Woolston ward
| Summary: | Elections to Southampton City Council in May 2016 |
| Polling date: | Thursday 5th May 2016 |
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| Candidates (by surname): |
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Questions for Woolston ward candidates (2 questions)
# Question 1
If elected will you sign up to the Space for Cycling campaign?
| Sue ATKINS (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition) | Yes |
| Katherine BARBOUR (Green Party) | Yes, I will sign up to the Space for Cycling Campaign. I am a keen cyclist around the city and countryside and support this campaign wholeheartedly. |
| Sue BLATCHFORD (Labour Party) | The candidate has not responded to the survey. |
| Colin BLEACH (Liberal Democrat) | The candidate has not responded to the survey. |
| Alex FIUZA (The Conservative Party) | A response has been submitted on behalf of all Conservative Party candidates by the group spokesperson for Environment and Transport, Councillor Steven Galton. |
| Christopher HAMMOND (Labour Party) | The candidate has not responded to the survey. |
| Graham HENRY (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition) | The candidate has not responded to the survey. |
| Ron MELDRUM (Green Party) |
Thank you for sending me details of the safer cycling campaign. I am a cyclist my self (see attached picture of on the IOW Randonee last year) and always keen to see ways in which cycling can be made safer for all road users. Therefore of course if elected would sign space for cycling campaign.
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| Keith REED (Liberal Democrat) | The candidate has not responded to the survey. |
| Joe SPENCER (The Conservative Party) | The candidate has not responded to the survey. |
# Question 2
If elected what would you do to encourage cycling in Southampton?
| Sue ATKINS (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition) | I support your campaign and would work with you to advance all the themes that you list above. |
| Katherine BARBOUR (Green Party) | I believe we need investment in both infrastructure and road safety enhancements, and in education and public awareness. many less women than men cycle around the city and when I ask them why they cite the speed and space for cycling as being the main barriers.
I believe that the majority of residential roads and shopping streets can be made safe for cyclists by reducing road speeds to 20mph. I am aware that the cycle campaign have criticised the council for either not consulting on relevant plans, or doing so and then ignoring the responses. I would make efforts to resolve these were I to be elected. |
| Sue BLATCHFORD (Labour Party) | The candidate has not responded to the survey. |
| Colin BLEACH (Liberal Democrat) | The candidate has not responded to the survey. |
| Alex FIUZA (The Conservative Party) | I believe cycling is an important part of any modern city, and has numerous benefits both to the health and well-being of individuals and the environment, for this it is clear we should be encourage cycling. We can achieve this by making Southampton a more cycle friendly city, by working on current infrastructure in place and developing new ones. In addition, at a local level we can engage with the community about the benefits of cycling, an example off the top of my head, would be to organise volunteer based cycle maintenance workshops. Safety for both leisure and commuter cyclists is also paramount, hence why we are in favour of the 20mph speed limits in certain areas. I feel most importantly, a good Conservative council would liaise with organisations such as Southampton Cycle Campaign to focus on areas of interest. |
| Christopher HAMMOND (Labour Party) | The candidate has not responded to the survey. |
| Graham HENRY (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition) | The candidate has not responded to the survey. |
| Ron MELDRUM (Green Party) | The problem of course is that all road users go a different speeds. If everyone went at the same speed the chance of collision would be reduced. Therefore in principle where road users travel at different speeds it is desirable to have separation.
Cyclists should not ride on pavements, jump red traffic lights, weave through traffic and ride without lights at night, which is what I see happening everyday. Powered vehicles should keep clear of cyclist and always give them adequate space as expressed in the highway code. Clearly some of the cycling routes we have in Southampton have been badly designed and poorly marked and if elected would want to push for improvement in these facilities. I would also be keen to see a bike hire system implemented, I would be keen to see cycling training brought back to schools and indeed see safe cycling training available to everyone. Much has been discussed about bringing in home zones where traffic speed is reduced to 20mph. This is of course useful for all people, residence, walkers and cyclist, but it equally should be remembered that when combustion powered vehicles run slowly they are less efficient and produce more air pollutants. As a Green Party member I am keen to see the reduction of combustion powered vehicles on our roads and would be keen to explore ways of achieving this for Southampton. |
| Keith REED (Liberal Democrat) | The candidate has not responded to the survey. |
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