My name is Tim Young.

Full statement

I grew up in Cocking, studied Politics at Lancaster University, and now live in Easebourne with my wife and two children.

My job in the outdoor industry encourages people to engage with nature, I believe this is essential if we want everyone to fight to protect it. I was the Chairman of the Midhurst Milers for 10 years and organised the Midhurst and Petworth Park 10ks, and my hobbies still include playing tennis with my daughter at Midhurst Tennis Club, mountain biking with my son on the South Downs, and running with the Midhurst Milers.

As a household we are constantly striving to reduce our carbon footprint and to live more sustainably. What angers me about our climate emergency is that we have known and understood the damage we are causing for decades, however only the Green Party want to take genuine action to address it. Given this, I feel we need to send a clear message in these Council elections that the Climate Crisis should be the first priority of government, and a vote for the Green Party is the clearest way to do that.

In recent years our area has been threatened by fracking and sand extraction. In future, I want West Sussex County Council to take a stand against such threats to our National Park. I also believe residents need convenient access to household recycling facilities if we are to reduce waste going into landfill.

Some of our valued village schools have had to fight hard to stay open, when they deserved to be protected by West Sussex County Council. I believe village schools play an important role in building a sense of community and keeping unnecessary traffic off the roads.

Our rural community has increasing congestion on local roads resulting in air pollution, I am standing for this to be relieved through improved bus services and a comprehensive cycle network.