Stephen George Sanderson
UK Independence Party
North Heywood Ward
Address
6 Lyndhurst Avenue
Castleton
Rochdale
OL11 2XU
I am honoured to stand for North Heywood as a United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) candidate. Married with three grown up children, all educated locally. My working life has always been within Aerospace Engineering currently within the Defence Sector and I have previously held the position of union representative helping people in the workplace and community. This has always been a priority to me.
I am seeking your support by standing for election to represent the North Heywood Community, I believe we can effectively tackle important local concerns, including the lack of local amenities and the regeneration of North Heywood to enhance our area for all the community. I am standing for election because I have the drive, tenacity, commitment and energy to represent the interests of the community. I passionately believe in personal freedom and genuine democracy that gives local people a real voice in local matters that concern them, the time is right in North Heywood to make a real change to address many local people’s concerns. I can assure you that if I am elected, I will put forward a strong presence within Rochdale Council to fight for the very best for everyone in North Heywood something that seems to have been lost by the current councillors.
My priorities for North Heywood, are it’s all about people.
Care for the elderly
- How well we treat and look after older people is a measure of a civilised society.
Young people
- Currently far too many are still out of work or in low paid jobs. Through careers advice and access to relevant education and apprenticeship schemes we can ensure training is the very best local Business and Jobs.
Local Business
- Local Business deserve support to help regenerate the area, many companies have left the area attracted by financial incentives to move outside the area, we need to create a environment where growth is sustainable, understanding all aspects that can keep business within the area.
Planning
- The work life balance of all Heywood’s residents must be taken into consideration, covering leisure and work time needs. I will work with the community to develop an integrated plan for Heywood that includes all the existing industrial, retail, youth and leisure facilities within the area as a whole.
- I will not support any developments which harm the interests of the residents of North Heywood. Building on green belt/green-field sites – I am pleased to say that this is not a popular idea in North Heywood.
Budgetary Competence
- We need to look at where our Council Tax is being spent, investing in areas that will bring an overall gain in the Health & wealth of our community. I am committed to getting additional council funding for leisure, including link 4 life, which as seen a reduction in funds within previous council budgets. An environment where health and opportunity go hand in hand to bring wealth into our community.
- I fully support the UKIP view to cut the number of councillors by at least a third as currently we all have to tighten our belts with austerity. We cannot allow £1million to be spent on councillor’s allowances when service provision is being cut. We need to fund our services as such we also need to ensure that any expense is justified to our community who are footing the bill, it’s your money not theirs.
Law & Order
- Our area along with others within the Borough has been plagued by Crime and antisocial behaviour. We need to ensure we make best use of technology to identify the perpetrators, hence we need to invest in our own and our families’ safety by CCTV partnerships within Heywood.
- PACT meetings and local presence of officers is required as well as bringing back the costly mistake of redundant PFI police stations into public ownership.
- I have campaigned and fully support for an independent investigation into the Rochdale Grooming Scandal and personally support Parents against Grooming Campaign.
Transport
- I like many of you have seen the deterioration in roads locally, causing damage to vehicles and safety concerns to pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists having to avoid these pot holes from a safety perspective. This is not acceptable to tax payers, who expect the authorities to maintain suitable highways within the area. I will commission a full report and take action to remedy the situation in a timely manner.
- Bus services need improvement already we suffer congestion within the area by high car usage, we do not have a rail station locally however we would benefit in being linked to the Metrolink network. To which I would fully support a feasibility study being undertook in association with East Lancs Railway to provide services to Bury and Castleton linking up with both main rail and tram.
