Meet the Candidates: Kenilworth St John's
In just over a week Kenilworth locals will head to the polls to vote in their new councillors for Warwickshire County Council.
All 57 wards at the local authority are up for grabs, with voting opening on Thursday 1 May.
Results will then be announced on Friday 2 May, including in all three Kenilworth wards.
We have asked each candidate why locals should trust them with their vote.
This is what the candidates for Kenilworth St John's Ward said:
Richard Dickson - Liberal Democrats
Kenilworth is my home; it's a great community in which to live. But I want it to be even better.
Talking recently to lots of people on doorsteps in Kenilworth it's clear everyone knows that money is tight.
But residents also tell me they want a county council that delivers what it says it's going to deliver.
The £40 million A46 'Bridge To Nowhere' should have opened by December 2022. It may now cost £56 million.
The vital new £6 million SEND facilities at St John's Primary School were due to open in September 2024, yet no building work has started.
The Kenilworth-Leamington cycle route should have been finished by December 2023. But only a small part has been completed in Leamington.
No wonder the Conservatives tried to cancel the county council elections on 1 May. Local residents have been taken for granted for too long. We deserve better. I'm retiring from my higher education job this spring to do my best for residents.
Based on previous county council elections here in Kenilworth St John's, a vote for Labour or the Green Party here will mean the Conservatives stay in charge and the improvements we need will stay late and over-budget!
Jeremy Eastaugh - Labour
I have lived in St John's for 30 years and it matters to me that my neighbours are well represented.
I will always make myself available to hear the concerns of the local community and will work hard to ensure these are addressed.
At the same time I support Labour values and want to make my contribution to ensuring that Warwickshire is a good place to work and live. Kenilworth is changing right in front of us.
The absence of proper traffic planning has turned many streets into rat runs.
A Conservative candidate reports on the volume of car journeys at Kenilworth School. I believe we need to encourage our children to make their own way to school wherever they can with safe pedestrian and cycle routes.
It really frustrates me that developers' profits take precedence over sensible local planning.
I want to help make life better for us all.
It is Labour who are best placed to defeat the Tories here and I would be privileged to represent the division where I live.
Joe Rukin - Green
I am from Kenilworth and have been campaigning for positive change in the town for decades, most notably as the national campaign manager of Stop HS2.
Last year my campaign against the Conservative county council plans for fire service cuts was praised by the Fire and Rescue Association, and the council did a u-turn.
This year I have been informing as many people as possible about proposals for more green belt development and helping enable them to object to the local plan.
I have a record of dedication and hard work.
Please vote for me so I can do much more for Kenilworth.
All candidates were asked to provide around a 100-word statement, with Mr Rukin the only candidate for St John's who stuck adherently to the limit.
Rik Spencer - Conservative
Our schools and nearby road safety are a high priority for me, so I've been busy improving road safety around a number of St John's Division's schools; from automated 20mph school zone signs, to bollards to keep the pavements clear for children.
And then there are big ticket items such as £71,500 for pupils' safety at Clinton Primary with its new perimeter fence, and the £25,000 to provide much needed drainage for the sports field at St Nicholas C of E Primary.
I've supported the £6 million investment for St John's Primary School coming later this year to expand and provide Kenilworth with more primary school places and much needed new SEN facilities.
The future of Kenilworth Fire Station went out to public consultation last year. I listened to your feedback and worked to ensure that we now have a facility which will be manned full time during the day, showing that your Conservative-led WCC listens to residents' feedback.
Over the past four years I have secured more funding to manage and maintain our urban canopy (trees to you and me) than ever before. As you stroll around our residential areas you will see that over 100 new trees have been planted.
I've never been known to shy away from helping anyone. Living locally, I can honestly say that I have had residents knock on my door asking for help, from securing school places to fixing rattling drain covers.
I need to thank you for supporting me. It really has been an honour to have represented you these past four years. My political party has clearly not got everything right nationally over the same period, but I ask that you judge me on what I have delivered locally.
Tim Wade - Reform UK
Hi, I'm Tim. I'm 48 years old, married to Naoko, and have been for 15 years.
We have one 10 year old daughter, we live in Honiley on the family farm.
I spent 23 years working in Birmingham running a manufacturing business. Three years ago I left to start my own business, which gave me great flexibility to focus on other opportunities, one of those being, serving my county as hopefully a county councillor, for Reform UK.
My policies are quite simple. I would like to bring back free 20 minute parking for the high street and local towns, simplify the use of council tips for recycling, and fight to stop this policy of building on farmland that is still needed for production, whether it be solar panels or new unnecessary housing estates.
There is a lot more to look at, all the blue light services need our attention, the roads, the schools, the funding etc .
We will have our work cut out, but we need the people to work with us and we will try and bring common sense back into the council, and with a bit of hard work and some help from my fellow councillors, we should hopefully be able to make a difference.
Share:
