Green Party Activist

I am 47 years old, and married with two sons aged 10 and 12 who attend Greystones Primary and High Storrs Secondary respectively. I have been qualified as a psychiatric social worker for over 20 years, and have worked for the past 7 years in emergency mental health services. I have lived in Greystones since 1997 and stood as a Green Party candidate in the 2006 Council elections. We walk to the local shops on Banner Cross and Sharrowvale Road for our food shopping and rarely use mainstream supermarkets. Apart from the fact that the local shops tend to be cheaper, their bread, meat, and vegetables tend to be of better quality.
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Through my work, I have had more than a quarter of a century's experience in advocating for people who have needs which have not been properly met by statutory services, such as Housing, Social Services and Health. If I was elected I would bring this experience, and my skills in negotiation. to the role of councillor to ensure that people in my community had a powerful voice in their dealings with local services, and were considered with fairness for the support to which they were entitled.

I am concerned about the lack of local recycling facilities, since their removal from the car park at Somerfield several years ago. Having to travel by car to Millhouses to recycle glass and other items puts many people off. I would advocate for the reinstatement of local facilities and, in addition, would press for the expansion of doorstep collections as practised by many other authorities around the country.

As a Green Party councillor, I would press for Quality Bus Contracts to ensure we in Sheffield could benefit from better and cheaper bus services and more control over routes and fares. More bus usage means less car use. An immediate environmental gain! Our local Primary School has a small scale Walking Bus service, run by volunteers. This benefits parents- because they do not have to take their children to school; the children, because they socialise more and have exercise which they would not have if they were sat in the car; and it saves car journeys and the pollution they cause. As a Green councillor, I would press for a budget to be made available so the volunteers who currently offer their services could be reimbursed for their time and expenses.

Following recent tragic events, and having observed the behaviour of a minority of motorists when I have been cycling and walking there with my children, I would press for the installation of speed cameras on Ringinglow Road. I would also press for improved monitoring and prosecution of the same minority of motorists who believe that when traffic lights at pedestrian crossings at Banner Cross turn red, they should accelerate.