My name is Florence Sarlat and I am delighted to be standing as your Green Party candidate for Isle of Wight Council, representing Yarmouth and Freshwater North.

Full statement

I came on the island by choice. I was drawn here by the beauty of the coastline, the friendliness of the community and the sense that this is a place still worth fighting for.

Prior to that, I worked for 20 years as a managing director for a bank, leading major transformation projects in Paris and London. In 2012, tired of managing only cost-cutting projects, I decided to train as a yoga and mindfulness teacher and worked with young people who have experienced trauma, injustice, and adverse childhood.

As a Green councillor, I would work across the issues that matter most to people here - not just environment but housing, transport, health, fairness, and the kind of community where people look out for one another.

Here are the things I am most determined to tackle:

• Cleaning up our water: I want to push for nature-based solutions that work with our landscape, not against it, protecting public health and supporting local tourism.
• Protecting our land and our character: Before any new building, we should be asking: can we restore and repurpose what already exists? Affordable, sustainable homes and community spaces can be created without sacrificing more of the landscape we love.
• Backing our local economy: Our farmers, artisans and independent businesses are the backbone of this community. I want to see the council do far more to support short local supply chains, keeping money on the island, and reducing food miles.

The things which make the Isle of Wight worth living on are fragile, and worth protecting fiercely. I am standing because I want to help keep this place extraordinary.

To do that I need your vote on Thursday May 7th.

Best wishes,

Florence