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BBC News
30-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Local ections 2025: 'Who are we voting for?'
In the run-up to the local election the BBC is looking at the issues that matter the most to you, as part of Your Voice, Your councils and other authorities hold elections on 1 Nelson from Staffordshire lives in the Lichfield Rural North division, and told the BBC he had barely seen any canvassing from his local sentiment was shared by Stephen Bell and Sheila Joynes from Worcestershire - they live in the St Peter division and said they had "no idea" about those standing. Ms Joynes said they had only recieved a couple of political leaflets this weekend, and they were only aware of who their Green party candidate was."We don't know even the names of the other candidates," said Mr Bell. When are the elections and who can voteWill this be the 'anyone but the big parties election'?Are there elections where you live?Catch up on the local election stories"Locally, we would just like to be kept informed more of what is going on," Ms Joynes said."I tried to find out [online] what's going on and who's standing… trying to find out on Google and it's just drawn a blank." Mr Nelson said he had recieved a couple of leaflets but had not spoken to any candidates face-to-face."We do not get any physical contact with the candidates," he said."It seems that their attitude is: 'Well if you want to vote for us, you can, if you don't, we don't really care'." What do parties in Lichfield say? The BBC approached all candidates for Lichfield Rural Labour candidate, Ben Watkins, said in the last year, he and his supporters had spoken to 565 people on their doorstep in Richard's said he agreed with Richard about photo opportunities, and had been campaigning for local issues after conversations with added that his party held regular "meet the councillor" sessions on the last Saturday of every Aston, on behalf of Liberal Democrat candidate, Morag Maclean, said it was not possible for candidates to personally make themselves known to all voters in the division, but said they had knocked on more than 300 doors, and delivered leaflets to more than 19,000 added that the party had a reputation for keeping in contact with residents all year Conservative Party candidate, Richard Holland, said he was sorry to hear Mr Nelson's view, and that he had been working hard to engage directly with local people via door-knocking, delivering leaflets and letters and speaking to said the area was large with lots of houses to visit, and said face-to-face conversations were important to him rather than photo added that he strongly believed in being visible and accessible, and if elected, he would continue to be an approachable Pitchfork, interim chair of Reform UK Lichfield, said the candidate John Madden had spent a lot of time out in his said Madden was well-known locally, but there had been limited time and added that the party was keen that its councillors would provide substance instead of a superficial presence, and that they were accessible to residents. What do parties in St Peter say? The BBC approached all candidates for St Peter in Stephen, candidate for the Green Party, said the party was proud to work hard all year, not just at election said since the last local elections, they had knocked on thousands of doors and delivered their community newsletter roughly every two months, and had been communicating like this for added that residents had contacted him directly about local issues including the bus Wild, candidate for the Liberal Democrats, said the Liberal Democrats "failed frequently" to communicate with constituents because of a lack of resources, and said it was a major issue for all parties, particularly those not supported by major said the party could not afford to spend "vast sums" on the delivery of leaflets like he believed the Conservatives and Reform had added that as the new chair of the city party, he wanted to increase the party's presence in the city. The Worcester Conservatives, on behalf of their candidate Tom Wisniewski, said he had collaborated with the former councillor and started proactive work including talking to residents, litter picks, and had delivered more than 1,000 resident party said Wisniewski had prioritised getting to know residents rather than "shoving paper through a letter box".It added that he had a large social media presence where residents were kept Kimberley, campaigns coordinator for the Labour Party, said the party had created a roadmap for change, which was built around six said the themes reflected a mix of what the county council could do, as well as addressing widespread local concerns that candidates picked up during door-knocking sessions which had taken place across the length and breadth of the themes included a better local bus service, more school places and fixing the UK has not responded to the BBC but since the general election it has said it was fielding nearly a "full list of candidates across the entire country". Leader Nigel Farage was recently out and about in Worcester. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
29-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Local elections 2025: Climate, traffic and rubbish
In the run-up to the local election the BBC is looking at the issues that matter the most to you, as part of Your Voice, Your councils and other authorities hold elections on 1 climate change, litter and recycling centres were important to Sarah Turner from Leamington Spa in units were empty, the main road gets congested and visting household waste sites could be tricky, she said. Other people who contacted the BBC said the environment and climate change should be the county council's priority. "On the main street in [Leamington's] Parade, there's just hardly anything, you've got so many empty shops," Ms Turner through the town is another issue, she added, even though there was lots of cycling and walking provision."You'd be silly to take a job the other end of town to where you live," she said."With climate change and everything else, the Greens seem to be the only ones protecting what green spaces we've got left." Household recyling centresw (HRCs) should be able to take rubbish from anyone, instead of charging fees for businesses to take their waste thier."You'd think that this service would stop half of the stuff being dumped everywhere," she said. Warwickshire County Council has signed up to the Leamington Town Centre Vision - a scheme designed to regenerate the town over the next has also committed to becoming a net-zero organisation by 2030 adding it would support the county to achieve net-zero by 2050. What do the parties say? Candidates and parties in the Leamington Willes ward were contacted to have their Roberts, the Green Party candidate, said:Support was needed for town centres, and a fund was recently put forward for more events to drive footfall thereThe party prioritised making short journeys to walk and cycle to schools, leisure and work saferImproved infrastructure was needed, and money needed to be better directedLocal access to parks and the countryside was vital, and the party had worked to try and reduce the number of greenfield sites for developers that need to come forward in the local planThe party would review the household recycling centres to see where they can be made more accessible and increase their recycling Millar, on behalf of the Labour party, said: Supporting local businesses and growing the economy was a priority The party believed the active transport policy in the county was often "paid only lip service". It believed the county could "do better" in terms of cycle provisionA masterplan of better sequenced road works would be developedGreen spaces would be protected and a green municipal board for Warwickshire be developedThere was a need for better enforcement of fly tipping and the party would look into the "pay as you throw" approach for commercial Viana, candidate for the Liberal Democrats, said:It would boost small businesses and abolish business rates, replacing them with a commercial landowner levy to help high residents to travel to the town centre by walking, cycling or using public transportThe party wants to see cycle routes from other areas of Leamington joining the Kenilworth to Leamington cyclewayThe party would invest in accelerating the decarbonisation of all county council buildings and transport, with savings invested in local servicesStreet trees would be well maintained and more trees planted where possible HRC booking slots should be UK did not respond for comment, but its national manifesto said:It wants to free more than 1.2m small and medium-sized businesses from corporation tax, and abolish business rates for high street-based small and medium-sized enterprises, offsetting with online delivery tax at 4% for large multinational enterprisesNet-zero and related subsidies should be scrapped along with an annual £10bn of renewable energy subsidiesIt would keep road speed limits low where safety is critical, otherwise it would scrap 20mph zonesExisting rail and road links would be imprroved focusing on coastal regions, Wales, the North, and the Conservative Party did not respond for comment, but its 2024 manifesto said:It would ease business rates for high street, leisure and hospitality businesses by increasing the multiplier on distribution warehouses that support online shopping over timeAccess to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises would be improved, including through expanding open financeIt would invest £4.7bn for smaller cities, towns and rural areas in the North and Midlands - to spend on transport priorities. This will cut congestion and upgrade local bus and train stationsThe cost of tackling climate change for households and business would be cut, and net zero delivered by 2050Red tape that holds back the planting of trees would be cut. Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. POSTCODE LOOKUP: Check if there is an election in your areaSIMPLE GUIDE: Everything you need to know about the local electionsGET IN TOUCH: Tell us the election issues that matter to youFULL COVERAGE: Catch up on all our election stories
BBC News
28-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Local elections 2025: 'Smaller areas are ignored in Shropshire'
In the run-up to the local election the BBC is looking at the issues that matter the most to you as part of Your Voice, Your councils and other authorities hold elections on from Shifnal told the BBC she believed that too much money in Shropshire was spent in its county town - said locally-elected councillors needed to fight for local people's rights. "We are a rural county, and many issues in villages and smaller market towns are overlooked," she said."Only two weeks ago, a whole road in Shrewsbury was resurfaced. But potholes are plaguing many rural roads, and even main roads - the A442 is prime example - are just ignored."I now call it Shrewsbury Council, not Shropshire Council, as that's where most money is spent." There is no available data on how money is spread across different areas of the county by Shropshire can take a look at some examples of significant investment across the February, a revised business case for the four mile (6.4km) North West Relief Road around Shrewsbury estimated the scheme would cost £215m, and about £39m had already been spent on it.A £28m redevelopment is planned for Shrewsbury Sports Village, which could include new swimming pools and a in March, a new £14m fitness centre opened in Whitchurch.A plant to produce biochar in Ludlow was given the go-ahead in March - which was part of a £2m investment by the council in locally manufactured biochar-producing £3.6m was spent on enhancing Shifnal town centre, which was completed in 2022. Looking ahead, in the Conservative-run Shropshire Council's draft revenue and capital budget for 2025-26, there are figures for how money could be example, money towards several new build housing programmes in Gobowen, Harmer Hill and Weston Rhyn is project in Gobowen has a proposed budget of more than £2.6m, with more than £550,000 in Harmer Hill, and more than £96,000 in Weston is also a potential budget of more than £1.1m for refurbishment of Coton Hill House in proposed to receive highways capital include the A488 Hope Landslip, which could be allocated £200,000, and the A490 Chirbury to Churchstoke Landslip - which could be given more than £650, are proposed for flood risk projects in Albrighton, Clun and Much Wenlock, while there could be money allocated towards several road signal enhancement schemes across course, there are also funds that could be allocated to the North West Relief Road - more than £34m. What do local parties say? The BBC asked candidates in Shifnal South what their parties thought of Ann's Bird, candidate for the Conservative Party, said it was natural that Shrewsbury received significant investment, as it was the county town and largest settlement. He said Shifnal had seen considerable investment over the last four years, including the £3.6m enhancement scheme to the town centre. He said there had been other investments including £101,000 from the Community Infrastructure Levy neighbourhood fund, a £1.2m investment programme at St Andrew's School, and Stanton Road undergoing a full added there was still more to do."Shifnal is growing, and these investments show our town is not being left behind. I will continue to press for the improvements our community needs and deserves," he Burgess-Bate, candidate for the Liberal Democrats, said she agreed that that Shropshire Council was too centralised, adding that it inevitably led to a bias towards key locations, while smaller and more rural areas missed Lib Dems would investigate decision-making behind the North West Relief Road, and would launch a new Shropshire Partnership, which would see the authority work with towns, parishes, communities and organisations to deliver services "more effectively and efficiently".She added that the party would "ensure residents' needs are rightly put first".Jan Coulson, Labour candidate, said he agreed with Ann's statement, and said it was not a new a 2022 newsletter, the party wrote about Shifnal and Albrighton being "communities on the edge", which said the areas were overlooked by the said a Labour-led council would reject special treatment for any part of the county "at the expense of another". He added that the town had been "taken for granted" and if elected would be an advocate for Shifnal's share of Leppington, on behalf of Reform UK, said the part could not give promises on proportions of money to be spent in individual areas, but it believed that a "huge amount" of money was wasted by Shropshire the party's first 100 days, it would set up a department of government efficiency and public accountability, to deliver immediate savings to be passed to residents in the form of better front line added that Shifnal would get its "fair share" of this bigger Independent candidate has not responded to the BBC. Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
25-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Your Voice Your Vote: 'Shropshire's roads are appalling'
In the run-up to the local election the BBC is looking at the issues that matter the most to you, as part of Your Voice, Your councils and other authorities hold elections on 1 Duffy said he was "embarrassed" about the state of the roads, both in his home town of Shrewsbury and in the county of appearance of roads, quality of road repairs, and clarity around how much is spent on them was his biggest concern."Driving around Shrewsbury, as we do, as people that live in Shrewsbury, it's disgraceful, you're going from rut to pothole to temporary patches, which never seem to be temporary, and the state of the roads is just appalling," he told the BBC. He visits Wales often and said: "You can actually tell when you go over the border from Wales to England that you're now in Shropshire by the state of the roads, which is sad."He lives in a new build estate called the Spinney, just off Oteley Road. He described the roads as "appalling". "The developers will have paid millions of pounds in community infrastructure levy, and if you look at the state of Oteley Road, it is appalling yet the developers must have spent lots of money."He said he wanted to know how much community investment levy was paid by developers, but could not find an answer. He said he had also contacted his local councillor, Philip Gillam, for clarity on the issue and about when repairs would take place on the Gillam told the BBC that plans to resurface the road had been shelved, but he hoped the scheme could be Duffy said it made him question whether it would be worth casting his vote in the local elections."From an emotional perspective I'm embarrassed about it, from a council tax payer... I'm aggrieved about it, because I don't believe that my money, be it road fund license or council tax, is being spent on the things that matter to people who live in Shrewsbury." "There doesn't seem to be any investment into our road network and so they're just patching to get away from doing the roads properly. "So you'll continue to get patch, upon patch, upon patch, and those degrade over time because the quality of the road that it's going on is worn out."Conservative-run Shropshire Council said it had a statutory duty to repair dangerous defects, or potholes, within five or 28 days, depending on its that are not deemed to be an immediate danger are repaired in a "more planned and cost-effective way" at a later for road resurfacing and surface dressing, the authority conducts routine condition surveys, where lengths of roads are graded from one to five depending on their also looks at roads' maintenance history, regular inspections, reports from councillors, parish councils and community groups, and reports from council's entire network is made up of about 3,200 mikes (5,150km) of roads. What do local parties say? The BBC contacted all of the local councillor candidates in Mr Duffy's ward - Oteley & Reabrook - to find out their party's promises around the Democrat candidate Victoria Moore said potholes were a known issue in Mr Duffy's ward, as well as illegal and street parking and party wants to deal with potholes as part of the Shropshire Partnership to get them fixed faster and cheaper, and wants to review how the community and infrastructure levy from developers has been spent, ensuring that it is spent on areas like roads. It wants to commit to spending a higher proportion of the highways budget on walking and cycling routes, including resurfacing and upgrading existing Wust, on behalf of the the Conservative Party, said 2023 Shropshire Council repaired 41,629 potholes, with 50% carried out within five days, which he said was a 46% increase on the previous year and at no additional added that a significant amount of carriageway resurfacing work had been carried out in Shrewsbury, and further sites had been identified for inclusion in the future capital Dean, on behalf of the Green Party, said there was "no question" that Shropshire's roads were "a disgrace".The party's published manifesto calls for 10% of the council's highways budget to be invested in better provision for walking, wheeling and cycling. It also expresses that new ways to raise funds to repair damage from heavier says government money and developer contributions must be used to maintain and improve the existing road network, rather than building more new Gillam from the Labour Party said Labour would review all council services, looking for better value for taxpayers' money, and would guarantee the first service to undergo this could be highways. He said their manifesto included improving road surfaces and road drainage around the county, with locally-delivered maintenance, improved traffic safety and other traffic control measures. He added the party would ensure that community infrastructure levy would be allocated to projects that support facilities in areas where new homes had been Leppington, on behalf of Reform UK, said the party would launch an "immediate pothole blitz". Short term, he said they would allocate extra funding to highway maintenance, and crews would be scheduled for rapid pothole filling. Long term, Reform would look to potentially purchase a number of specialist pothole machines from JCB. Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
