Since 2021 I’ve been proud to call Bury my home.

Full statement

I work for an international children’s charity, fighting for children’s rights in the UK and abroad. It’s the desire to help people that has made me want to stand as your Green candidate in Ramsbottom.

I’m driven by a politics of hope and that real change can happen when we all come together and demand it.

Ramsbottom is blessed with so many amazing local businesses and I want to ensure that they thrive, not struggle to survive. I will fight to make leases affordable for small businesses through rent controls, giving the council the power to prevent landlords from hiking up the price and driving out independent traders. I will push the council to use powers such as compulsory purchase orders to bring long-term empty shops back into public use to get art, leisure and music into our high street. At the heart of this I want to give residents a real voice in shaping their high street, putting decisions in the hands of local people and making sure the money spent in the local community stays there.

Ramsbottom is an incredible place to live, but being desirable comes at a cost. The town is one of the most expensive places to live in the Bury borough and is pricing more and more local people out - especially as we continue to live through a cost of living crisis.

Green-run councils across the country have built council homes for the local community – and this is something I would be pushing for as your local representative. This would not be at the expense of our beautiful Lancashire countryside, instead l’d look to utilise disused industrial land and work with residents to have direct input on how these neighbourhoods are planned and developed. Private renters are often forced to pay over the odds for sub-standard homes. Nationally, we will continue to use our voice to pressure the Labour government to give local authorities the power to introduce rent controls to curb overheated rents in our area.

Local services continue to be cut to the bone under a Labour government, while council taxes continue to go up. I will oppose cuts to council services while supporting democratic control of local assets, that shift power over housing, assets and financial decision-making into the hands of the community.

Reliable and accessible public transport is one of the best tools we have at our disposal to help tackle both the cost of living crisis and climate crisis. And while the Bee Network is a good start, it doesn’t go far enough. Bus fares should be free for all people under 22-years-old and this is something I will push for as your Green councillor, if elected.

This is my vision for Ramsbottom, one where we put the interests of the local community first and fight to ensure we have the funding and powers we need to provide residents with the services they deserve.