Smithfield Election: Graham Kelly – Welsh Liberal Democrats Q&A

Wrexham.com for people living in or visiting the Wrexham area

This article is old - Published: Friday, Feb 17th, 2023

An election will be held on Thursday 23rd to decide who gets to be the new councillor for Smithfield ward. ‌

If you live in the Smithfield ward make sure you turn out to have your say by voting!

We have attempted to contact all candidates to conduct a quick ‘Q&A’ with them along the same lines as every council election previously. With some delays this end we are now publishing them over the coming days.

Today we are featuring the responses from candidate Graham Kelly – Welsh Liberal Democrats :

We invited them to tell you a little about who they are, any political history and about their political leanings.

Hello! I’m Graham Kelly. I have lived in the Wrexham area for all of my life, except for two brief periods. I have had an interest in the activities of Wrexham Council for many years. I have long been disappointed by the performance of the WCBC and I hope to be able to improve the Council’s performance as an elected member for Smithfield ward.
Serving our local community as Community Councillors is a great privilege for me and my wife, Glenda. We are honoured to represent our community in this way. We have faced many challenges and look forward to continuing with this important work.

In my career, I trained as a Public Finance Accountant and worked as an accountant in two local authorities. For many years, I worked at The University of Liverpool and now continue to work as a Higher Education Advisor. As a Governor at Castell Alun High School, Hope, I am able to maintain my keen interest in education, concentrating especially on sixth form issues.

When I’m not working, I enjoy singing bass in two good local choirs. I also enjoy walking in the hills, gardening and travelling. Although I do not speak Welsh fluently, I enjoy using my limited ability in casual conversation; but I love to sing in Welsh!

I joined the Welsh Liberal Democrats in 2015 and strongly share the Lib Dem emphasis on tolerance, equality and fairness. Having previously been a supporter of the Labour Party, my political views are to the left of centre.
I’m standing in the Smithfield by-election because I want to see improved services from Wrexham Council. I will be a strong voice on Wrexham Council for all Smithfield residents.

The Q&A

What are the three biggest issues for your ward, how do you think they need to be resolved and what will you do to achieve it?

Litter, parking, and anti-social behaviour.

Smithfield is a lively, friendly ward. But there is evidence that the ward has been neglected by Wrexham Council. The litter problem is a sign of this neglect – it needs urgent action. Litter bins are overflowing – why aren’t they being emptied? Litter is lying in many streets and in some front gardens, giving a feeling of general neglect in the ward. The Council has a responsibility to keep the streets clean – why have things been allowed to deteriorate? With help from my Lib Dem team, I am planning a ‘litter pick’ on Monday 13 February. We hope to tidy up the ward by merely collecting up the litter. If you want to join us, please come along. We shall be meeting at 11:00 am next Monday at the Cambrian Price Industrial Estate, Rivulet Road (LL13 8DL). As a result of this, I hope that residents of the ward will feel that their ward is beginning to look better. If elected, I would organise regular volunteer ‘litter picks’ and provide a skip on well publicised dates so that residents can easily dispose of items they no longer need. I hope that, eventually, this will produce a greater sense of pride in the community of Smithfield.

Parking and traffic congestion are real problems in the Smithfield ward. It is inevitable that there will be parking issues when almost every house has one or more cars. The problem is made worse by people parking in the streets of the ward to walk into the city to do their shopping. Perhaps a ‘residents only’ parking scheme could be introduced with some limit placed on the number of permits allocated to each house? Some of the streets in the ward are already ‘one-way streets. Perhaps this should be extended to improve traffic flow?

Anti-social behaviour is a problem in many wards in Wrexham. It is not an issue experienced only in Smithfield. But in Smithfield we have to be especially vigilant. I think that this is linked closely to the litter problem identified earlier. If we can build a greater sense of pride in the community, people may change their behaviour. But we must not allow certain areas in the ward to become anti-social hot spots. Better street lighting throughout the ward would make it more difficult for anti-social behaviour to occur. For example, there is a footpath going from Greenbank Street to Rivulet Road. This footpath has no lighting and it appears to be a place for drinking, drug taking and drug dealing. It is certainly dangerous to walk down this footpath at night. Residents in the area regularly pick up the bottles which litter the path. Perhaps this path needs to be closed, but if this is not possible, lighting should be installed to make it a safer place.

What do you think needs to be done to help Wrexham recover from the pandemic and what hands-on-role can you play as a Councillor?

It is obvious to all that Wrexham city centre has suffered from the effects of the pandemic. I accept that Wrexham is in a difficult position, as many of the empty commercial units are owned by private landlords who continue to receive rent even though the property may no longer be occupied. I would encourage Wrexham Council to give incentives to new businesses by offering concessions on business rates. I strongly support the Council’s plans for reviving the city centre which will help to create new job opportunities. We all need to be ambitious for our city!

There are many elderly and vulnerable people living in the Smithfield ward. As a result of the pandemic, many people have lost some of their confidence and are feeling isolated. If elected, I would try to make contact with as many elderly people as I can, to find out what their concerns are and how, as a Councillor, I can help them to become more involved in the community.

As a Councillor, you may have the chance to take on further roles e.g. Lead Member, Audit, Scrutiny. What appeals to you and what skills do you bring to that role?

I have had considerable education experience, as a lecturer, senior administrator, and governor. My extensive experience of education would enable me to become an effective member of the Education Committee
I am also a local government accountant with long experience of financial planning and audit. I would, therefore, be interested in sitting on Finance, Scrutiny and Audit committees.

I have some sympathy with the financial planning problems facing WCBC. About 75% of the Council’s income each year comes from the Welsh Government in the form of grants for the financing of specified services which must be delivered at defined standards. The Council has a legal obligation to provide these services. The other 25% of Council income comes from some local charges, but mostly from local Council Tax. This can be used as WCBC decides to provide the services which the Council itself wishes to provide. The cost of providing these services rises, of course, from year to year, but there is considerable political pressure on the Council to keep Council Tax at a reasonable level. If elected, I would use my local government accounting experience to help to resolve this dilemma. I would also emphasise the need for a constant review of the efficiency of service delivery to ensure value for money for local taxpayers. I feel very strongly that WCBC has an important obligation of transparency by keeping local taxpayers informed of how its resources are being spent, with clear reasons identified for any future Council Tax rises.

What do the words climate emergency mean to you and your ward?

When I see cars, vans and lorries queuing up at the traffic lights on Kings Mills Road, the words ‘climate emergency’ come into my mind. If we had better local bus services in Wrexham, traffic congestion would be reduced considerably. Perhaps car sharing schemes might also be considered for daily commuters into Wrexham.
A more effective use of electricity is another way to attack the climate emergency. Solar panels have been placed on many Council owned properties throughout the city and in nearby villages. These help to reduce the energy bills for those residents but also generate surplus electricity which can be transferred to the National Grid. I am sure that residents in Smithfield would appreciate the offer of some financial help from WCBC to install solar panels on their own properties.

If elected, I will investigate the introduction of Environmental Days to raise the profile of recycling and re-use throughout the ward. I strongly support what Caru Cymru is doing to make our communities cleaner and better places to live in.

What is the biggest thing you would have done differently from the ruling administration over the last 5 years?

The failure of WCBC to support green initiatives in the Wrexham area has led to the loss of opportunities to create good quality local jobs. This has had a damaging effect on attempts to help Wales to improve its sustainability.
Inexplicably, Wrexham Council still does not have a Local Development Plan. The effect of this is that planning decisions are often uncoordinated, allowing unscrupulous developers the opportunity to build properties in unsuitable locations.

Local health pressures are well documented, from delayed ambulances to issues in the hospital. How can the council help resolve those problems?

The major responsibility for hospitals and ambulances lies with Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board and the Ambulance Trust, but they are subject to pressure from local authorities, such as WCBC. If elected, I would play a significant role in contributing to this pressure. The Council can also have a direct impact on treatment waiting times by investing more to improve social care, so that patients who are medically ready to leave hospital can be supported in their own homes, rather than taking up valuable hospital beds. Care workers play an essential and highly skilled role in the system and need to be paid and valued accordingly, whether in Council or private employment.

What will you do on a local level to help support people in your ward affected by the cost-of-living crisis?

The cost-of-living crisis is set to worsen considerably as energy costs continue to rise, while energy companies continue to record huge profits!! We are all affected by this, but not all needs in the community are obvious. As an elected member, I would do my utmost to help residents of Smithfield to identify all sources of help and to ensure that they know how to claim any benefits to which they are entitled.

How would you improve the local education system?

Smithfield is a multicultural ward and is richer for this. However, many children whose parents do not have English or Welsh as their first language face additional educational difficulties. I would like to see more assistance for these children so that they can fulfil their true potential and become full members of the Smithfield community.
As a school governor, I have seen that schools are finding it very difficult to manage their budgets effectively. One reason for this is that significant sources of school funding are often received at the very end of the school’s financial year. This funding often requires immediate spending for it not to be lost. If elected, I would put pressure on funding bodies such as GwE and the Welsh Government to release these funds to schools much earlier in the year, in sufficient time to enable them to be included more effectively in schools’ financial planning.

When the public view the next full Council following the election, will you be sitting as part of a Party, Group or coalition, and if so, specifically who and why?

As a member of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, I look forward to working in a Liberal Democrat Group on Wrexham Council. Liberal Democrats have a long history on Wrexham Council of being local champions and have a proud reputation for getting things done. I look forward to the opportunity of living up to this reputation. Of course, as a responsible member of Wrexham Council, I would be very happy, in appropriate circumstances, to consider collaborating with any other councillor or grouping of councillors in order to move forward with reasonable and progressive proposals.

What local activity have you taken part in over the last few months to improve your ward? Regardless of if you win, will you continue any such action that benefits your ward?

I am Wrexham born and bred. This is my city. Despite its faults, I have always been very happy to live here.
As a Community Councillor in Coedpoeth, a village only a few miles away from Smithfield, I have been very active for five years in many important areas which have helped to improve life in my ward.
For example, I have worked closely with the Community Agent who works very hard to support the elderly and more vulnerable who live in the ward.

I have also helped to set up advice and guidance sessions to residents in the ward on how to deal with the current cost-of-living crisis, ensuring that they are made aware of all benefits which they are entitled to receive.
During this winter, I have helped to organise the provision of ‘warm spaces’ in the ward, where local residents can gather during the day to avoid having to heat their own homes. If the weather gets colder again, we shall continue to provide this service.

These have all been very successful initiatives. I hope to be able to extend them to Smithfield ward, working with the Community Agent and Caia Park Welfare Rights Service.

In my work as a Higher Education Advisor, I have had the great privilege of helping many young people throughout the Wrexham area to secure places at university. In the much-reduced free time I would have as an elected member of Wrexham Council, I would do my very best to continue this important work.