Dear Voter

I am delighted to be standing as an Independent Councillor Candidate for Friends of Brighton and Hove in South Portslade.

I am born and bred in Portslade.

My father worked at the Old Shoreham Power Station, and his mother’s family was Muggeridge the Ships Chandlers, originally based in Southwick.

I am passionate about the area, and have been an active member of the community all my adult life. When my children were growing up I was on the PTA (Parent Teacher Association) and eventually became a parent Governor for three years. I volunteered with the Scouts and am a member of West Sussex Scout Caving, a support unit for the Scouting Association.

I am deeply concerned about our children’s mental health and wellbeing and the lack of youth clubs and other places for them to go and socialise to keep them engaged with positive activities and out of trouble, particularly post-pandemic. Then there is the problem of where they live when they come of age, an issue close to my heart with my own two young adults in the same boat, or more accurately house, with me and their dad for the foreseeable future.

I believe everything starts with a thriving local community

For starters, South Portslade needs:

• Public toilets
• Youth clubs
• Easier parking to support local businesses
• An end to ugly overdevelopment, particularly with no 40% affordable housing provision which is supposed to be included in each newbuild block.

The removal of parking meters is also outrageous as not everyone has smart phone apps and everyone has a right to a private life. Some people just want to park and if it’s made too difficult for them they will take their business elsewhere.

If you elect me, I give you my word – as a person not a politician – that I will do everything within my power to address the above issues and all the other basics wrong with our city such as the neglect, the graffiti, the weeds and the potholes.

Just as importantly I will be listening to and working for YOU as a public servant with no other political masters to get in the way.

Please Vote Helen Dear in the 4th May elections.