Meet the candidates hoping to become councillors in Shoreham

The by-election for Southlands ward takes place on Thursday (October 11).

Andrew Bradbury, a father and a grandfather who has lived in Shoreham for ten years, is standing for the Green party.

Mr Bradbury retired in 2017 after 40 years in public service and currently teaches and gives advice for the charity Worthing 4 Refugees.

He said he is passionate about dealing with climate change and pollution, supporting Shoreham’s traders and the self-employed and helping to provide more effective support to voluntary organisations in Adur and Worthing.

He said: “If elected I will prioritise my programme for the self-employed and small businesses, keep my pledge to older people to speak up for them and fight cuts and policies which might disadvantage them and bring a working together ethic to the council which I believe will benefit residents across Adur as well as in Southlands itself.”

Tony Nicklen, a technical coordinator in food manufacturing, is standing for the Conservative party and hopes to make ‘a positive difference to people’s lives’.

He said: “I raised my family in Adur whilst experiencing homelessness and temporary housing including a caravan.

“I’m an Adur tenant so social housing is a priority to me.

“I want Adur to continue its plans to build more council houses and ensure that private developments include affordable housing that isn’t built on the cheap and doesn’t simply become the slums of tomorrow.”

A dementia friend, he said he would support Northbourne Medical Centre with accessing funding for the Going Local social prescribing scheme.

He also said he would start an environmental volunteer group to tackle the overgrown public open space behind Pasrklands and to clear a fence of ivy in Pebble Way that he said residents dislike.

Deborah Stainforth, known as Debs, is standing for the Labour party.

The mother of two school-aged children lives in Shoreham and is currently completing her training as a community psychologist, having worked in housing, homelessness and family work for many years.

She said she would be ‘a voice for all in Southlands’ and said: “I’ve worked for lots of councils and I know what works well and what needs to change.

“I’m going to work hard to build community resources in Southlands and make sure the council listens to residents and does its job properly.”

She said she was keen to continue the good work of Labour councillors who successfully opposed the removal of income tax support for very low-income families and would fight for ‘truly affordable housing for local people’ and improvements on housing repairs for tenants.

She said she would work with the community to ‘find alternative solutions and to get proper funding back’ for schools, housing, vulnerable people and the NHS.

Click here for more information on the by-election next week.

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