In the run up to the Stroud District Council elections on May 5, the SNJ will be profiling each of the candidates standing in all 27 wards.

Each party candidate will give voters information about who they are, what their pledges are and why you should vote for them.

These profiles will be posted alphabetically by ward over the next week.

Today we feature Cam East, Cam West, Chalford, Coaley and Uley, Dursley and Hardwicke.

Yesterday we had Amberley and Woodchester, Berkeley Vale, Bisley and Cainscross.

Stay posted throughout the week to see your candidates go head to head.

Chalford - There are seven candidates standing in this ward. Number of seats – three.

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  • Debbie Young – Conservative

I have lived in Chalford for the past 12 years with my husband Rob, daughter Samantha and menagerie of animals.

I have represented Chalford as District Councillor for the previous eight years during which time I have helped arrange the volunteer Rota for the Community Shop, helped out at the Community Cafe at Frithwood Youth Centre, had the posts on The Old Common replaced at a reduced cost by using people from a Community Payback scheme, run a toddler group, campaigned about the traffic on the A419 and Old Neighbourhood, started the Neighbourhood Development Plan plus a lot more.

I now run a Food Project in Stroud using food surplus, and assisting people with learning disabilities whilst still campaigning on local issues and being the Conservative Spokesman on Housing.

You can see all the things that I have done on my website www.debbieyoung.co.uk or by looking @CllrYoung on Twitter or by Cllr Debbie Young on Facebook.

I have always campaigned with other Conservative Councillors and helped out local people in the Parish and Ward and if re-elected will continue to do so.

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I am married to Sue and have lived in Chalford since 1988. Sue's family have lived in Chalford for five generations.

I am the Treasurer of Frithwood Surgery PPG and have done voluntary work for the Village Community shop doing the horrendous 7-9 am shift.

I have represented Chalford as a District Councillor since 1996. I have am allotment holder and have keen interest in the environment.

I work with Liz Peters and Debbie Young who are my fellow Conservative Councillors to help the Community and make improvements, we walk about the District to point out issues. I am opposed to the new waste contract as I believe that local people need and want a weekly rubbish collection.

I am also opposed as my fellow Councillors are to the rise in Council Tax, as currently I believe Council tax is being wasted on vanity projects.

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  • Liz Peters – Conservative

I have represented Chalford residents as a District Councillor for 14 years, a Thomas Keble School Governor for seven years and a Chalford Parish Councillor for two years.

I have six children and run a local bed and breakfast in Brimscombe. The Grand Village Fête, which I started in 1989, has raised over £100,000 in the 27 years for local charities including our schools and runs every May.

Over the years the issues I have tackled are - recycling, canal restoration, traffic calming, planning, abandoned vehicles, flooding, footpath diversions, anti-social behaviour, graffiti, dog mess, tree preservation orders, Leylandii hedges, fly-tipping, sheltered housing, bus timetables & routes, requests for housing and originally successfully negotiated for a Neighbourhood Warden.

I lead weekly Health walks around the Parish which means I can see at first-hand what is happening on the ground and I regularly inspect our Council properties with Housing Officers.

I work closely with the other two Conservative candidates who are standing in Chalford and I urge you all to vote for myself, Chas Fellows and Debbie Young in May to keep this winning team together working for the residents and businesses of Chalford Ward.

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  • Helen Beioley - Labour

Helen has lived in France Lynch for four years, returning to the area where she lived as a child and following decades living in London. She is married, has one daughter and a beagle.

Helen recently retired from a career in the public sector which primarily focussed on marketing and fundraising.

She worked in local government, at the National Maritime Museum, and a number of other cultural institutions.

Helen is a Board Member of Arts in Rural Gloucestershire, a charity which supports villages throughout the county to present high quality shows.

She has recently transformed the telephone box in France Lynch to a thriving, if compact, library.

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  • David Taylor - Labour

David has lived in Gloucestershire for most of his life, and moved to Bussage/Chalford in 1984.

His working life was spent originally in the Health Service, and then 33 years in the Ambulance Service and Fire Brigade.

Following retirement from the Fire Brigade, David became self-employed. David enjoys walking his dog, cooking, and gardening.

He loves living in Chalford and has found the area very interesting, with really beautiful countryside.

He is committed to protecting the environment and local services.

He is on the Parish Council, and has found it to be a really interesting experience. David looks forward to representing Chalford in the District Council elections.

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  • Carolyn Billingsley – Green

Carolyn has lived in Chalford Vale with her husband and two sons for over 20 years.

She worked as a field ecologist prior to completing an MSc in Ecology & Conservation in 2011 after which she began work as a freelance ecologist specialising in bats and newts.

I am passionate about wildlife and the environment, and consider myself hugely fortunate to live in a place surrounded by the most beautiful countryside - where a walk along the canal is likely to reveal the presence of dippers and kingfishers, and an amble in woodland is accompanied by the drumming of woodpeckers and the meowing of buzzards.

I love living in Chalford with its vibrant and friendly community and have been involved in numerous community ventures, the most exciting of which was helping to create Chalford’s very own community-run stores.

My decision to stand for the second time as Chalford’s Green Party candidate was based on the desire to enable those voters who feel strongly about protecting the environment, promoting renewable energy and building a green economy etc. to have a conduit through which to express their green concerns.

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  • Adrian Blake – UK Independence Party (UKIP)

I have three children and five grandchildren, and have lived in Chalford since 1983.

My working life was spent in Gloucestershire Fire Service, serving my local community.

I passionately believe that the voices of the ordinary men and women of the district have not been well represented or heard for very many years.

Stroud District Council alternates between a duopoly of the Conservatives and the Labour led "traffic light" coalition with the Lib Dems and Greens.

All of these parties work together to further their own interests rather than those of the people of Chalford and the wider Stroud district.

If elected as a UKIP councillor I will promote what is best for the people of Chalford, not what is best for my party or myself, and will be holding the cosy establishment cartel running the council fully to account.