What are the issues our local politicians should be tackling ?

The leaflets that I have seen coming through my letterbox seem to promote "Party , Party, Party" with messages that read like "Vote for us because our party is best"

Whereas what I want to hear is "Vote for me, because I'm concerned about Ulverston and I will fight to sort out and support local issues.

Personally I couldn't care less what party a person is in , it is what he/she does and how he/she behaves that is the most important.

Please no cardboard cutouts for me. Here's a guy made of flesh and blood.

Here are some of the issues I want to hear the candidate talking about: the one that I will vote for.

1. The Mismanagement of Car Parking Charges - especially the fact that Stockbridge Lane Car Park is so underused and that the charges are so high that they encourage people to use Supermarkets where parking is free. There are many , many people who believe that the SLDC and the Lib. Dem.s have little to no business sense and do not understand that high charges applied across the board do not lead to higher revenue. These high charges are having a disastrous effect not only on our shops but on our market. Along with this is the need for stricter enforcement of car parking enfringements ( Dog Fouling is a related issue)

2. The Survival of the Thursday and Saturday Markets which have a knock on effect on the visitors using our shops. In other towns like Sedbergh and Lancaster the local councils have made a big effort in working with the stall holders to make conditions that increase business - encouraging and organising coach parties.

3. Helping the Festivals to survive : Dickensian, Lantern Procession and Flag Fortnight are all in a state of crisis - people are having meetings to struggle to find an solution to the Lantern Procession at this very moment - There are two problems one is financial where support from UTC and SLDC (and even CCC), but the main one is bringing people together as a community to work together.

4. The Possibility of another Supermarket.  It is feared that this will put a lot of local shops out of business. The big companies like Tesco and Sainsbury have the economic power to undercut local shops for long periods. Then when the economic climate changes and for instance transport costs become relatively high they will choose to pull out of those towns that are away from the motorways, leaving us to rebuild our commercial supply with businesses with products made locally. It would seem better to encourage locally made/grown products to be sold locally in our own markets. This allows a very flexible business model designed for the individual needs of local communities that could cope better with the difficult times ahead: something large companies cannot do.

6. The financial mismanagement of the provision of local services like our public toilets costing over £400 each to be operated. With The Gill toilet being permanently lit every night even though it is locked up. The fencing around Mill Dam Sheltered Housing being replaced with new (when 90% of the wood was still sound) whilst that around the adjacent park is falling apart. This arose because one department found itself with cash to spend (Housing) whilst another (Parks) had none

5. There is an increasing demand for allotments. At the moment this is the issue with the most UTCouncillors showing and interest , yet there are still substantial problems with plots being neglected so that when finally they do become free they are overgrown with couch grass and perennial weeds, in some cases covered with brambles and in others having no nutrition left in the soil because of bad management which leads to the need to use artificial fertilisers.

6. Harnessing the willingness of the public to want to get involved with cultivating public land in an environmentally friendly and community way. There is of course our work in Mill Dam Park, but the Pound area right next door is ripe for a project. There is another group wanting to develop ecofriendly (wild flowers - a pond etc) ideas in Lightburn Park. We are successfully working at controlling the presence of Himalayan Balsam in Gill Banks. Someone else is working with the parish church at Church Walk. Then of course there is the work at Ford Park. There are others - the herbalist trying to get a garden going.

Sadly I haven't seen anyone that truly impresses me.

I'm waiting for the George Galloway of Ulverston to step forward. Wouldn't it be great to have someone with a bit of fire in his belly and a level of integrity to be fighting our corner?