Support Our Campaign to Save Sheffield City Airport
On Friday 11th January, Timothy Kirkhope MEP and Spencer Pitfield, Sheffield and South Yorkshire Conservative Party Spokesman, hosted a cross-party meeting in Sheffield to help galvanise further support for the campaign to re-open Sheffield City Airport.
Nigel Bonson has the courage to take the difficult decisions which will be necessary in the role of Police and Crime Commissioner. Unlike his opponents however, he has real experience of the role of a police officer and this gives him the means and the credibility to create effective working relationships with officers, officials and partners. Critically he says, he has the necessary insight to tackle inefficient working practices on the behalf of South Yorkshire people.
Sheffield Conservatives are delighted to announce that they have joined with other associations in South Yorkshire to contribute to the operation of the brand new South Yorkshire Campaign Centre. This is a fantastic move for Sheffield Conservatives. The Party has shown faith in us after our recent achievements locally against the Lib Dems in both Dore and Totley and Fulwood wards and is keen to see these efforts backed by the best professional resources the Conservative Party can offer them.
The operations of the Sheffield Office will transfer formally to this fantastic new resource as of September 2012. Vonny Watts, who stood in the local elections in Fulwood and is Deputy Chair of South Yorkshire said of the move, "This is a fantastic opportunity for both Sheffield and South Yorkshire Conservatives. We are delighted the central Party are throwing financial resources at us to ensure that we continue to build on the excellent advances we have made recently.This means we will have the best resources we could possibly wish for to ensure we make further gains throughout South Yorkshire. Sheffield is lucky to have this fantastic centre to hand with professional input from Central Office most welcome. I am currently in the process of organising a number of events where we will be able to share best practice across all the associations in South Yorkshire. If any Sheffield member or supporter would like to visit the South Yorkshire Campaign Centre they should contact me and I am more than happy to show them around so that they can see for themselves what a really unmissable opportunity this was."
Lord Feldman, the Co-chairman of The Conservative Party, officially opened the new South Yorkshire Campaign Centre today. Lord Feldman was keen to stress his support for the efforts that are being made in the South Yorkshire area on behalf of the party and he promised that further investment would be made to ensure that gains are made in future campaigns.
Lord Feldman, who was partly responsible for the campaign to elect David Cameron in 2010, spoke at length to members of the party from throughout South Yorkshire and fielded a number of questions. He stressed that we must remain strong in these difficult times. The Conservative Party is the firm and stable hand guiding the British economy through an increasingly unstable Europe the Party Co-chairman told the audience.
The Co-chairman of the Conservative Party was welcomed by Andy Frith, the Chairman of South Yorkshire Conservatives and by Vonny Watts and Lynda Donaldson the Deputy Chairmen. They are all delighted that the Campaign Centre is now available to associations in South Yorkshire to fully utilise in future campaigns in order to offer strong opposition to Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
Vonny Watts - the candidate in Fulwood received a call to assist a resident who had spotted an accident blackspot in the ward. He asked for Vonny's assistance as he has realised that she is the candidate in Fulwood who actually gets out and does things for the ward. The resident is calling for better traffic management in Blackbrook Road where passing is very difficult. Vonny has promised to take this issue up with the council on his behalf. Meanwhile Vonny went up to the site today, the day before the local elections, and trimmed foliage from the speed limit sign as the resident had alerted her to the fact that this was contributing to the problem. Vonny is not content to "stand up" for issues. She wants people to see that she acts too! Vote for Vonny Watts tomorrow and see how much she will get done for Fulwood!
See what else Vonny has done here... http://votevonnywatts.blogspot.co.uk/
Vonny Watts - the candidate in Fulwood is appalled to find that the Sheffield Liberal Democrats have used their website to list a recent tweet of their own on Twitter about Dementia Care Centres to appear as though it is from her. This is quite misleading. Vonny is keen to set the record straight and says, "I have done my research carefully and will not deliberately scare the people of Fulwood in order to win an election. There has been no decision on the 3 care centres as yet. The proposal in the budget is that £300,000 is saved but not that the centres will be axed. I have consulted Cllr Mary Lea about the potential that the centres will close and she confirms that this is not the case. She says that the current buildings are not fit for purpose and are underused, and the intention is that more effective provision is made that will be more fully utilised. The decision does take account of the fact that people will be able to use funds to choose the care that they prefer in the city that best suits their needs. Crucially this is only at consultation stage and representatives from those involved and affected by any potential decisions will be brought in to consult when the Cabinet meets later in May. I would always rather work from facts than scaremongering in advance and I have made this clear to the Lib Dems. Their tactics in listing their own view on this as my own is rather regrettable. I can only assure the people of Fulwood and the City that I will work to ensure that Dementia Care provision in Sheffield is maintained in a way that is best for those affected. I will never seek to needlessly frighten those who are suffering. That would be a shameful thing to do. I have offered to raise funds via a charity event with my Lib Dem opponent and have received no response so far. I am sorry that the Liberal Democrats have misrepresented the way I feel about this issue. I have now prevented them from using Twitter to target me in this way by blocking them from doing so. This is very unfortunate after I have been doing so many positive things for the people of Fulwood."
Russell Cutts (On the left in the photograph) our candidate in Burngreave has fought long and hard for a better deal for cyclists in our city. Russell is a structural engineer and bicycle mechanic and was featured in an article for The Times recently and said this,
"The roundabout (Brook Hill) is possibly one of the busiest and fastest junctions on the entire ring road, with no traffic light controls, poor visibility and no distinct cycle provision. Alternative routes require large diversions or dismount and push.
“Many people travel this route daily and it doesn’t surprise me that they wouldn’t want to do it on a bicycle. I used to use this junction often and always had to take the lane entering the roundabout and then pray that there was a long enough gap in the traffic to let me out and get up to speed. Three sets of pedestrian crossings on Upper Hanover Street also mean that traffic regularly backs up at peak periods making it even harder to traverse.”
Vonny Watts, the candidate in Fulwood, has been inundated with requests for help from residents of the Westminster Estate in Lodge Moor.
Residents are furious about the removal of carpets due to Health and Safety regulations. Carpets they placed themselves to improve the communal areas have been removed and this has left floors noisy, cold and unattractive. Residents are asking Vonny to help them secure improvements and she has leapt to the challenge.
Sheffield Conservatives are fielding a candidate in every ward in the city. All nominations are now validated. Some of the candidates attended the briefing at the Town Hall last night.
