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 Kingswood, Minchinhampton, Nailsworth, Painswick and Upton, Randwick, Whiteshill and Ruscombe and Rodborough.

Look back at previous articles throughout the week for wards A-H.

Stay posted to see your candidates go head to head.

Kingswood - There are three candidates standing in this ward. Number of seats – one.

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  • Oliver Mountjoy - Liberal Democrats

I was born in Thornbury and have lived around Gloucestershire for my entire childhood.

I moved away from Gloucestershire to attend Lancaster University from 2012-2015, where I studied Politics Philosophy and Economics. I became locally active in the Lib Dems during this period.

I believe a district councillor needs to be proactive in recognising and responding to potential issues in their community, and be an accessible point of contact for residents who wish to discuss matters of importance to them.

A councillor’s work needs to be visible in their local community, not just in the council office.

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  • Alan Sage - Green Party

Alan works for a major local engineering company as a scientific software engineer, having moved to the region two years ago.

In his spare time, he likes nothing better than exploring the local countryside on foot and by bike and as such, he is passionate about conserving the area’s beautiful environment.

He is a strong believer in the Green Party’s development policy of prioritising brown-field sites before building on green-fields and would be eager to encourage all development to be as environmentally friendly as possible, both in how and where new buildings are constructed.

Before joining the Green Party, I always had a strong interest in the environment and social matters, and have been consistently impressed by the real difference which our existing District Councillors have made: helping to make Stroud District Council the first carbon neutral council in Europe, increasing recycling rates and protecting our green spaces.

If elected, I would continue their good work, trying to shield core services from cuts to the District Council budget and keeping our public services and spaces public”.

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  • Richard Reeves – Conservative

I have lived in Kingswood with my wife and two children for the last 14 years while working as an Aerospace Engineer in Bristol following training in Gloucester, university in Bath and several years spent working in North America.

My children attend the local secondary school and I think it important to support and improve the local community which is our home. That is why I would like to become your councillor on Stroud District Council.

My particular interest is to encourage jobs and facilities in our community without compromising our rural environment.

To achieve this we need safe, well maintained roads and footpaths, fast broadband for business and home working plus a balanced, careful approach to development.

Building homes is necessary for local people however Kingswood has received more than its fair share of development in the last few years.

Building more houses should not be at the expense of the quality of village life that we all appreciate.

Working all year round for Kingswood, I get out and about in the area as often as possible and am keen to understand your concerns and represent them to Stroud District Council or indeed communicate and champion them to other levels of government.