FOUR people are standing in the election for the Charterlands Ward of South Hams Council next Thursday.

Jan Chapman, Yealmpton, is standing for the Green Party. A retired veterinary surgeon, Jan has been active in the Green Party for the last few years and is standing to ‘give people a chance to vote Green’.

‘We have two excellent Green Party SHDC councillors already’, said Jan, ‘and they make a big difference and we would like to have more.’

She said if she was elected, she would be focussing on housing, saying ‘we have lots of extra housing, but none that satisfies the local needs. I would use my influence to try and change that’, better recycling rates and more green energy.

‘We have the power in the area to generate all we need with wind and solar’, she added, ‘but Central Government are so wedded to fossil fuels. I might not be able to change that but I will support all the efforts locally to improve our production of green energy.’

She describes herself as an ‘amateur naturalist’ who knows that the environment is ‘integral to everyone’s life’ and not an ‘optional extra’.

Elizabeth Huntley, Bigbury-on-Sea, is standing for the Liberal Democrats. Elizabeth lives with her husband and is a Bigbury Parish Councillor. She has a degree in English and trained as a school teacher.

However Elizabeth then pursued a career making wildlife documentaries working with David Attenborough and Tony Soper amongst others. She also ran a small hotel and restaurant in Bath for 30 years.

Elizabeth is part of the Bigbury Neighbourhood Plan team and is very aware of the unwanted developments in the ward - including Modbury, Kingston, Ringmore and St Anns Chapel.

If elected she will ‘do everything I can to support our local communities fighting these schemes’. She will also ‘oppose planned increased car parking charges which would damage the small independent shops and businesses in our market towns, especially Modbury’.

Elizabeth Huntley is the only candidate that lives in the Charterlands Ward.

Dave Trigger, California Cross, is standing for the Labour Party. A well-known face in and around Modbury, he works as the Wharfmaster at Devonport Dockyard, has a smallholding at California Cross, from where he runs his fruit and veg stall, and is chairman of the national Small Farmers Association.

Dave has been a district councillor and an Ivybridge Town Councillor. He sits on the local board of the Community Volunteer Service, is a former lifeboatman and has been awarded the MBE for services to the Ministry of Defence.

Dave has lived in South Devon all his life with his family, and he said: ‘As a local man living in California Cross I know the problems we face in and around Modbury and the South Hams.

‘I see too many of our young people forced to move away because of house prices, second home owners and a lack of good jobs.

‘I chat on my fruit and veg stall with people who are forced to drive because our council doesn’t support rural buses. With care homes closing and the Community Hospitals at Ashburton, Paignton and Ashburton facing the chop I hear how worried our older people are about their NHS and long-term care.

‘It’s time our community had a strong, experienced voice on South Hams District Council. I’m not a career politician. I’m a local man who wants to stand up for local people in the place I call home.’

Jonathan Bell, California Country Inn, is standing for the Conservative Party. Growing up in the Pickwick Inn, St Ann’s Chapel, and studying at Cardiff University, Jonathan now runs the California Country Inn with his father.

Newly married to his wife Nukki, they are looking forward to building their lives and raising a family in the South Hams.

Jonathan says he is committed to ‘putting rural issues front and centre’. He said: ‘Our villages need good quality starter homes alongside more expensive houses. I am committed to ensuring that when homes are built in Charterlands, a fair proportion will be reserved for local people and affordable for first time buyers’.

He wants to ‘maintain and enhance commercial diversity within the area by supporting independent business, which in turn bring local employment and investment to a central part of the South Hams’

He says he is sometimes criticised for ‘an excess of energy and drive’ and he wants to use that ‘tenacity ago deliver strong representation and ensure that the character of this area is not lost’, and he will be a ‘vocal champion for our community needs’.

The election takes place on Thursday, February 23, between 7am and 10pm. Polling stations will be at Memorial Hall, St Ann’s Chapel; Korniloff Residential Home, Warren Road, Bigbury-on-Sea; Church of St James the Less, Kingston; Memorial Hall, Back Street, Modbury; and at the Women’s Institute, Ringmore. Your polling card will tell you which polling station to attend.