Candidate Profiles: Maureen O’Mara, Greenwich West

Name: Maureen O’Mara (Labour)
Ward: Greenwich West

Please can you tell Greenwich.co.uk readers a little about yourself.

Lived in the borough for thirty years and have worked in both the public and private sector. Have lived in Greenwich West ward for nearly seventeen years.

Why does it matter that people vote in council elections?

It matters that people vote in all elections -local and national. Politics is about the house or flat that you live in, it is about how clean your street is, it is about whether you can get a job or not, it is about the quality of your children’s education and it is about the quality of care that your or you family and friends get from the NHS. Everyone cares about these things – we just group them together under the heading of “politics”. If you choose not to vote then you are letting other people make decisions about your life.

Why are you standing to be a councillor?

I have been a Labour councillor for Greenwich West for nearly twelve years and believe I have been able to get things done for local people and across the borough as a whole and want to keep doing that.

What do you like most about the area you wish to represent?

There are many things that I love about West Greenwich – its strong sense of community for one and I also love its history. I am very proud that we are host to one of London’s four World Heritage sites which attracts now over seven million visitors a year.

If elected, what would be your priorities for the Greenwich West ward over the next four years?

My priorities for the next four years would be to make sure that the needs of all our communities are met. We have just started to build council housing again in the borough – the first London borough to do so for some time. We need to make sure that we have the infrastructure to support our new developments and we need constantly to ensure that we maintain our improvements in the public realm – cleaner streets and cleaner estates. Clearly the 2012 Olympics will present real challenges for us and we need to make sure we are ready for those.