Candidates bidding to become Hertford and Stortford’s next MP were grilled on their green credentials at the first of two General Election hustings being held in Bishop’s Stortford in the run-up to polling day on July 4.
Four of the seven candidates Josh Dean (Labour), Helen Campbell (Liberal Democrat), Nick Cox (Green) and John Burmicz (Reform UK) attended the Nature and Climate Hustings at South Mill Arts on Sunday, June 23 where they were tackled by members of the public on their views on environmental and climate issues.
The town’s former MP Julie Marson was absent at the event organised by Bishop’s Stortford Climate Group with chair New Statesman editor Jason Cowley, who lives in Bishop’s Stortford, voicing his disapproval at her absence and saying he had “personally reached out” to Ms Marson who had “not even had the courtesy” to respond to him.
The event, which was attended by around 80 members of the public, was organised before Jane Fowler, of the Alliance for Democracy and Freedom (ADF), and Barry Hensall, of the Heritage Party, confirmed they were also standing.
The candidates tackled a range of questions from the audience including sewage dumping in the town’s rivers and waterways.
Emilie Klumpler, aged 12, asked: “My family are members of the local canoe club, and spend a lot of time on the river Stort, which as has been said, is a rare chalk stream environment.
“We have all noticed how much more disgusting the water quality has become recently - my dad has had more than one nasty stomach upset following his paddling sessions. What would you actually do to stop the water company from polluting our beautiful river?”
All four candidates pointed to the Conservative’s poor record on protecting rivers and waterways with Cllr Cox pointing to his party’s policy to renationalise the water companies, while Cllr Dean and Cllr Campbell said their parties would ban bonuses for the bosses of polluting water companies and ramp up regulation.
Dr Burmicz said he would also take tough action against the bosses of polluting water companies claiming nobody was ever held to account for failure in the UK.
Other concerns raised by the audience included the planned McDonald’s drive-thru at St James’ Park, 20mph zones, public transport, housing and infrastructure.
On public transport, all four candidates agreed on the need for better services throughout the constituency, particularly rural areas underserved at present. Cllr Dean said, if elected, he would work with local council and other stakeholders to improve public transport and bus routes in the constituency while Cllr Cox backed the Green’s plans to bring the railways back into public ownership.
Cllr Campbell for the Liberal Democrats described Herts bus services as some of the worst in the country and said routes had been further cut post-Covid.
She said the Lib Dems would look to retain the £2 bus fare cap meaning no single journey fare would exceed that cost and would introduce a young person’s bus pass, similar to the current Young Person’s
Railcard.
Labour, the Green and the Lib Dems backed the idea of 20mph zones in town centres such as Hertford and Stortford, which was applauded by the audience, while Dr Burmicz said although the policy made sense in areas around schools, for example, he believed such zones potentially added to pollution due to idling start-stop traffic.
All four candidates shared concerns about the planned McDonald’s drive-thru at St James’ Park with Dr Burmicz saying its proposed location close to a school was wrong. He also criticised the newly-built distribution centre which he claimed would add to traffic and congestion through Sawbridgeworth.
The public will have a chance to question the candidates again at a second election hustings at the Methodist Church in South Street, Bishop’s Stortford on Thursday, June 27 at 7.30pm.
The two-hour event is organised by Churches Together and is free to attend.
So far, Julie Marson (Con), Josh Dean (Lab), Helen Campbell (Lib Dem) Nick Cox (Green) and Barry Hensall (Heritage Party) have confirmed they will attend. John Burmicz (Reform UK) and Jane Fowler (ADF) have also been invited.