Our Candidate for Old Basing

Richard has lived in Old Basing since moving to Basingstoke in 2010. He is a dentist based at Gwynne Dental in the town centre.

Originally from Chesterfield, Derbyshire, he went to the University of Manchester, studied dentistry and met his future wife, a solicitor. They have two young boys.

Richard is standing for Basing and Lychpit Borough councillor in the 2016 by-election. He brings a passion for the environment and a strong belief in the importance of community and maintaining local services. He will advocate for decisions to be made primarily in the best interests of the people and local businesses affected rather than heavily influenced by the special interests of party or corporate donors.

Local issues that Richard will campaign for include improving the local roads, saving the children's centres, and sorting out the queues for the Wade Road refuse site.

Particular focus is on Basing Road which links Old Basing and the town but makes no provision for cyclists and pedestrians. The road is unlit, narrow and has no pavement, just nettles.

The children's centres in Lychpit and Chineham among others are a valuable resource which we cannot afford to lose. Such centres are an investment in our children and our community that can help encourage good health, reduce social isolation and assist all parents in those challenging early years. As a dentist as well as a parent I know all too well that lifelong healthy habits are formed during the very early years and that supporting parents can benefit of society as a whole. The financial investment in these centres will be off set by long term savings in health and other services.

The queues for the Wade Road refuse site are well known by locals to completely clog up wade road at weekends. The situation is about to become much worse as a result of cuts imposed by local Torys. The whole refuse and recycling system needs some joined up thinking, to ensure an efficient service whilst making it as easy as possible to recycle and correctly dispose of waste.

Richard can be relied upon to fight for our community and to apply the common sense approach that has been sadly lacking in some local decision making