Ahead of the May 3^rd local council elections JesmondLocal politics reporters Ashleigh Smith and Thomas Goodall are conducting interviews with all the candidates in North and South Jesmond, to find out a little bit more about them and their policies.

Because of the large number of candidates standing this year the profiles will be split into the political parties for each ward. A number of key questions were asked to all candidates and these are the responses of the Liberal Democrat candidates standing in North and South Jesmond.

North Jesmond

Alexander Hay (AH) and Wendy Young (WY) are hoping to be elected and Stella Postlethwaite (SP) is hoping to be re-elected.

Why should people vote Labour?

SP – I’m driven by fear. I fear the other parties having control of Newcastle and obviously fear that nationally. I sit in the council chamber now as an elected representative and I despair some of the time at some of the things the councillors from across the chamber say. I feel proud about what Newcastle Labour have done.

AH – I don’t think what they’re [other parties] saying across the chamber is sensible. The Liberal Democrats will stand up there, they’ll rant and rave at Labour, they’ll make suggestions, and the suggestions that they make will not help the people who live in this city.

WY – The main thrust of the Labour Party’s campaign is to campaign against austerity and against the cuts, to make sure we have properly funded services, and I think those things are absolutely essential, and I think they’re what people really really care about and that’s why we should vote Labour.

What’s the best way of ensuring that Jesmond has the right mix of students and local residents?

SP – If you elect someone who themselves doesn’t particularly like the mix for whatever reason, that personal opinion can come out. We the three of us, really love the diversity and the mix in Jesmond; we love the students who choose to live in Jesmond. This is a lovely community to live in. We are so lucky to live in Jesmond: if there are any local issues let’s try to solve them and Newcastle University have been so helpful this year.

AH – Students integrating and getting involved in the community will make a difference. We do want to continue initiatives like the ‘Make Newcastle Happy’ campaign, we do want to have students at the Keep Jesmond Clean litter picks, we do want to continue seeing students being nominated by their neighbours for the Best Neighbour on Campus award. These sorts of things really do make a difference and make students feel welcome in the community, but at the same time actually having those longer-term residents seeing that and seeing that students aren’t this awful group of people.

WY – I really enjoy living in a community with students because of the diversity that they bring to the community, the way they use the library and the swimming pool, Acorn Road and Brentwood Avenue, and they’re part of a thriving community. I do think that there is a very positive vibe in Jesmond compared to a couple of years ago.

How would you make Jesmond cleaner?

AH – We do have investment coming from the council: from the budget there will be a clean-up of the city. In terms of going forward, encouraging residents to clean their street, pick the litter up in their street, do it as an organised litter pick, get to know your neighbours, get involved with your community and take pride in your community. Keep Jesmond Clean are doing a lot of work around this and I will certainly be championing that.

WY – I do think there is a virtuous circle in the Keep Jesmond Clean initiative, because I do see people picking up random bits of litter and taking it to the litter bin and I do it now ever since I started doing the litter picks. I think the more you keep these things going, the better it gets.

SP – Dealing with glass on Osborne Road is about the relationship between councillors and being supportive of businesses. We want to build a relationship with the bars. Stopping the use of single-use plastics, because often when are we looking at with litter, it’s the plastic coffee lids and other plastics. Since the council published its report a number of bars across the city have stopped using plastic straws. We should definitely do the same in Jesmond and work with the bars.

Bins have been an issue for many years now: how would you aim to fix the problem for residents?

SP – I know people don’t initially like change with the bins, but I think it was communicated quite well and the council provided maps of where all the news bins would be. The capacity of them is larger and they are collected more quickly. I have faith in that department of the council now and they are going to do a lot more text messages and text reminders about ‘today is your bin day, put out the bin’ and they are really keen to use technology more so I think that will be good.

AH – I think it’s maybe changing. Residents have said to me: ‘I much prefer those bigger bins’ and that never happened before, but residents are finding them, are seeing them and a preferring them and I think that’s what matters.

Should businesses selling alcohol in Jesmond pay more in rates to pay for the cost of cleaning up litter, policing anti-social behaviour, etc?

SP – I would prefer to approach it from a good will, doing-it-for-the-community angle first.

What could be done to help Jesmond businesses and services flourish all year round?

AH – I think working with business, residents and the universities to develop events to remind people that these businesses are here and encourage people to go throughout the year and really involve the community. If you remind people that this is a lovely highstreets they will come back.

SP – One business owner said that maybe we could do more to promote the idea of when the students are away, because it’s easier to park in Jesmond when the students are away, so maybe that could be done on social media. In the city, they have NE1 with NE1 Restaurant Week so maybe we could do things about NE2. We have got destination places in Jesmond and it’s about making the best of the lovely places we have.

Has Jesmond got the balance right with regards to pedestrians, cyclists and motorists?

SP – Climate change is real and a big issue and with health, how beneficial it is to your health to walk each day and let’s not ignore that. There were concerns from residents about the traffic around West Jesmond Primary School around dropping off and at the end of the day and I really do want to improve that situation.

WY – I think that the cycling routes are fantastic, so many safe cycling routes are traffic-free so you don’t feel anxious, you see families out on their bikes. It’s really important and part of keeping healthy. However, I know you do get complaints from residents about cyclists on pavements and that sort of thing, but I think that happens when cyclists feel threatened or worried by the traffic and that doesn’t happen so much round here. We do have to think about motorists as well and there is plenty of parking on Acorn Road for shopping as well as spaces on Brentwood Avenue. And for motorists there are good routes through Jesmond and we do care about motorists.

AH – One of our pledges this election is to make Jesmond a better place to live by improving public spaces and play areas and increasing safe cycling and travel routes for pedestrians and cyclists to local shops, schools and universities. We are determined to improve public spaces.

Will national or local politics determine the election result in Jesmond?

WY – A lot of the time when you’re on the doorstep and ask people how they are going to vote locally they tell you: ‘it depends on the councillors, it depends on what I read about the council literature and the commitments they are going to make to the community’. Obviously, you will have people who will vote with their party loyalty but I do think you have people who look at what Labour councillors have done and that will influence their decision in local elections.

With only one ward meeting per year, does communication between councillors and residents need improvement and if so how would you do this?

SP – I think it is alright to just have one annual ward meeting to get together and promote that and get high attendance, maybe by attaching it to something fun. We know what the issues are as we go out all year round to talk to residents about their concerns. I’d prefer to have three meetings during the year on each key issue. You can invite council officers to tell residents about what the council is doing on the issue.

AH – There are lots of ways of communicating with residents, it’s not just about one meeting a year. There are regular public surgeries. There is social media and organisations and groups such as the JRA. Going out to residents on the doorstep. Whist the ward meeting is important there are other ways and we are organising special surgeries on specific issues.

What areas/issues are you passionate about and would aim to impact should you be elected?

SP – I really want to continue to be involved in Shout Up and it’s about time to push that. Communication is vitally important and I really love talking to people in the community and engaging people with how the council works is really important. I really care about giving people truthful information and we can do that and I want to do that for people.

AH – Community-led projects like the JRA, the Food Market, the Festival, working with residents to develop something different. Getting involved in the community and being a local representative and councillor is what I’m passionate about. On a policy issue, obviously mental health, LGBT and equality.

WY – I’d like to work on improving the appearance of streets by for example, maybe getting people to adopt an abandoned garden plot and also to continue the work that we do with landlords, putting a bit of pressure on them to improve the appearance of their properties.

South Jesmond

Judy Pearce (JP) is hoping to be elected and Arlene Ainsley (AA) and Felicity Mendelson (FM) are hoping to be re-elected.

What do you believe is the best way of ensuring that Jesmond has the right mix of students and local residents?

JP – South Jesmond is a community for all so having the “right mix” is not the answer to disagreements between residents and students. It’s about building a strong sense of community and encouraging respect and understanding. We do this by working closely with North Jesmond councillors, the universities, and the police, in promoting policies, such as  Playstreets – to encourage outdoor play – and Operation Oak, to reduce crime in the area. We also maintain close contact on the streets so that we can report issues that affect everyone, such as fly-tipping or poor housing conditions. We also support independent local community groups that bring the community together, for example Harissa’s Social Lunch Club and Keep Jesmond Clean.

AA – We have seen an improvement in the behaviour of students and we don’t want to pinpoint students, because I would say 95% of them are very responsible and good neighbours. With our work with the universities and the police, I really think we’ve done some positive work to not alienate students but to welcome them into the community, while educating them.

FM – Because it was particularly bad last year, we as councillors received a lot of calls about noise and so on, so we went to the universities and bombarded them until they agreed to have a meeting. A task group was set up, there were councillors, the police, the Students Union, the noise team all met and set up a working group, chaired by Marc Lintern. Because of that there is a lot more going on.

How would you make Jesmond cleaner?

JP – Prevention is key. That’s why Labour has the Waste Commission to tackle how to reduce and produce less waste throughout Newcastle. We’re using our refuse budget in more targeted ways, and we’re engaging with technology to achieve more responsive teams and better enforcement. Things like using cameras to catch fly-tippers at frequently reported ares, as well as working with Newcastle University who are funding special skips in student areas at specific times of the year – when students are vacating  their homes at the end of term. We also support Keep Jesmond Clean and host Keep Sandyford Clean, that’s we wish to expand. To achieve this we have sent out letters and posters to the local community hoping to recruit more volunteers.

Should businesses selling alcohol in Jesmond pay more in rates to cover the cost of cleaning up litter, policing anti-social behaviour, etc?

JP – South Jesmond is full of local businesses that sell alcohol that are unlinked to anti-social behaviour so rather than tarring all local businesses with the same brush, we would prefer to hold the exceptions to the rule to account. We keep a close eye on planning and licensing applications for those selling alcohol and we frequently check in on local neighbourhoods to make sure that local businesses are keeping to any agreed curfews and aren’t disturbing fellow residents. We have licensing teams patrolling Jesmond throughout the week as well to check that bars are providing the proper level of security to prevent anti-social behaviour.

What could be done to help Jesmond businesses flourish all year round?

JP – By rethinking the traffic and parking around local business areas, like what’s happened with Acorn Road for example. Supporting local events such as the Armstrong Food Market and Christmas markets to draw visitors. Being strict with contractors and holding bigger businesses to account: for example, in Brandling Village, we’re ensuring any new private tenancy blocks must not affect local business parking and that building works affects business as little as possible. An example of this was insisting Northumbria Water reduce their planned timeframe for work around Clayton Road down from six months. Understanding what local shops and businesses mean to the community is so important – that’s why we really engage with residents. For example we did a lot of work with local tenants in Sandyford when the local cornershop in Goldspink was threatened with closure.

Has Jesmond got the balance right with regards to pedestrians, cyclists and motorist?

JP – I think the right balance will be different for each street and depend on understanding the needs of local residents, businesses, and local schools. We regularly meet residents groups and host resident walkabouts with traffic officers. We’ve done frequent local consultations for Streets For People, to ensure any improvement proposals are based on local knowledge. We do want to prioritise pedestrians more, and we’ve especially prioritised the opinions of those with accessibility and mobility needs so they feel safe navigating cycle lanes and roads in the area.

AA – We’ve done a lot of work with the Streets for People campaign. We received £1 million in funding for three areas including Jesmond and there’s been a lot of consultations with a lot of ideas and people can comment on each of those ideas. The results of those consultations will be costed and we’ll see what we can get. Priority will be given to improving air quality and flow of traffic.

Is there anything you’d like to add? Any issues you are particularly passionate about?

AA – I compare the air quality campaign to the anti-smoking campaign so I don’t think anybody is going to be able to duck out of  that one. Everybody is going to have to think ‘do I really need to use my car?’ and that’s going to affect Jesmond as well as the whole city.

FM – The other thing I would like to do is making sure all the agencies working in Jesmond are coordinated, because at the minute people aren’t sure where to go. My dream would be a virtual notice board, something online which had all of the events that are going on in Jesmond. Part of the thing about isolation is people don’t know what’s going on.