In the lead up to the general and local elections that are due to take place in May we will be speaking to as many of the candidates who are up for election to get their views on issues that impact us all locally.
This week we spoke with some of the UKIP cadidates who will be looking for your vote in May, Gary Shores, Walter Sweeney and Brian Render.
As UKIP candidates, we would fight for the good of the community and not for a party agenda, so if a decision was made at council level with which the community strongly objected, we will be on the side of the community every step of the way.
This has already started with UKIPs objections to changes in policing, opposition to further wind turbine construction and our support for the campaign against the Bio Digester at Leven.
UKIP’s elected representatives are committed to the communities they serve and if you vote UKIP, you get UKIP and the common sense that brings.
Real decision-making should be given to local communities – Money should be used for local services, not the EU, non essential foreign aid and foreign wars. Local communities are currently under attack from austerity measures. The Government continues to borrow as well as taking money away from councils, putting increasing pressure on local services.
Gary Shores – Beverley Rural Ward
Biodigester
Having been contacted by concerned residents regards a proposed industrial scale Biodigester at Leven I attended the Working Group Meeting. The sheer scale of the project and the massive increase in traffic is shocking. Yet county councillors do not see it as a problem! It’s not just Leven that will be affected. The proposed area from which 26,000 tonnes of organic waste will be collected and sent to the site is from a 50 mile radius. This stretches to towards Harrogate!
This is a huge increase in HGV traffic on our roads everyday of the year, passing through notorious pinch points such as Bishop Burton and the new Beverley bypass over the dangerous and ill conceived Swinemoor / Grovehill junction. As well as additional traffic in areas such as Dog Kennel Lane / Cherry Burton roundabout which will already have increased traffic due to the huge expansion of Beverley and the subsequent vehicles.
Fracking
UKIP will abolish green taxes and charges in order to reduce fuel bills. There will be no new subsidies for wind farms and solar arrays. It is clearly wrong to increase everyone’s energy bills to subsidise inefficient energy production methods run by multinational companies.
This harms the most vulnerable in our society, the elderly and cash strapped. Yet the other parties see nothing wrong with this! I say that if an energy production method is viable it should not need the effective theft from the public purse to make it pay just to appear to be ‘green’. We will also repeal the Climate Change Act 2008 which costs the economy £18 Billion a year. I support a diverse energy market including coal, nuclear, geo-thermal, tidal, solar, conventional gas and oil and now shale gas as do the Tories.
At the moment certain coal fired powered will be forced to close due to EU legislation. We will scrap the EUs Large Combustion Plant Directive and encourage the re-development of British power stations, as well as industrial units providing on-site power generation. As for shale gas, as a councillor I would only approve a scheme that is fully planned and supported by the correct infrastructure, with the proper safeguards for the local environment and if the opinion of the local residents were in favour.
From any shale gas development, if it were to receive the publics favour, we would introduce a Community Improvement Levy on the developer from the development of the shale gas fields, which will be earmarked for lower council taxes or community projects within the local authority.
Walter Sweeney – St Mary’s Ward
Business
I will oppose high parking charges in the centre. We need to encourage people to shop locally and boost local economies. A few days free at Christmas boosts the local trade, this clearly shows that charges damage the economy. Shops are closing and remaining closed for to long.
This and the future draw of the Flemingate shopping development will rip the heart out of Beverley. High business rates and high rent are resulting in shops remaining vacant longer than they should. We can encourage business by modifying Business Rates eg Extend the right of appeal for micro businesses against HMRC action. The number of empty units can be reduced by simplifying planning regulations and licences for empty commercial property vacant for over a year.
Heritage
My priorities are to protect Beverley’s built heritage by heeding the views of the public and advice of the civic society when considering developments, road improvements and signage.
Also to keep our streets and pavements clean and report littering. I will also fight to ensure rents and rates of retail premises and town centre parking charges are kept affordable so the “old town” can compete with the new Flemingate development.
Brian Render – Minster and Woodmansey Ward
Grovehill Roundabout
This scheme is ill conceived and dangerous with more accidents and near misses a certainty. The new lay out has sparked fears amongst drivers and pedestrians. It has gone from a small round about that could simply have been made larger to a confusing junction.
We have already heard from concerned residents about this layout expressing their concerns, being the most dangerous piece of traffic management observed by some. In terms of accidents (possibly fatal) it’s not a case of if, but when. We are looking into the how much this junction alone cost to design and construct, and who is responsible.
As well as this we are asking county hall how much a re installation of a round about would cost when it proves necessary. Input from residents with their views and knowledge of the round about would have shown a junction to be a nightmare for all road users.
Lake Minster Development
The situation for residents at Lake Minster Park is deplorable. There are currently 78 occupied homes. Occupiers have informed me that they were told that they could occupy the site 52 weeks a year.
This is made worse by the fact that the council took the residents council tax from them until 2011 before the council started to question the legitimacy of the planning permit. Following the council decision to enforce a ‘holiday park’ use and subsequent appeals, the residents are serving an 18 month eviction notice.
To add insult to injury residents can look across the new bypass and see hundreds of new homes being approved to satisfy Tory policy.
