Bury by-election called

4.09.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 19th Jun 2008

A by-election for the Bury ward of Chichester District has been called following the resignation of the sitting Conservative councillor who was selected as the Tory prospective parliamentary candidate for York Central a few months ago.

The Liberal Democrat candidate is David Hares who is a long time resident of the ward. The only other candidate, a Conservative, is a resident of Singleton - in Boxgrove ward - last year contested the Lavant ward.

David Hares promises that if he wins the by-election he will remain the District Councillor for Bury until 2011 at least - the date of the next round of District wide elections.

o David is a consultant landscape architect who has lived in the ward for the last 17 years.

o He has worked for local and central government departments, as well as the private sector during his thirty years career.

o His work has included working with farmers on the South Downs, and Chichester harbour Conservancy.

o He and his wife Lynnette have two sons who both attended the local Bury C of E primary school.

o He has helped with a number of projects at the school and has designed and supervised various construction projects too.

o He is proud to have been able to join with the other parents who help support this important village amenity.

o He will hope to work to support the continuation of the village schools in Graffham and Duncton if elected.

David's priority for the District council will be the Environment. He is a committed environmentalist which is why he is standing for the Liberal Democrats.

He is firmly of the opinion that local voters care passionately about their environment, and has the experience to ensure that the environment is brought to the forefront of local council policies. He also believes that voters will not have been convinced by the cynical 'greenwash' of other political parties, or their staged environmental stunts.

He thinks that local government should be demonstrating an exemplary approach to the issue of climate change and global warming. Even if you don't accept that burning fossil fuels contributes to the problem, we still need to develop alternatives for when the oil runs out.