Stafford Trent Valley 2025 candidate profile – Peter Voss (Liberal Democrats)

As part of our coverage of the upcoming Staffordshire County Council elections, A Little Bit of Stone invited every candidate standing in the Stone area to complete a standard questionnaire. The questions were shaped by feedback gathered through our recent Stone Matters survey, where local residents told us which issues matter most to them.

We asked candidates to focus their answers on the responsibilities of Staffordshire County Council – highways, education, social care, transport, public health and related services. Their responses appear below unedited, exactly as supplied.

Name
Peter Voss

Party
Liberal Democrats

Division
Stafford Trent Valley

---

Q1: Tell us a bit about yourself. Who are you, and why have you decided to stand for election in the Staffordshire County Council elections?

I was born, brought up and have lived in Stafford for most of my life. I’m a Geographer/Geologist by training and have always had an interest in nature and environmental issues. I have worked as a geography teacher, in occupational pensions and now in digital marketing, for a company based in Stone. I have been involved in community based projects locally for a number of years and have decided to stand for election to the County Council as I feel it’s time to put some effort into putting into practice the principals that I have been talking about for years.

Q2: Do you live in the Division?

No

Q3: If not, why have you chosen to stand here?

We already had a candidate for the division where I live, so after consideration of where I know reasonably well within the other county divisions in Stafford Borough, Stafford Trent Valley seemed a good fit. I have closer connections to, and knowledge of, the southern part of the division, but working in Stone gives me an insight into some if the issues facing the northern part – especially the never-ending roadworks on the A34 and A51.

Q4: What relevant experience or background do you bring to the role of County Councillor?

I was a Borough Councillor in the 1990s, have experience of working in a Council that has been in ’no overall control’ and in a council that was also looking at local government reorganisation. I have been both a school governor and a high school teacher so have experience of the role the County Council has in education. I am an informal carer to older relatives and so also have some experience of the issues around social care.

Q5: The County Council has declared a climate emergency and committed to a Net Zero target. What does that commitment mean in practice for local residents and businesses? What will you do to support this goal locally?

The fact that the County Council has acknowledged that there is a climate emergency is a step in the right direction. Moving to Net Zero makes sense both for our climate and ultimately financially, as renewable energy costs will come down in the medium to long term. Hopefully the new Council elected next month will be able to provide realistic guidance and support to local residents to help them live climate friendly lifestyles. For businesses, I would hope to see the County Council continue to fund Staffordshire Business Environment Network (SBEN) in their excellent work in supporting local businesses develop and implement environmentally sensitive policies and practices. Personally I will continue to do my bit to reduce my carbon footprint and will encourage others to do the same.

Q6: The Udall Grange estate is nearing completion, and just last month, proposals were announced for a further 500 homes on adjoining land. There has been no mention of improvements to infrastructure, GP capacity or dental services. The County Council is responsible for roads, schools, and medical services, while Stafford Borough Council handles planning. How do you square away this imbalance? What would you do to ensure new developments do not come at the cost of existing residents’ wellbeing?

The most concerning issue with regard to any further housing developments locally is going to be the Government’s proposed ‘relaxation’ of planning rules as part of its push for growth. The last thing that is needed is for developments to be allowed to be brought forward with even less regard for existing local infrastructure and their impact on local communities. The proposed unification of County and Borough functions into a Unitary authority will, hopefully, bring all the issues currently split across these authorities ‘under one roof’, and so the current disconnect can be resolved.

Q7: The Aston to Burston Trail has been closed for months following the collapse of a footbridge. A drawn‑out process between the landowner and local authority has left this well‑used route in limbo. Do you think the County Council has done enough to uphold public rights of way in our area? What would you do differently?

The County Council has struggled to uphold public rights of way across Staffordshire for years, mainly due to funding issues, but sometimes you do have to wonder if it is actually through lack of interest. I think what the local community has done in keeping up pressure on this issue is outstanding and is almost certainly the only reason why there has, eventually, been some movement in terms of both funding a solution and now a timescale for getting the bridge replaced. Local community pressure is something that I have used before (when a Borough Councillor) to get disinterested parties (Severn Trent) to fix things (like when Kingston Brook in Stafford, turned blue in 1993). Direct community pressure is almost certainly going to be something that will need to continue in the future, in order to get things fixed that the authorities care not to prioritise.

Q8: What is your stance on the enforcement of Stone High Street as a pedestrianised zone? At times, the Market Square resembles a car park. Should access be more tightly restricted or more flexible, and how should this be enforced?

In my view, if a street is pedestrianised, the restrictions to traffic entering the pedestrianised zone need to be enforced. Enforcement of pedestrian restrictions can either be by the Police or Local Authority, but with limited budgets and other priorities neither is usually in a position to provide the necessary officers to do this. So the option of going down the APNR camera route is sensible. If most supermarkets have their parking monitored by these, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to think that they may be part of the solution to the issues currently affecting Stone High Street.

Q9: Stone and the surrounding area has lost many of its bus routes in recent years. This leaves many residents, especially older people and those without cars, isolated. What would you do to improve public transport options in the division?

Under the current regulations it is very difficult for most local authorities to effectively and actively manage local public transport networks. The move of allowing directly elected regional mayors to bring local bus networks back under local government control (e.g. the ‘Bee Network’ in Greater Manchester), is the first step in the right direction. This ability to manage local bus networks needs to be given to County (and their replacement Unitary) Councils.

Q10: With transport in mind, what is your view on how the County Council should balance road infrastructure investment with active travel options such as walking and cycling?

There needs to be a far more equitable split between future road infrastructure investment, and walking and cycling infrastructure investment, especially within urban environments. There also needs to be more investment in public transport, and hopefully the recent changes allowing regional mayors to take charge of public transport is something that can be extended to future unitary authorities, too.

Q11: Speeding and dangerous parking, particularly on roads near local schools, is a common concern. What can be done to improve road safety for children and penalise offenders?

Despite 20mph speed limits being place outside most schools, some drivers seem to believe that they do not apply to them. The more frequent use of community (hand-held) ‘speed guns’ stationed outside schools can act as ‘brake’ to speeding motorists, even if they do not result in fines. Other options would require re-organising the roads outside schools to have chicanes and speed humps, to slow traffic. The parking issues for many (especially urban) schools can, in part, be resolved by encouraging the majority of children to walk or cycle to school: ‘walking busses’, for example. If there are parking restrictions around schools these need to be enforced. All this, however, needs to be done in consultation not only with the school, its pupils and their parents, but with the residents who live around the school, to make sure that what is done, works for everyone.

Q12: What is your view on the provision of school places and SEND services in Staffordshire? Are local families being properly supported, and what changes would you advocate for at the County level?

From what I have read recently and from my experience of teaching in two high schools in Staffordshire (admittedly some time ago), I would say that the situation now is much the same as it was in the late 2000s – mixed! The lack in consistency of provision creates problems both for the pupils with additional needs, their parents and the schools trying to support them. So more consistent provision needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. The major issue is, however, funding and that is something that the Government will need to address, and not just for the future. The overspend on SEND budgets over recent years have been ‘magicked’ away (by the so called “statutory override”) from County Council accounts, but these are set to reappear from March next year – the potential impact of this on the County Council’s budget is absolutely dire.

Q13: Devolution is coming down the tracks, with the creation of new combined authorities. What are your views on this shift, and how can we ensure towns like Stone are properly represented in a larger unitary structure?

The move to Unitary authorities in Staffordshire has been discussed since the early 1990s and never really progressed much beyond ‘talking about it’ and the creation of the City of Stoke-on-Trent unitary council, due to the diverse nature and the multiple centres of gravity within the County. Now it looks like it is going to happen (whether we want it or not) and so it’s essential that whatever the outcome, the resulting Unitary Authority actually represents the best interests of the residents of Stone and the rest of Stafford Borough. The number of Councillors, and so representation, will undoubtedly decrease, therefore, it is important that what is left, is able to deliver for local communities. For Stone and the other parishes in the Stafford Trent Valley division this means that their Town and Parish councils will need to be more widely consulted to ensure that all local views are heard.

Q14: What is one issue in the division that you believe does not get enough attention at County Council level, and what would you do about it within the remit of the role?

The co-ordination (or lack of) of roadworks: the never-ending roadworks on the A34 and the A51. It beggars belief that for the better part of the last three years there have been some sort of major disruptive roadworks on both the A34 and A51, and usually at the same time. There had to have been some way to better co-ordinate these works, to limit the disruption – that at times, effectively brought both Stone and Stafford to a grinding halt. So one thing that I will be pushing for is for some sort of highways roadworks ‘Czar’ who has the power get any future roadworks better co-ordinated and so, less disruptive.

Q15: Finally, why should residents vote for you on 1st May?

It would be an honour to represent the residents of Stafford Trent Valley on the County Council and I would always seek to represent the people of the division to the best of my ability and for their benefit. The County Council has been controlled by the tories since 2009, with virtually no opposition and that is not particularly healthy for either democracy or the county. So the chance to help shift that imbalance, hopefully with a number of fellow Liberal Democrats, would I believe bring benefits to both the communities of Stafford Trent Valley and Staffordshire.