Your Labour Candidates:
Franklands Ward Burgess Hill
GEMMA BOLTON
Town and District Council Candidate
I am proud to be standing as a council candidate for the ward that I grew up in and where I still live. I attended Birchwood Grove school and am now studying to be a Social Worker. Once qualified, I hope to stay and work locally. If elected, I will work to ensure our town centre redevelopment is a success and to promote the town to local small businesses. I believe it is important to retain Burgess Hill’s originality rather than become a clone town.
I will also promote green spaces and recreation areas and work to build our local community by providing the public services and facilities for leisure and entertainment the town needs. I am a proud member of Unite the Union.
DAVID CHALKLEY
District Council Candidate
I am married and have lived in Burgess Hill for 37 years. Before retiring, I was National Organiser for a trade union and previously worked in bus service planning for London Transport. I am a member of the Burgess Hill Horticultural Society, the Burgess Hill Green Circle and the Wey and Arun Canal Trust. I have a particular interest in road and rail transport and am Secretary of both Burgess Hill Labour Party and Mid Sussex Constituency Labour Party. I believe that the town centre redevelopment needs to benefit the needs of the people of the town, not the developers.
Vote Thursday 2nd May - don’t forget your poll card!
Your Labour team's pledges to you
We will always put your interests above all else on the District and Town councils.
We will press for local decision-making. Our growing town of 35,000 people should not be governed by a handful of District Council cabinet members in Haywards Heath.
We will press for better public services – road sweeping, grass cutting, maintaining public areas, etc.
We will campaign for a good and improved bus service and fight against any reduction in services.
We will work constructively with other councillors, considering issues on their merits alone.
We will always be available – listening to your concerns and pressing for action to resolve difficulties.
The Conservatives promised a vibrant redeveloped town centre - What have we seen so far?
- Regeneration now months behind schedule
- Martlets Hall given away, ignoring a petition signed by 6,500, with no requirement for developer funding towards a replacement
- No affordable housing among the proposed 150 flats
- No money to be provided for infrastructure improvements
- Local businesses being relocated with short-term leases and loss of trade
- Empty derelict section of the shopping centre
- Loss of Market, NatWest Bank, Clark's shoe shop etc
As part of the redevelopment we were promised a permanent ‘state-of-the-art’ replacement for the library after its temporary move
- The library was due to move to its temporary site in February 2018 but this site is still not ready
- The temporary library is much smaller than its current site and needs extra work to make the floors stronger and the lifts adequate
- It now appears that the site proposed for a permanent library is being considered for a bowling alley
- Will Burgess Hill get the permanent new ‘state-of-the-art’ library we were promised?
Whose fault is this? You can choose between:
- the Conservative Town Council
– the Conservative District Council
- the Conservative County Council or
- the Conservative Government
A vote for Labour is a vote to:
Stand up to speculative developers
Demand high building standards that include renewable energy
Create more affordable housing
Be more transparent about how council decisions are made
Bring back truly representative local planning committees
Put the environment and green space above profit
Balance the needs of business with the interests of the community
If you do have anything you wish to discuss with us then please do not hesitate to contact Gemma or David at