03/05/2026
Steve Shellabear took part in the Election Hustings hosted by NLive Radio at Blisworth Village Hall and broadcast this morning. 🎙️
Reform weren't at the hustings, their candidate didn't reply to the invitation to come to Blisworth Village Hall. In fact we haven't seen them anywhere. What we do know is that Liberal Democrats are winning here and have the best local candidate in Steve Shellabear because Reform have been putting out leaflets showing Nigel Farage vs Ed Davey.
This election isn't about national politics, and it should not be a national opinion poll.
It should be about electing a local representative to effectively speak up for Hackleton and Roade residents at West Northants Council and work to get the services our villages want and need.
Here's what Steve Shellabear said at Hustings:
📌 My name’s Steve Shellabear and I’m standing as your Liberal Democrat candidate. Some of you know I live in Roade. I’m part of the local community by singing in the local choir.
ON ROADS & PAVEMENTS
📌 I use our local roads, our local pavements and our local services. I’ve swerved the same potholes as you have. I’ve seen the same pavements where disabled people have to go into the road because they can’t get the wheelchair across.
📌 Our roads in West Northamptonshire are of red category under the government’s new ruling. This is the worst in the country in terms of being red, so it is a priority that needs to be fixed urgently.
📌 Some of the infrastructure that’s in place at the moment isn’t really user-friendly from a community perspective. Residents have told me their frustration about using Fix My Street, for example, and just how cumbersome and clunky that is, being asked to provide photographs of potholes on busy roads, it’s just completely impractical. Also the long delays in actually settling claims that people have made have been referred to.
📌 I’d like to see greater scrutiny of the works being done by contractors and the council held to account for what’s happening.
ON PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENTS
📌 I want to be able to fight planning applications which are overdevelopment in the area, there are quite a few of those coming.
📌 I want to ensure that developers are held to account to providing the infrastructure we need, sufficient dental practices and doctors practices, and also we have affordable housing so that our young people who live in the area can actually afford to buy a house in the area.
📌 I think we need to return to community-led approaches which are taken into account, the traffic and the infrastructure requirements that communities need.
ON CLIMATE AND SUSTAINABILITY
📌 The Lib Dems have always been at the forefront for looking at sustainability and also net zero and I intend to ensure that that is supported.
📌 I think Liberal Democrats and the Green Party are broadly aligned on sustainability and the urgency of tackling climate change, but we differ in terms of our approaches. We want to work with businesses, we want to accelerate the transition to net zero. We’re planning net zero by 2045, which is earlier than the UK’s legal 2050 target, with interim targets and investments. So I think there are some important distinctions to make, and I think for many people voting Green is a step too far. It’s not really the middle ground that a lot of people want. I think there are some limitations from a residents’ perspective.
ON FLY TIPPING
📌 Fly tipping is something that’s been discussed as well, which the Lib Dems are at the forefront for making sure we have innovative and constructive ways of rewarding people who can let us know when this is happening and also find cost-effective ways for balancing the finances.
ON COUNCIL TAX AND COUNCIL SERVICES
📌 I want to make sure that the money that’s being raised in council tax is actually being spent effectively and that means scrutinising the costs that we’ve got, what the priorities are and listening to our communities to take into account what they need.
📌 I’ve got the same frustration [as residents] where we see council tax going up each year despite assurances from Labour and Reform that wouldn’t be the case.
ON REPRESENTING RESIDENTS
📌 The previous Conservative administration and now the Reform-led council have consistently failed to listen to residents in rural communities like ours. The clearest example is the loss of the Ability bus. Residents I’ve spoken to have told me they were devastated when this stopped. It was their lifeline to get to local services and, more importantly perhaps, their communities. That’s gone because of decisions made by people who don’t live with the consequences.
📌 I can completely understand why people are sceptical and even cynical about politicians. You only have to switch on the television or open up the newspaper and see a barrage of negative news. I think that people feel that way because they’ve been told there would be promised change, expectations have been raised and then things haven’t happened. We don’t have to look far within our own constituency to see examples of that in Roade and Hackleton.
📌 I think last year we saw the Liberal Democrats win more by-elections than any other party and I think what we’re seeing at the moment is that people want change. They want somebody and a party that they feel is going to be pragmatic, it’s going to be innovative and it’s going to take the middle ground. They don’t want extremes, they don’t want policies that are going to be divisive and are based on anger. What we need is fiscal responsibility, stability and listening to what communities want and that’s what the Liberal Democrats are about.
📌 Attending parish council meetings is a number one requirement. I’ve appreciated the work that they do and I’ve appreciated how important it is that they’re involved with West Northants Council and that the residents’ views are also heard and reflected back.
📌 So I think it is about listening to what the local residents want. It’s about listening to how we can serve them and ensure that those changes that they want to see take place and that they have a champion that they can rely on in the council and as I say, should I be fortunate enough to be elected, that’s what it will be my pleasure to do.
📌 You deserve a councillor who’s going to be visible, accessible and able to hold this administration to account and I intend to be that person.
If you have your own questions for Steve Shellabear he can be emailed on [email protected]
