Local Council Elections

I'm standing in the 2011 local town council elections for the Priory Ward.

I hope to be elected not because I think I have all the answers but because I think
there are some important questions that need to be asked.

Question such as:

What can we do to encourage sustainable and satisfying employment for young people in the district?

How can we help local households to reduce their energy bills?

How do we engage residents' views on the priorities for council action?

From my brief experience on the campaign trail, some people are cynical about the local democratic process and view it as an irrelevance to their daily lives.
I think it is important that the council addresses that apathy and promotes
more involvement with people in the community so that appropriate initiatives can be taken.

Assisting the setting up and functioning of more Residents' associations is an excellent way to do this.

The Town council has the delegated power to introduce change into many facets
of our daily lives. I believe it is time the possibilities were more openly discussed.

Sustainable housing

North Kesteven Council have constructed affordable, sustainable houses from straw.
These houses effectively act as a carbon sink and therefore have a negative carbon footprint. They do not use cement in construction. Cement and concrete production accounts for almost 8% of global greenhouse gas emission.
The majority of the materials in the houses can be sourced locally,these are well insulated, practical and  environmentally sound solutions to affordable housing.
Follow this link for more details  http://www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/section.asp?catId=1521

Do you think we should build houses of straw in our community ?

Cycling in Louth

I think more residents would cycle if they felt safer on the roads. This is a bit of a chicken and egg dilemma, it has been proven that the more cyclists take to the road the safer the roads become. This is due in part to the higher volume of car drivers who are also cyclists, these car drivers tend to be more aware and considerate of cyclists.
We could introduce cycling support schemes in Louth which would combine basic cycle maintenance with off road safe cycle training and on road guided cycle rides. This would be available for all age groups.

Would you like to know more about this?... please add your comments

Encouraging Local Food Production

There used to be a number of commercial market gardens in and around Louth, supplying locally grown food to the town. These gardens would have ceased to operate in the face of competition to highly intensive, high volume food growers both in the UK and overseas. I can envisage a time when Louth will once again be surrounded with market gardens supplying a variety of foods to the local market. These gardens could be run on social enterprise principles ,utilising volunteer labour to operate effectively.In the initial stages these gardens would rely on funding of some kind but after a short while they could be sustainable on a not for profit basis.

Do you think this idea has merit?  please let me know...