The candidates for the upcoming Cheshire East Council election, representing Wilmslow West & Chorley Ward, have been announced.
Residents in the Wilmslow West & Chorley Ward will have the choice of six candidates to fill two seats, when they go to the polls on on Thursday, 4th May.
The candidates standing are:
- Anderson Michelle Louise - Green Party
- Estill Barry - Conservative Party Candidate
- Goldsmith Mark Andrew - Residents of Wilmslow *
- Gorman Michael David - Residents of Wilmslow
- Sarwar Hannan Amer - Conservative Party Candidate
- Wilson Gareth George - Liberal Democrats
I will publish brief interviews with each of the candidates, in the order in which I receive a response to my request. Use the tags below to locate the other candidate interviews published to date.
Please tell me about yourself - occupation, where you live, interests, family?
I was born in South Manchester and have lived and worked in this area all of my life. I moved to Wilmslow in the early 1980s and have lived in Pownall Park for more than 40 years.
My children, now grown up all live in Wilmslow and my grandchildren all attend Wilmslow High School.
I previously worked for a major high street bank as Production Co-ordination Manager in Technology services, I am now retired, giving me the opportunity to devote my time to helping in Wilmslow without the usual constraints of business life.
Both myself and my wife , who has recently retired after serving for 21 years on the Manchester bench as a Magistrate, are both very keen gardeners and due to the arrival of a "lockdown" puppy during the pandemic are enthusiastic walkers.
Are you a member of any local groups or societies?
No current affiliations or membership's relevant.
Why have you decided to stand for election as a borough councillor?
I am standing for Cheshire East Council because what happens in Wilmslow matters so much to me on a personal level.
I am passionate about maintaining and improving upon our local environment and services.
Being new to politics and local government , I am particularly keen to bring a degree of transparency and integrity to my prospective role as a Wilmslow councillor.
I would love to be able to influence the rate of progress on resolving some of the towns issues, what many residents perceive as relatively simple minor issues seem to take an inordinately long time to fix.
What do you consider to be the important issues facing Wilmslow?
As a resident of Wilmslow, I have my own opinions as to what I think are the main issues, but in order to truly represent the people who live in Wilmslow west I recently delivered a short survey to households in the area.
The strength of feelings for different issues is clear from your responses.
Undoubtedly the main problems in Wilmslow are road maintenance, and parking issues, lack of Broadband connectivity causes much inconvenience.
The introduction of a Green Bin tax is seen by many as not only an added financial burden on top of ever increasing Council Tax, but also as a possible disincentive to recycling. These issues cause more upset and frustration than any others.
What do you hope to achieve and how in the next 4 years?
It is imperative not only for the commercial success of Wilmslow but for the residents that the residential parking issues are resolved.
There are roads across Wilmslow where inconsiderate parking is not only an inconvenience but potentially dangerous.
Everybody realises that money is tight in all areas of Government and personal life , but we all deserve to know that are getting good value for money from our council.
The increase in our towns population year in year out , due to a continued expansion of new housing brings with it a great burden on our already stretched resources and facilities.
Local infrastructure and amenities must be considered.
Resisting Green Space development and ensuring adequate planning enforcement and supporting the Neighbourhood plan are essential.
What experience and personal qualities will you bring to the role?
I believe I have throughout my business life gained the necessary skills to hopefully effect positive change.
I am enthusiastic, hard-working, reliable and honest.
I am frustrated by inaction, a good listener and a good talker.
Why should Wilmslow residents vote for you?
What is best for Wilmslow and its residents is my priority,
I intend to bring a fresh approach to local politics and hopefully will be able to make a tangible change.
I feel very lucky to be able to live in such a pleasant and vibrant town amidst such beautiful surroundings and hope that I shall be able to maintain and improve upon our local environment and services if elected.
*Current councillor
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
Barry is a “Local Conservative” candidate.
Money certainly is tight at CEC; mainly thanks to our former Conservative MP George Osborne’s failed austerity experiment, which has caused real hardship in just about every area one can think of.
And of course the roads are just one example of what these austerity cuts have brought us. As Pete Taylor says, they have impacted just about every area of life one can think of.
And even if the cuts cease and sense returns, how much will it cost to put right all the damage inflicted over 13 years?
We are supposed to be one of the wealthiest countries in the world, but you wouldn't know it when you look at the state we are in.
In the long term, it's always better to do a job correctly than just do a quick repair.
It's a nationwide problem that's come about since 2010 so either every council has become badly managed since 2010 or there's a common cause - The all too real Tory austerity cuts.
Which do you think is more likely?
Needless to say, this was under the previous Conservative administration.
Blaming “the Council” for poor management of road repairs is easy, getting out of an awfully negotiated contract is not.
In fairness, the outsourced service provider has surely failed so spectacularly that a "Breach of Contract" termination ought to be a walk in the park.
However, I absolutely agree with your central point about the folly of awarding such a long contract to an already failing operation.
To compound the problem the previous Council allowed the contractor to monitor their own performance without any scrutiny from the "Works Dept."