Hello, I'm Cameron, the Labour leader of Cambridge City Council, and I would love to have the opportunity to serve as a councillor in Petersfield ward.

Full statement

I’m standing because I care deeply about improving people’s lives and building a fairer, kinder society. Cllr Richard Robertson will be stepping down this year — he has been an incredibly dedicated and effective councillor, and I hope that I can go some way to following in his footsteps.

I've lived and worked in Petersfield, and I want to make sure that, as our city grows, we protect and improve amenities and quality of life for Petersfield residents.
Many residents have raised with me concerns about crime and antisocial behaviour. I have a professional background in prison education, and will use my knowledge of crime prevention to work with police and residents on issues such as drug dealing and shoplifting.

We all want to improve the state of our roads and pavements, and to make it safer to walk and cycle. For Mill Road specifically, I will work with local residents, business owners and fellow councillors to try to find a way forward that can gain broad-based consensus and make Mill Road a safer, more pleasant place to be.

I love the diverse, welcoming nature of Petersfield’s communities. As a modern languages graduate, I’m committed to promoting multiculturalism.
Homelessness is a key issue I am working to tackle in Petersfield and across Cambridge. Over the last year, I have co-chaired and supported the development of the Cambridge Homelessness Charter, a new alliance of councils, charities, businesses and universities working to reduce homelessness as far as possible.

The City Council recently stopped using herbicides, to help butterflies, bees and other pollinators to thrive, but we do need to clear weeds where necessary. The Labour-run City Council has just put an extra £80,000 into clearing weeds in the next two years.

As Leader of the City Council, I’m proud that Cambridge is leading the world in medical advances that save millions of lives, and want to help to create the conditions for that to continue. But we must ensure that our successful economy works for local residents, with affordable housing, job opportunities, public services and facilities for existing and new communities, new transport infrastructure and a healthy environment.

As a Labour administration, we are doing our utmost to reduce poverty and inequality in Cambridge, and to urgently tackle the climate and biodiversity emergencies.
We’ve built over 700 desperately-needed council homes, with plans for 1300 more in the next decade; hiked council tax on second homes and empty homes in the city; helped to set up Greater Cambridge Impact, an innovative social investment fund which has already raised over £6m to tackle poverty and inequality; we’re working on Included, an ambitious new programme aimed at making sure that every young person in Cambridge has real access to skills, training, and good jobs. We give council tax exemptions worth a total of £10m to 9000 households, hand out £1m a year in community grants, run free activities for families, support a network of food hubs, give advice on finances and debt, and so much more.

Since Labour came to power, we’ve halved the Council’s carbon emissions, we’ve planted over 4000 trees across the city, we’ve brought in new parks and nature reserves like Logan’s Meadow and Hobson’s Park. We’re investing in a solar farm to power our bin lorries, and a renewable energy district heat network to decarbonise public buildings.

I would love to have the opportunity to work for you in Petersfield, and for the whole of Cambridge as the City Council leader.