IT MAY be nearly six months until the Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council elections – but an interesting contest is already brewing in the Old Basing and Lychpit ward.

In the blue corner, prominent environmental campaigner Clive Pinder has been selected by the Old Basing and Lychpit branch of the Basingstoke Conservative Association as their candidate for the contest on May 7 – the same day as the General Election.

However, UKIP also have high hopes of winning the seat and, in the purple corner, they have selected former Conservative Hampshire County Councillor Hazel Vanbergen to compete for the seat.

Clive was chosen following an “open primary” process where any member of the Conservative Association could bid to contest the seat. The current councillor occupying the post – Stephen Marks – withdrew his application on the day of the selection process.

Clive stepped down as vice-chairman of the Basingstoke Conservative Association in April 2012 after accusing the Tory administration in charge of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council of not listening to voters. But, the 53-year-old, who is a founder member of the Save Our Loddon Valley Environment campaign, believes this is now the right time for him to try to win a seat on the borough council.

Clive, who lives in Tylney Lane, Newnham, told The Gazette: “I want to represent local people and get more people engaged with the political process. We will do that by focusing on what people want and need rather than what is best for the political parties.

“We need to have a robust, defendable and credible Local Plan. We have world-class health facilities but I think we need to do a better job of integrated care between social care and the NHS.”

He added: “My sense is that Hazel and I share similar ideas. Certainly, we have both been disillusioned with the current state of local politics, and at times with the leadership of the local Conservative administration.

“I am certainly as independently-minded and politically frustrated as many of the people who are leaning towards UKIP. The difference is that I believe a councillor will exert far more influence, and be more effective at standing up for their residents, if they act from ‘inside the tent’ of a larger more established group.”

Mother-of-two Hazel, who is 64 and lives in The Street, Old Basing, was a Hampshire County Councillor for the Loddon ward between 1989 and 2001.

She said: “I think it is going to be an interesting election. A lot of people know me in Old Basing. I have lived here a long time and they know me from when I was a county councillor. They think I have got a good chance of walking this.

“I believe in talking to people and going to things, and if people want to talk to me, they can. I would rather listen. From what I can work out trawling through the council’s website, I am not sure what councillors on the borough council do, and I have come to the conclusion there are too many of them.

“One good way to save money, which UKIP wishes to do, is to reduce the number of councillors, and I think we can reduce it to 30.”