Council elections 2022: Shops and parking dominate issues for Fareham residents

Fareham Borough Council is made up of 31 councillors, currently comprising 23 Conservatives, five Liberal Democrats and three independents.

All wards in Fareham have two councillors except for Portchester East which has three. This year candidates will compete for 16 seats available in 15 wards.

Residents in Fareham have shared their thoughts about local issues along with national scandals that have dominated political discourse across the country.

Gorden Cohen, 42, said: ‘The way things have been going over this period, the last few years, Boris and all that with the parties, it just got to me like a lot of other people - some people say forget about it but why should we?

‘They [the council] don’t do too bad a job in Fareham I must admit, they’ve been here for so many years, but if Labour was in it would most likely be the same.

Les Hallat, 56, said the council should do a better job with the roads and pavements calling them ‘terrible’ while sharing concerns about the retail sector.

‘They’re not supporting the shops, Gosport has become a ghost town and this will become a ghost town because their overheads are too high,’ he said.

‘There's so many shops gone there - it’s not encouraging people to come here, it's pushing people away - people go to Portsmouth and Gunwharf.’

The state of the high street and shopping centre has been a major concern for many residents.

Alan Davey, 85, said: ‘I’d like to see them do something in the shopping centre, because I went in there the other day and I counted 14 shops empty, I'm sure there’s a lot more.

‘I understand they’ve just put up parking which again won’t encourage people to come in shopping.’

Cherry Cheetham, 83, added: ‘I think the shops are one thing, we’ve had so many places closing down.

'You come down here and there’s not a lot to look at, we’ve lost so many shops, especially the big ones.'

Phillip Elston, 63 said he he would like to see more cycle lanes as well as getting more shoppers in the high street.

He said: ‘It is a bit of a shame that more and more shops are going and being replaced with cafes or a jobcentre.’

Fareham East:

Lydia Brown - Green Party

Tom Davies - Conservative Party

David Hamilton - Liberal Democrats

Gemma Oughton - Labour Party

Fareham North

Pamela Bryant - Conservative Party

David Harrison - Green Party

Sean Schofield - Labour Party

Ciaran Urry-Tuttiett - Liberal Democrats

Jeannie Wigmore - Fareham Independent Group

Fareham North West

David Foot - Conservative Party

Pauline Galea - Liberal Democrats

Andrew Mooney - Labour Party

Kerry Stubbs - Fareham Independent Group

Fareham South

Gemma Furnivall - Labour Party

Stephen Ingram - Conservative Party

Nick Lyle - Green Party

Jim Palmer - Liberal Democrats

Paul Sturgess - Fareham Independent Group

Fareham West

Roger Bird - Conservative Party

Tony Goodridge - Fareham Independent Group

Rowena Palmer - Liberal Democrats

Steve Richards - Reform UK

John Vivian - Green Party

James Webb - Labour Party

Hill Head

Gerry Drabble - Liberal Democrats

Steve Dugan - Conservative Party

Lynee Murray - Labour Party

Charlie Read - The Official Monster Raving Loony Party

Locks Heath

Darren Alderson-Hall - Liberal Democrats

Susan Bayford - Conservative Party

Angla Carr - Labour Party

Julie Kidby - Fareham Independent Group

Park Gate

Ian Bastable - Conservative Party

Graham Everdell - Liberal Democrats

Nicholas Knight - Labour Party

Jan Mondey - Fareham Independent Group

Tom Newman - Green Party

Portchester East

Trevor Alford - Independent

Chrissie Bainbridge - Liberal Democrats

Harry Davis - Conservative Party

Manny Martins - Conservative Party

Paul Nother - Liberal Democrats

Leslie Ricketts - Labour Party

Richard Ryan - Labour Party

Portchester West

Ashley Brown - Liberal Democrats

James Durrant - Green Party

Dominic Martin - Labour Party

Susan Walker - Conservative Party

David Wiltshire - Fareham Independent Group

Sarisbury

John Hughes - Liberal Democrats

Verden Meldrum - Labour Party

Seán Woodward - Conservative Party

Stubbington

Ivan Gray - Labour Party

Jacquie Needham - Conservative Party

Jimmy Roberts - Liberal Democrats

Aimee White - Fareham Independent Group

Titchfield

Justin Grimley - Liberal Democrats

Connie Hockley - Conservative Party

Bob Murphy - Fareham Independent Group

Michael Prior - Labour Party

Titchfield Common

Sandra Abrams - Liberal Democrats

James Carr - Labour Party

Jack Englefield - Independent

Sarah Jolliffe - Conservative Party

Warsash

Friar Burgess - Conservative Party

Antony Ferraro - Labour Party

John Murray - Liberal Democrats

Kirsten WIltshire - Fareham Independent Group