of the management team. As a result of this background, I passionately believe that our highways need to be maintained in a practical manner.

The goal should be to maintain our highways well enough to avoid the need for pothole filling and prioritise such simple tasks as gulley emptying to help prevent water ingress into the road surfaces.

We must at least try to use what funds we have available in an engineered manner. We should follow a purely "Evidence Led Asset Management" approach instead of allowing highways to become a political football, where the best road surface and line painting can be found in those wards where more effective councillors, within the Labour led coalition, are able to get their own pet projects funded. We also need to chase utility companies who dig up our roads and fail to put them back the way they found them.

Why should Wilmslow Lacey Green and Styal voters vote for you ?

I am an experienced Councillor and part of a local Conservative team. With your votes, we will have the numbers, to be able to ensure Wilmslow gets a fair share of CEC projects, implemented here. I want to see CEC become less about talk and more about delivering better services. A vote for me is a vote to help get things done in Wilmslow, Lacey Green and Styal.

*Current councillor

Tags:

2023 Cheshire East Council Election, 2023 Conservative Party Candidate, 2023 Election, Lacey Green Ward