West End South Ward candidates video hustings

[7s] Who are you and why are standing?

[11s] I'm Steve Umby and I am not a career politician.

[15s] I' m a retired firefighter, 31 years in the service.

[18s] All of them as a retained firefight, turning out from home, and the last eight as whole time firefighters too.

[25s] Alongside that, nine years as special constable and time as an ambulance co-responder too, so that's more than three decades of public service,

[33s] not just during work hours, but evenings, weekends and middle of the night too So why am I standing?

[40s] because in 2028 this council has been abolished and merged into a Slampton led authority.

[46s] You need councillors who fight to keep West End feeling like Westend Village, not people who disappear the day the brass plate comes off the door.

[60s] Hello, I'm Dave, and I am proud to be once again standing as your Green Party candidate in West End South for Eastleigh Borough Council.

[69s] I've been living in west end for over 20 years and in that time we've had the same administration in charge of our council for the whole time.

[77s] It is now stale.

[78s] They've run out of ideas and we need change, but we needed the right sort of change.

[83s] A change that brings hope for us and for future generations, not a change it brings division and takes us back into the past.

[90s] Where in the borough should new homes go?

[93s] Name one place and one you would refuse.

[98s] Brownfield first, every single time.

[102s] Redundant commercial sites, empty units above the shops.

[105s] Use those bricks before we touch another field.

[108s] Where I'd refuse?

[110s] Anywhere that eats into the countryside between West End and Southampton.

[113s] That green gap, Telegraph Woods, Moor Green and the Itchin Valley is what stops this community being swallowed up.

[121s] With the council merging into a Slamton-led authority in 2028, protecting that boundary matters more than ever and any development that does come forward must,

[132s] must arrive with infrastructure first.

[135s] GP places, school capacity, proper roads and access for emergency vehicles.

[141s] I've spent 31 years responding to calls down narrow streets and dead-end estates.

[146s] i know what bad planning looks like from the back and the front of a fire appliance.

[151s] I was dead against the one Horton Heath scheme when it was announced because of the scale of it, the unsustainability of,

[156s] it and the fact it's building on green fields.

[159s] It was not a good scheme at all.

[161s] But now that the road infrastructure for it is in place, It would be daft not to build the houses there and houses aren't being built there.

[167s] They need to be built as soon as they can be and it just not happening.

[171s] But where we shouldn't be building houses is around the two decent sized remaining open spaces we've got in West End, Telegraph Woods and Hatch Grange.

[179s] We've go to protect those.

[180s] Would you increase council tax, cut it or keep it the same?

[184s] And what would that mean for residents?

[189s] Freeze it.

[190s] Residents in West End are more grain than paying over £2,300 a year.

[196s] This council has racked up hundreds of millions in commercial property debt and residents shouldn't be covering the cost of those gambles.

[203s] Stop the borrowing, freeze the bill and use the next two years before the merger to get the finances in order.

[209s] It's time the council tightened its belt, not to tighten yours.

[214s] We would all love to pay less tax but anyone that's telling you that they can cut council tax and still deliver the services that we need is lying to you.

[223s] It's as simple as that.

[225s] Given the financial situation that Eastie Borough Council in particular is in, and the national government funding cuts to all local councils.

[233s] It's just not a realistic prospect to cut council tax at the moment.

[237s] I'd love to keep it the same if we can and still deliver public services that are essential.

[242s] And if I can, that's what we'll be doing.

[243s] One last call.

[244s] Anything you'd like to say?

[248s] I've lived in this borough for 37 years.

[251s] First Netley, then Hamble, I know this part of Hampshire.

[257s] In 2028, EC Borough Council ceases to exist.

[261s] Every decision between now and then matters on housing, green spaces and whether this community keeps its voice in whatever comes next.

[269s] I'm standing because you deserve a councillor who will turn up, ask the hard questions and put residents first, not the developers and certainly not The

[279s] Party Machine.

[280s] I've spent my whole adult life running towards problems when everyone else was running the other way.

[285s] Give me your vote on May the 7th and I'll bring that same approach to the council chamber.

[290s] Thanks, have a great weekend.

[292s] The Liberal Democrats in Eastleigh have let us down.

[295s] They have put more noise and more pollution in our skies.

[299s] they have built unsustainable housing estates around our towns and villages where the infrastructure simply cannot cope.

[305s] And they've squandered public funds with no return on investment and put us in a position where Eastley is one of the worst financially performing councils

[316s] in the entire country.

[317s] We need change.

[318s] we know we need to change, but we also need the right sort of change The right sort of change isn't a change that scapegoats the marginalised in our society,

[327s] that pounces on refugees and points the finger of blame at them.

[331s] We need to take responsibility for our own position and for out own future.

[336s] we need take responsibilities for future generations and make sure that we are building a society and infrastructure and an environment that suits them

[346s] We Need Real Hope, we Need real change and I can bring it.