18 Ways To Make Sutton An Even Better Place

Everyone has one thing that they believe could improve their local area. What’s yours? Here are 18 Conservative candidates for the London Borough of Sutton Local Elections on 22nd May sharing theirs.

1. Protecting Local Services

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Andy Williams is a firefighter and mentors young people. As someone who protects the public, he knows the value of public services like St Helier Hospital and is determined to put the campaign to save vital frontline services at the forefront of his work as a councillor.

Andy is standing in Beddington South alongside Neil Garratt and Jim Simms.

2. Conserving Parks and Open Spaces

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Holly Ramsey, a Financial PR Consultant has lived in Cheam all of her life and enjoys the fact that there are some amazing parks like Cheam Park and historic Nonsuch Park on her doorstep. She wants to ensure that they are well kept and that local trees are pruned with more planted.

Holly is standing in Cheam alongside Graham Whitham and Misdaq Zaidi.

3. Securing Enough School Places

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Rona Forzani is a Street Pastor and mother. She remembers the anxious wait to see whether her children got their first preference of school. The predicted shortage of school places in Sutton especially at secondary level worries her again for parents coming up to that stage.

Rona is standing in Nonsuch alongside Eric Allen and Alan Plant.

4. Planning Our Borough For The Community

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Patrick McManus is an academic tutor and a translator. He lives close to Sutton Hospital and wants to ensure that proper thought is put into what happens to this large site when the hospital eventually closes. He believes that it is essential that a good part of the site is used for the benefit of local residents such as a new healthcare facility.

Patrick is standing in Belmont alongside David Hicks and Jane Pascoe.

5. Caring For Our Elderly

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Alan Oliver is now retired and his wife works at Age UK Sutton. He knows that the demographics of Sutton are changing with the need for more elderly care and many residents living alone without company. As homes such as Oakleigh in Sutton are being closed, Alan wants to ensure that the council focuses on the critical matter of providing excellent care for people in their later life and other vulnerable local residents.

Alan is standing in St Helier alongside Lottie Crowley and Alison Huneke.

6. Listening To Residents

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Anusha Vamadeva works as an IT Consultant. She shares the view of residents in Beddington that they haven't been listened to about their concerns for the proposed incinerator on parkland there. Anusha wants to change the council culture of Consult, Consider, Ignore and expects the council to listen and respond.

Anusha is standing in Beddington North alongside Leon Emirali and Hilary Wortley.

7. Understanding And Supporting Business

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Steve Ayres runs his own successful heating business. He wants to see a council that has some experience of business and understands the needs of business. Steve knows that such an approach will help create jobs, maintain small, independent retailers and allow the borough to thrive and compete with neighbouring boroughs.

Steve is running in Wallington South alongside Steve Odunton and Chris Wortley.

8. Saving Services At St Helier Hospital

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Heather is a retired HR Officer and sits on the Advisory Board of St Raphael's Hospice. She knows more than most the value of local emergency healthcare through personal experience. Heather knows that the Save St Helier campaign has the best chance of success if it is built on residents making the case for services to be kept locally and avoiding using the hospital as a political football. She is up for the fight ahead.

Heather is standing in Sutton South alongside Jason Hughes and Tony Shields.

9. Keeping Council Tax low

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James England works for a Housing Association. Raising a young family in Sutton, James has been feeling the pinch with everyone. He knows that the council have only managed to freeze bills after 16 successive rises because of extra handouts from national government and so is aware that he is only paying the net increase through his income taxes. He believes that more can be done to freeze or even cut taxes through cutting out pet projects and careful zero-based budgeting.

James is standing in Wandle Valley alongside Jonathan Downer and Peter Wootten.

10. Creating A Thriving Local Economy

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Ben Scully graduated in Economics and is starting with KPMG shortly as a Business Consultant. As someone who has volunteered in Sutton youth groups and went to Sutton schools throughout, he knows the importance of a booming job market to help young people get into work. Although 40% of Sutton residents commute to London, Ben believes that by helping businesses locate in Sutton, we can keep much of our young talent working in and around Sutton, spending their money locally and so creating a momentum of continual improvement for the borough.

Ben is standing in The Wrythe alongside Charles Manton and Marion Williams.

11. Getting Worcester Park Moving

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Simon Densley writes the popular Worcester Park Blog and is involved in a number of local community roles. As someone who uses Central Road daily, Simon shares the frustration of everyone in Worcester Park who tear their hair out either driving along Central Road, snaking their way around the back roads or have to live alongside the rat-runs. He's determined to bring together the council, Merton and Kingston councils and Transport for London to develop a long-term solution for this long-running problem.

Simon is standing in Worcester Park alongside Gino Marotta and Stewart Mackay.

12. Restoring Sutton's Green Credentials

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Mukesh Rao is an IT Director. As someone who plays his part in seperating his waste and looking for environmentally-friendly options wherever possible, Mukesh was concerned to see that Sutton had slid down the table of recycling councils from 35th in 2003 to 252nd now. He believes that we should be learning from our neighbours in Croydon, Merton and Kingston to keep us green rather than simply relying on an unpopular incinerator earmarked for Beddington to burn everything.

Mukesh is standing in Sutton North alongside Alec Beeson and Millie Shields.

13. Ensuring a Safe Borough

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Nigel Cornwell is a Surveyor working locally in Sutton. He understands that Sutton is one of the safer boroughs in London but does not want the council to be complacent. He knows that the fear of crime is still too high and wants the council to address this, ensuring that our parks and High Streets have regular, visible policing and that there are clear and easy methods to communicate with our local Safer Neighbourhood team of which all residents are made aware.

Nigel is standing in Sutton Central alongside Charlie Cornwell and Marie Grant.

14. Planning For The Future Whilst Respecting The Past

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Penny Spirling is a retired Sutton Council Officer. She has seen how many London Boroughs have a planning committee whilst Sutton has a Development Control Committee. Penny believes that this small difference belies a bigger issue, the lack of strategic thought for the borough. In merely trying to control developers, the council doesn't spend enough time working with residents to develop a long-term vision for each part of Sutton and building a strong local identity.

Penny is standing in Carshalton Central alongside Simon Higgs and Arthur Spirling MBE.

15. Easing Traffic In Stonecot

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Graham Jarvis is a Managing Director and PR Consultant. Having spent a lot of time speaking to residents in and around Gander Green Lane, he is determined to get the council to restore its plans to build a link road in the Kimpton Industrial Estate to stop HGVs driving up the narrow residential roads with houses vibrating and residents constantly disturbed.

Graham is standing in Stonecot alongside Malcolm Brown and Sheena Munsami.

16. Building A New Secondary School

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Richard Butt is a Surveyor and Property Consultant. As a father of children who have all gone through Sutton schools, Richard knows how important it is to have the right mix of schools in an area. As a property development professional, he is very aware of the pitfalls of taking on a huge project such as building a new schools but he knows it is the only option in Sutton to meet demand. He is concerned that the council has not yet secured a site or enough money to start, despite requiring completion by 2017, only three years away.

Richard is standing in Sutton West alongside Mary Edwards and Jonathan Pritchard.

17. Improving Transport Links Across Sutton

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Omoniyi Giwa is a Programme Manager for Transport for London. As a daily commuter, she can see a clear benefit of having the tram extended to Sutton but realises that the Mayor of London believes that the council has not done enough to consult with residents yet. Omoniyi also believes that extending the London Overground service to Sutton will be an inexpensive way to improve connections to the Docklands and Stratford.

Omoniyi is standing in Wallington North alongside Elliot Colburn and James McDermott-Hill.

18. Protecting Sutton's Character

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Tony Smith CBE is the former Head of the UK Border Force and was in charge of security at the London 2012 Olympic Games. As a resident in South Sutton, Tony has seen many changes locally over the last few years, some for the better, many not. Tony is determined to get the council to work with residents, encouraging them to share their vision for the borough and attracting the investment to make that a reality. Whilst doing this, he believes that it is vital to maintain and improve everything that is good about Sutton, our schools, parks, heritage, the village feel of parts of the borough and the community spirit in many neighbourhoods.

Tony is standing in Carshalton South & Clockhouse alongside Moira Butt and Tim Crowley.

Promoted by Ranulph Murray on behalf of the Sutton Borough Conservative Federation both at Donnington House, 2a Sutton Court Road, Sutton, SM1 4SY.