North Jesmond’s Green candidate is Laurence Taylor, a Jesmond resident who says he is passionate about low-traffic neighbourhoods and keeping Jesmond’s streets clean.

What qualifies you to be a councillor in North Jesmond?

“For starters, I live here. It means that every single day I’m in the ward and seeing what’s happening and living with all the issues that people are talking about in the ward. I’m seeing the traffic, I’m seeing the state of the fields in Highbury, but I’m also seeing students going and picking up litter on the fields in Highbury.

“Secondly, I grew up here, just across the Dene. I went to Heaton Manor School and have a lot of friends still in Jesmond. These are the streets where we grew up and played with our mates, and so I’ve seen all of the changes over the years. I’ve also got young kids now, and that gives you a whole different perspective on what the area is like, and what needs to be done for the new generation.”

Why are you standing as a local councillor?

“The reason I’ve chosen to stand is because we’ve got to sort out the environment, we have to reduce our resource use. We have to make these changes, and the cities that will win economically in the future are the ones that people want to live in, that are pleasant to live in, and that use less resource is because we are running out.”

Do you support the concept of low-traffic neighbourhoods in Jesmond?

“Low-traffic neighbourhoods aren’t a new thing – the council has been doing this very slowly, and we’ve already had some roads pedestrianised in Jesmond. In all the places that we already have these low-traffic neighbourhoods if you tried to reopen them there would be uproar. The last thing you want is loads of cars driving past your house.

“At West Jesmond Primary School on a school morning is traffic chaos, and there is no way that you’d want your kid to walk or cycle round there by themselves. There’s people parked everywhere, those cars coming through all over the place, and to me it just seems absolutely bonkers that in 2021 we’ve got the main primary school with all this motor traffic outside it. It’s just not necessary.”

How would you go about cleaning up streets and repairing roads, and would this lead to a rise in council tax?

“Cleaning up litter is an absolute basic duty of a council. In Jesmond, currently, they don’t do a bad job, but in other parts of Newcastle it’s much worse. Litter picking has to be a priority for the council, because it affects the tone of a whole area – if the streets are messy, decent families won’t want to live there, they’ll move out in the whole area will go downhill.

“As for roads, there are several road surfaces in Jesmond that are absolutely appalling, which doesn’t just affect motor traffic but cycling as well. Central government puts the council in a very difficult place because they limit their funding. But there are projects in Newcastle where they’ve spent money, where I don’t agree they should be spending money. Again, it’s a basic duty to keep the roads in decent condition.”

Newcastle has never had a Green Party councillor. What makes you think you can win in North Jesmond?

“To be absolutely frank, I don’t expect to win this time – North Jesmond is hotly contested between Labour and the Lib Dems. However, every vote for the Greens actually counts, even if the Greens don’t win, because at the end of the day the council will sit down and see that the Green vote has increased by 5%, for example, across the city. That shows that constituents care about these issues and policies may be amended to suit this. Having more votes for the Green Party even if they don’t win seats still provides that political pressure and actually makes changes.”

What other Green policies would you like to see implemented in North Jesmond?

“There are issues in Newcastle with greenbelts being dug up to make way for low-density housing. The problem with low density housing is that you can’t get the transport to work, and you force people to drive more cars. This leads to more people driving through Gosforth and Jesmond.

“A lot of cycling infrastructure needs putting in. There is the money available from central government to do this, so there’s no excuse, except from lack of political will. There are some councillors who are dead set against cycling.”

What is your stance on anti-social behaviour in the ward?

“I experience it about once a month, with people shouting in the street or having a party on the field or playing music far too loud with the windows wide open late at night. It makes young families not want to live in Jesmond. On the other side, I have been a student and you’re at university to study, to learn, and to have a good time, and so you are going to get parties. I will say that everyone I’ve spoken to, bar one, has apologised and moved on. It’s not malicious – people just get a little bit drunk and a bit thoughtless. Although, I would like to see some rules set out to deal with the noise.”

Is there anything else you would like to say to voters in North Jesmond, especially the large student population that lives there?

“There’s a lot of awareness that more has to be done for the planet, and the only way that anything will ever change is through politics. We have to put the political pressure on, and the way we can do this in Newcastle is for as many people to vote Green as possible.”

You can meet and quiz all the local election candidates when JesmondLocal hosts a Zoom version of its traditional local election hustings this evening (Tuesday May 4th) from 7:30pm to 9:30pm.

This online event is free, but to be able to attend, you must register. Details of the Zoom link and passcode will be emailed to all registrants just a couple of hours before the event begins.

To get your free ticket, register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/jesmond-local-election-hustings-2021-online-tickets-152269302583