Patcham LibDem Madelaine Hunter-Taylor By-Election Brighton News

The five candidates are Bruno De Oliveira (Labor), Charles Goodhand (UK Independence Party), Madelaine Hunter-Taylor (Liberal Democrat), Anne Meadows (Conservative) and Eliza Wyatt (Green).

Each candidate was given questions that were submitted by community groups and voters. Here are the responses from Lib Dem candidate Madelaine Hunter-Taylor.

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Why do you want to be a councilor in the Patcham district?

Running as a candidate for Patcham is a great opportunity to work closely with the community and advocate for issues that are important to residents.

I am a proud Brightonian, a parent of three teenagers who attend local high school and run a community service business highlighting the impact of domestic violence.

Over the past few years, I have seen the funding cuts have a profound impact on our communities, which is not acceptable alongside the challenges of the past year.

I believe in working together to create a community that feels safe and supported while doing my best to shape a city that residents are proud to call home.

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What do you think you bring to this role?

I will bring a fresh perspective to the issues at hand and a motivation to overcome the obstacles we face.

I am determined to challenge long standing issues that others fail to resolve.

In my professional (and sometimes personal) life, I face constant problem solving, engage with a lot of different people, and work on solutions to very complex problems.

I am not afraid of big challenges.

I want to bring an accessible and understandable face to local politics and make sure that local council and democracy are understood and accessible to all residents.

The Liberal Democrats are committed to supporting Patcham over the next few years and look forward to getting to know its people.

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What understanding do you have of the challenges children, youth and adults and their families face because of additional needs or disabilities?

I am the parent of a child with hearing loss that was identified in early childhood. I had to defend them and I am grateful to the professionals who have supported us over the years in an increasingly restrictive funding environment.

This group faces many challenges and it is important that everyone has equitable access to adequate support.

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How well do you support the trend of building more houses on busy roads, thereby exposing more people to pollution? What will you do to improve the air quality?

We must mainly focus on reducing the most polluted areas of the city by designing a more integrated transport strategy, making cycling safer and ensuring better coverage of bus routes to encourage less car trips.

There is no doubt that Brighton and Hove need more affordable housing, especially for the younger generation to thrive.

This can be achieved through ethical and thoughtful development combined with greener infrastructure, tree planting and the regeneration of some local green spaces.

We must reduce pollutants in the air in the first place, but also improve air quality by rebuilding green spaces and encouraging the planting of trees in our parks, fields and, where appropriate, along streets.

With proper community consultation, something too rare recently, we need to develop a joint transport plan to encourage people to get out of the car, whether by bicycle, on public transport or even on foot. For those who have cars, we should increase the infrastructure for recharging electric cars throughout the city.

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How do you think a park and ride program, as suggested by the Climate Assembly, could be implemented in Brighton and Hove?

While car parking may be desirable in terms of reducing car journeys to Brighton itself, this does not do enough to discourage car journeys overall and therefore only serves in part to move emissions to other areas.

While this could be part of the solution and could certainly be incorporated into a larger plan, improving bus and train links with surrounding areas is a much more desirable goal for reducing car trips overall. .

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What would you do to improve the equity of transport in our city for the 40% of households who do not have access to a car?

We need to make sure that public transport is as accessible as possible to everyone.

This means wider coverage on routes, reduced ticket costs and improved service reliability.

On top of that, we need to work with communities to ensure that isolated trips on public transport are safe for young people and women in the city.

We also need to work with communities to promote bicycle safety and increase the availability of bike sharing throughout the city.

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Our playgrounds are dated and some equipment is broken. How are you going to advocate for improved play areas for our children?

As a mother of three and having spent many, many years in the local playgrounds, I enjoy a well equipped and safe playground.

Along with the childhood obesity agenda and after a difficult year for many children, it is vitally important to protect these spaces for the physical and emotional well-being of our children.

I will endeavor to educate my colleagues on the importance of high quality playgrounds and advocate for their maintenance, replacement and improvement.

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There are no youth clubs in the area. What will you do to give teens something to do?

Young people are at the heart of our community and are disproportionately affected by reduced investment across the city.

They deserve local opportunities to thrive outside of their home or school setting and I would like to see a range of activities accessible to ensure this is achieved.

By working with local organizations and donors, I would aim to develop a sustainable program of activities for local youth.

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What measures are you going to take to fight dog feces on our streets?

We have seen a dramatic increase in the number of dog owners over the past year and a subsequent increase in dog feces.

We all need to do our best to keep Patcham clean and safe for everyone who uses it and I encourage all dog owners to bag and put their dog’s garbage.

It’s a persistent problem that has dominated conversations for too many years. It’s time for a new approach and a solution that works.

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What are you going to do about the waste problems linked to missed collections and people who put their waste in municipal bins?

First of all, I want to thank the Cityclean street workers who have continued to operate through an extremely difficult time, doing their best to keep our city clean under difficult circumstances.

I understand how certain factors can impact collections and, in turn, leave residents feeling frustrated, but bin collection concerns have been raised for too many years.

I want to understand what the barriers have been to delivering a cohesive service while developing a waste reduction initiative that promotes waste reduction across the city.

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What will you do to make yourself known as an active member of our community?

I pride myself on my ability to get things done. Bring people together to understand challenges and obstacles and work on solutions.

I think you need to roll up your sleeves and get involved. I am happy to join in or lend my voice to local issues and look forward to working alongside the residents of Patcham, for a cleaner and safer community.