I am 57, married and have lived in the ward for 25 years. I was formerly Councillor for Central Ward (2006-2010) and now want to represent the ward I live in. I work as a therapy assistant at the Hallamshire Hospital and was a Green Councillor in Central ward from 2006-2010.

Public service cuts will damage a Broomhill community struggling to balance the needs of residents, students and businesses. Yet we can fund the public services, good housing and education that we all need. The Lib Dem supported coalition has clearly chosen to target public services while ignoring the excesses of bankers and corporate tax avoidance.

As your ward councillor my focus would be on the protection of key local services over my four year term and implementing the community developed Broomhill Ward Action Plan.

Cuts are impacting everyone in the ward including the education and future job prospects of students. Sheffield Teaching Hospitals provides both healthcare and jobs for Broomhill people but, like all public services, it is threatened by cuts and privatisation. Vital services like Citizens Advice Bureau face massive cuts. Vulnerable people on Disability Living Allowance face benefit cuts. Greens would prioritise investment in jobs, public services and decent pensions and benefits.

To tackle congestion, pollution and road safety, we want money spent where traffic is worst, such as at Broomhill Shopping Centre and on Ecclesall Road. We want higher priority for public transport and for pedestrian and cycle routes, including winter gritting. We persuaded the Council to adopt a city-wide 20mph speed limit policy for residential roads. It will cut injuries and air pollution, save lives and reduce NHS costs when implemented the sooner the better. I welcome the Broomhill Forum Air Quality Symposium on April 21st and will be attending.

We believe local neighbourhoods deserve good facilities and cleaner, quieter and safer streets, not cuts to public services. We support local schools, shops, post offices, libraries and community groups; and take care to listen to people’s views. Landlords must ensure students live in properly maintained accommodation while residents have a right to protection from late night noise nuisance and anti-social behavour. We have objected to certain planning & licensing applications for late-night opening in Broomhill centre, on Ecclesall Rd and elsewhere, including Oasis Pizza, the former Walnut Club (now Studio 557) and King Kebab.

Sheffield council and budget cuts

While Labour and the Lib Dems on Sheffield Council fight each other over small differences our city suffers. Green Councillors have offered real alternatives for residents eg :

• Opposition to the Highways PFI on the grounds of it’s huge, rising cost.
• Help for local people most affected by the proposed change to fortnightly bin collections.

Green councillors fought to stop the cuts from government unfairly affecting the most vulnerable. Our council budget for 2012/13 tried to cut backroom functions and the wages of top executives. We wanted to :

• support frontline services like Citizen’s Advice and the Youth Service
• support children, elderly and disabled people
• raise standards in private-rented housing
• stop cuts to teams fighting anti-social behaviour

But we were voted down by Labour and the Lib Dems