Ashtead Village - Jacquetta Fewster
Jacquetta has lived in Mole Valley for nineteen years. During that time she has seen more traffic clog the roads and pollute the air. The Council needs to act to reduce traffic and air pollution. Green councillors will work to achieve this. Greens support the building of affordable and sustainable homes, rather than the expensive four-bedroom detached houses which seem to get planning permission all too often. Greens strive for improved public places, with well-maintained pavements, and safe and pleasant cycling routes, more trees and less litter.
Beare Green – Muriel Passmore
Muriel has lived in Beare Green, just up the road from Capel, for five years now. She moved here from a busy life in London and finds great delight in living in a rural area and all that has to offer. She's campaigned on environmental matters for the past 10 years. The Green Party aims to protect rural and surrounding areas from overdevelopment.
Bookham North – Richard Essex
Richard has been a member of the Green Party for the last 5 years. He has been involved for many years in supporting a more sustainable environment, including offering socially responsible investment advice via his role as a financial adviser. He is also a council member of Surrey Chambers of Commerce, a board member of Epsom Business Improvement District, and is currently in the process of setting up a climate change forum amongst businesses in Surrey.
Richard believes passionately in protecting our environment, and our local countryside and Areas of Natural Beauty. He is equally passionate, however, that this doesn’t have to conflict with a successful local business community. Richard supports the Green Party view that a successful economy is one that provides a sustainable and fair society for all. In achieving this he will campaign on increasing social infrastructure such as affordable housing and public transport.
Bookham South - Damian McDevitt
Damian McDevitt is delighted to be standing as the Green Party candidate for Bookham South. He has lived in Bookham for forty eight years and is very mindful of the ever-increasing pressures on Mole Valley as an area of outstanding natural beauty adjacent to London. Among the most immediate threats are, of course, fracking and airport expansion, which need clever, whole-hearted and determined opposition. Meanwhile, it is more and more necessary to compensate at a local level for pernicious central government policies on housing and social care. These are all areas where the Green Party will make the difference.
Brockham, Betchworth and Buckland – Roger Abbott
Roger has lived in Brockham since 1981. He was a Parish Councillor, a youth coach/organiser at Dorking RFC and a Youth Committee member at Surrey County RFU. Roger also chaired NAG (the Nutwood Action Group) and helped prevent several inappropriate developments on the Green Belt.
Roger believes that the health of the community is entwined with that of the environment. When communities are badly damaged, members’ loose interest and several key leaders leave resulting in a lack of focus, including on care for the environment.
He believes our heritage is in the communities of people; their interaction with their environment, their stories, their history. Damage the communities and that is what is lost.
Capel, Leigh and Newdigate - John Roche
After living in Mole Valley for over 20 years, John appreciates what a pleasant and safe environment it is to live in. However, like much of the South East, Mole Valley faces increasing pressures on its urban and green spaces. The prospect of Gatwick expansion has now been compounded by the threat of fracking. These developments pose real threats to the quality of life in Mole Valley generally, and Capel, Leigh and Newdigate specifically. John believes that only the Green Party offers effective and coherent policies to develop Mole Valley, while maintaining it as a special place to live.
Charlwood – Lisa Scott
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Lisa has been a resident in Hookwood for 15 years, the past three of which she has been working for the community as Parish Councillor, spearheading projects such as Community Speed Watch.
Lisa has worked to improve cycling and walking infrastructure and accessibility. She took action when her area became the target of unwelcome interest from the on-shore oil exploration industry, which threatens the climate, Green Belt, and the air and land around our homes. The risks of this activity has become even more apparent with the recent earthquake swarms that have already caused damage to homes.
Lisa passionately believes that the key to a positive future is through strong and caring local communities. She's all for protecting and promoting local trades, businesses and services to create local jobs. Lisa supports a Work From Home culture to reduce the pressure to commute.
Holmwoods – Tracey Armston-Harwood
Tracey lives with her husband and young son in the South Holmwood area. Tracey is dedicated to improving the environment and reducing the impacts of climate change at a grass roots level, both in her local area and beyond. Through her business, she encourages others to reduce their reliance on single-use products and to reuse what they have. Tracey strongly believes that each community has the power to make change happen and that she can be the voice needed to bring it about. Tracey previously worked within Local Government for over ten years and understands the challenges which they currently face.
Leatherhead North - Vicki Elcoate
Vicki has long campaigned on important issues for Surrey residents like protecting the countryside from house building and a massive expansion in oil drilling. Vicki supports affordable homes in built up areas near train stations and bus routes - not executive homes in the Green Belt, which mean more cars on our congested roads. She will work to encourage better separation of waste on our doorsteps and will resist the closure of recycling centres, which leads to fly tipping.
Like other local councils she feels Mole Valley District Council should be recognising that we have a Climate Emergency and will put pressure on them to introduce plans and policies to reduce carbon emissions and make our communities more resilient. As a Green councillor Vicki will press for policies on single use plastics (as our Surrey Green councillor has secured at county level).
Leith Hill – Lucy Barford
Lucy lives in Mole Valley with her young family. She spent several years campaigning against the oil drilling plans at Leith Hill and continues to be part of the efforts to stop oil drilling in the local area.
She believes the Green Party provides a different voice in politics, working towards a fair economy, decent housing, free education and public NHS for all. Most importantly they are the only party who would take serious action on climate change, which is the most critical issue facing us all today.
Mickleham, Westhumble and Pixham - Susan McGrath
Susan has lived and worked in Surrey for the past 15 years and loves this beautiful part of the world. As a Green councillor her main focus would be to protect the green belt from predatory developers, promote public transport, fight for health and social care budgets to be maintained and hold the council to account on environmental issues.
Okewood – Jennifer Smith
Jennifer will support the Okewood ward - where she lives and works - to preserve our green spaces from unnessecary development and will work to make our roads safer. She will help the young, elderly and vulnerable have support and access to local amenities, healthcare and education. She will support carers to ensure their living costs are managed while caring for their loved ones. Jennifer supports small businesses and believes they are integral to the success of the local community. By working together the community will thrive.
Stamford – Epsom & Ewell – Janice Baker
Janice has lived in Epsom for 12 years, a retired lecturer, now running a local language school. She is also active in Epsom Refugee Network.
As a Green councillor she would stand up for securing better local services that genuinely meet needs. That includes high-quality affordable housing easily accessible neighbourhood amenities like children’s playgrounds, youth clubs and community centres. Closures, as in The Wells, tear the heart out of the local community, especially when ugly replacement designs are unacceptable locally, and the proposed community space (one hall, one parking place) falls far short of requirements. Such questions need reopening and sorting building a Green economy at the local level which creates local jobs reversing the appalling loss of biodiversity cleaning up our polluted environment.
Pressing times need new creative approaches that set practicable, deliverable priorities through listening to, and investing in people and vibrant communities.
Epsom Town Ward - David Candlin
David is an Assistant Curate at St Martin's parish church, Epsom; he and his wife Nancy live in Town Ward. David is helping transform St Martin's into an 'Ecochurch' - looking right across the church's activities and implementing change to safeguard the environment. He would apply these principles as a councillor in Epsom. David is an experienced local politician, having previously been a Conservative councillor in an inner London borough for six years, where he served as the group's environment spokesperson. David joined the Green Party because he shares its commitment to social and environmental justice and action on climate change.
