Veterans of the local political scene sat alongside neophytes at the North Farnham local election hustings last night (April 30).

Among the more experienced candidates were Catherine Powell and Sally Dickson, the two Farnham Residents Group (FRG) candidates, Liberal Democrat (LD) Mat Brown, and Pat Frost, a former town and borough mayor, who had been persuaded out of retirement to stand for the Conservatives.

Alongside her was a young voice, Conservative Joseph Kay, who turned 21 last week. Also new to candidacy were the Reform representatives Ed Cowley and James Macey, and Huw James, standing for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC).

There were common themes in each of their allotted four-minute speeches. Most mentioned debt which the new West Surrey authority will inherit though both the figure and strategy varied from £4.5 billion to “might even be £5.5 billion” (Cowley, Reform) to “look at the facts” (Frost, Conservative).

Farnham Residents and Reform have both launched petitions to have the debt reduced (Reform) or waived (FRG), and Huw James (TUSC) agreed.

“Central government could write off the debt at the stroke of a pen,” he said but believed the Government wants to force austerity on West Surrey, as a means of “disciplining the working class to prevent them uniting and overthrowing the capitalist system”.

Reform said dealing with the debt would restrict services and there would be no “political pet political projects like painting rainbow crossings at 35 grand a pop”.

Potholes, transport, parking, planning and the challenges of infrastructure were also on the agenda with solutions ranging from “one-hour free parking” (Conservatives), “free public transport, 1000 new council (affordable) houses” (TUSC).

“What does affordable mean?” asked Pat Frost. “You can’t just build houses…You build thousands of them in Farnham you will have flooding everywhere… We need to sit down and think what we need to do and what you want.”

Mat Brown of the Lib-Dems said that too many times in developments “the infrastructure is overlooked and they cannot cope with additional demand and it’s something we must get right in the new unitary”.

Joseph Kay said that the Conservatives were pushing for a ban on smartphones in local schools, saying that 60 percent of people his age think that social media for under-16s “does more harm than good”.

One challenge is ensuring the environment is protected, with Mat Brown saying that he had worked to improve the outdoor services, supported initiatives like Hive Helpers, In Bloom and the Green Flag status for parks.

“These sorts of things make a difference to how a town looks and feels,” he said.

Both Reform candidates were concerned about overpopulation with James Macey saying that, having moved to Weybourne from south east London and seeing its “social decline”, he doesn’t want to see that happen here and that Reform is “the main party that will stand up to this kind of challenge”.

Ed Cowley saying that south east England is the most densely populated area of Europe… and Surrey is the overpopulated shire with 750 people per square kilometre…”We do not need more people of any complexion.”

The candidates also talked about the opportunities and challenges that the change to a unitary authority brought about with Mat Brown saying that his party intended to hit the ground running and make sure Farnham has real influence from day one.

Catherine Powell said she understood “what will be necessary in the coming year… to get the best possible financial footing for West Surrey”.

She talked about her track record in industry, in the county council and in the community and the importance of listening to and fighting for residents and this community.

“I have a vision for Farnham and a plan for West Surrey…North Farnham is what it is because of the community that lives here and the charities that work here,” she said.

Her FRG running-mate Sally Dickson talked about facing the inevitable challenges by focusing on people and “the community and the love and harmony that is so distinctive to Farnham” and which she hoped could be replicated across the county.

Joseph Kay said: “We need to care about our local assets and the new West Surrey Unitary gives us a unique opportunity to do so as it means that we can bring a lot of resources together…reduce costs and maintain infrastructure.”

The speeches were followed by questions which indicated that voters are worried about the debt, council tax and roads, and also about the environment at a very local level: Hale Recreation Ground, fire safety in Rowhill Nature Reserve, parking in Upper and Lower Weybourne Lane.

All tried to answer with promises of action but it was a warning to both old hands and newbies that the impact of decisions on local lives is what really matters to voters.