As part of our election coverage, we’ve asked the candidates some high-level questions. All responses are un-edited.
- Candidate Name: Mike Osborne-Town
- Party: Labour Party
- Election: Stone Town Council / Stafford Borough Council
- Ward: St. Michael’s / St. Michael’s and Stonefield
Tell our readers about yourself:
I have lived in Stone for over 30 years and both my sons were educated in the local schools. Having worked in education for most of my career, I recently retired and want to put something back into the place I live. I am a strong supporter of Stone as a town and am a keen user of its facilities and services. I am a school governor and I work voluntarily for a local charity and other voluntary organisations.
What’s your personal statement about why you’re standing and what you want to do over the next 4 years:
I want Stone to be the best place to live in Staffordshire for people of all ages, especially our children and senior citizens. We need good schools and we need excellent amenities to help us when we get older. We also need a good quality of life and that includes improving our environment and making our town as environmentally friendly as possible. If elected, I would want to:
- Make Stone the “green” capital of Staffordshire.
- Work with the Borough Council to improve the flow of traffic around Stone and fight to minimise the effects of HS2 (if we can’t stop it!)
- Introduce charging points for electric cars in order to reduce air pollution.
- Improve and extend recycling schemes, including reducing the use of plastics.
- Encourage residents and businesses, especially supermarkets, to be responsible for the condition of the area around their properties.
- Improve housing and community facilities, especially for children, young people and senior citizens.
How does standing as a political party candidate affect serving local people on local issues?
I would work hand in hand with other councillors to get the best for Stone. Things get done through partnership and co-operation, not conflict or point-scoring. However, currently, despite over 14,000 people voting Labour in the 2017 General Election, there is no Labour representative on Stone Town Council and no Stone Labour representative on the Borough Council. That can’t be right. I would not bring national politics into local decisions, except by reflecting the values of fairness, community and “for the many not the few”. However, although the current council has done many good things, I think it has become a bit of a club and needs new blood. The Conservative Party and the Independent Party (and they do work as a party) have become complacent. As someone who has never been a councillor before, I would bring in new ideas and make sure things get done.
Do you live in Stone, if not what’s your link to Stone and your reason for standing as Stone candidate?
I have lived in Stone for over 30 years and both my sons were educated in the local schools. *
*Taken from the initial “tell us about yourself question
What’s been your history as a political councillor?
No previous experience – As someone who has never been a councillor before, I would bring in new ideas and make sure things get done.*
*Taken from a previous question
What are the top 5 issues that you think affect the residents of Stone over the next 5 years?
- HS2: I’m against it and still think we could stop it. It’s a waste of money that could be spent on so many better things – like local health services, hospitals and schools. At worst, we need to minimise the traffic chaos and pollution it will cause.
- Stone, Green capital of Staffordshire: We need to adopt green initiatives that have been shown to be successful elsewhere in the country and internationally. We need to do our bit to save our planet for the sake of our children.
- Improving local facilities and services to match the number of new houses being built: This is not only to do with roads and congestion; it’s also to do with things like doctors’ surgery appointments, support for special needs in schools, housing for first-time buyers and homes for the elderly and ill.
- Town centre improvements: I’m a great supporter of the new leisure centre and the new heritage centre, theatre and pub on the canal side, as well as of High Street businesses. We must do all that we can to ensure they thrive.
- Stone First: I sometimes think that Stone gets left out by its bigger neighbour, Stafford, in Stafford Borough Council decisions. We need to punch our weight to get what we deserve.
How will you keep in touch with your constituents concerns?
I’ll do it in any way possible: Being there at farmers’ markets; regular surgeries in the library, perhaps; as well as by phone, email and social media.
