As Local Democracy Reporter Adam Postans wrote : Four candidates vying to be the next West of England mayor locked horns at a hustings on Tuesday (March 23).

Conservative Samuel Williams, Green Jerome Thomas, Labour's Dan Norris and Lib Dem Stephen Williams set out their stall on issues including infrastructure, transport and climate change at the remote debate organised by the Institution of Civil Engineers South West.

They are standing for metro mayor at the local elections on May 6 to succeed Tory Tim Bowles who is retiring.

Here's what they had to say:

Q: What has the pandemic taught us about our relationships with infrastructure, the built environment and the way we live?

Jerome Thomas said: "One of the major aspects of Covid has been showing us just how quickly we can change our way of life in response to a serious crisis, which gives us hope for the future as we look to manage the transition to a zero carbon economy.

"It has been fascinating just how much or our working life can be moved online with both positive and damaging consequences.

"It raises the question of how and whether we will ever go back to the office and what that means for our towns and city centres.

"One of the opportunities from that is the ability to create that hyperlocal economy and the 15-minute neighbourhoods where all the facilities we need for a good life are within a 15-minute walk or cycle."

Samuel Williams said: "The pandemic has reminded us of the importance of our communities.

"I absolutely believe in strong, empowered, equipped and resourced communities who know what is important to them, what priorities are right for them, and then resource and equip them to meet that.

"The pandemic has taught us we can and must live locally and engage locally – work, shop and socialise locally – and it has highlighted the need for continued rollout of digital infrastructure.

"There are areas of our region that need better connectivity so we can start taking hold of the opportunities of the future."

Stephen Williams said: "The pandemic has not treated everyone equally, so we need to make sure everyone is able to enjoy the prosperity this region has to offer because there are still pockets of deprivation where that prosperity is not reaching through.

"I am worried about a lot of people saying we won't go back to working in the office or the high street.

"It would be extremely bad for the environment and for mental health if people were working in a dispersed way, so we need to make a really special effort to attract people back to working in city centres and high streets because that is the most sustainable and holistic way for people to work.

"Making the case for public transport would be much harder if commuting patterns are completely disrupted."

Dan Norris said: "The pandemic has forced us to think differently and creates great opportunities because getting people to change their behaviour to address the climate emergency is incredibly tough.

"It is a unique opportunity in our history to get the vital change we need to make the environment better.

"But we have to be really smart and the metro mayor will have to listen incredibly carefully because we really don't know what the future holds post-pandemic.

"We need a sustainable future and we have to get everybody to buy in, so we need to use a different language to talk about the environmental challenges, everyday language so everyone can be part of that conversation."

Q: How will you tackle the climate emergency?

Samuel Williams said: "We need to lobby the Government more to make changes that will decarbonise those big polluters so that helping reduce emissions from our homes, transport and businesses meets the ambitious net zero targets.

"Our regional recovery plan has been worked up which will help us in retrofitting and to start delivering and supporting training for those green jobs of the future to help us build back.

"We must start to incentivise the transition to do more around a sustainable economy, and I will be looking to launch a 'build a brighter world' award encouraging investment in things like modern methods of construction and technologies.

"I am a backer of the fusion power programme and am committed to driving that so we have clean energy regionally."

Stephen Williams said: "I would set up a centre of excellence for green technology bringing together our four universities and leading world-class companies to innovate together to design those products of the future and put together training packages so people will be equipped for those green jobs.

"We need to decarbonise our transport rapidly and I would take up the power of bus franchising and work with all bus providers to transition buses away from diesel onto electric and possibly hydrogen.

"Most of our carbon emissions come from our homes so I want to make sure all new homes, which are needed to deal with the housing crisis, are built to the highest possible environmental standards.

"When I was housing minister during the coalition I introduced legislation in the Infrastructure Act 2015 to retrofit all of our homes, which has been suspended by the Conservative government, so I would ask for devolved powers in the law that exists for the zero carbon homes power."

Dan Norris said: "The key to what we can do to adapt to the climate emergency is having leadership that makes a difference.

"What worries me is we haven't really used the structures provided to the metro mayor to make tough decisions.

"We need to change the debate about 'Levelling Up' which seems to be a North/South thing but it's really South East and London/rest of the country, so I want to see Levelling Up that's East/West so we get what we missed out on in the Budget.

"Calling our area Weca is madness, it needs to be West of England so people know exactly where we are, not just in this country but around the world, to make a really powerful case so that when we are listened to we will get more from the Government."

Jerome Thomas said: "We need to look at all the aspects of our lifestyle that generate carbon emissions and establish how best we review those.

"On transport, preventing the expansion of Bristol Airport is key. Greens don't want to close Bristol Airport, we just don't believe it should get any bigger.

"There are tough conversations to have about joining up conflicting ambitions of economic growth and carbon neutrality.

"The electrification agenda is crucial. Promoting energy efficient homes well connected to our towns, city centres and good transport is key to that."

Opening/closing statements

Dan Norris said: "There has been a lack of leadership in our region and people do not know where we are or what we are about, so my vision is about putting us on the map, being a strong voice for us, making sure we are noticed so we don't miss out.

"We have been let down by quite poor leadership and that has to change.

"We have missed out on so many things. I know the frustration that things have not gone the way they should.

"We should be punching much more above our weight because we have great communities, skills, talents and expertise but they haven't been put on the world stage and I'm determined to do that so we don't just talk about that, we actually do that."

Jerome Thomas said: "As we manage the transition to a zero carbon economy we need to take people with us and that means we are both ambitious and realistic in our objectives.

"By agreeing where green, efficient homes and communities of the future are going to be built we can really demonstrate there is a better alternative to inner-city, high-rise tower blocks orcar-dependent housing in pristine countryside.

"We need to be investing in sustainable communities with good green jobs, food supplies, warm homes and clean transport in every city, town and parish, and we need decision making taking place as locally as possible with more funds controlled by communities themselves.

"We need to quickly move away from polluting, future-less industries and towards greener ones in a way that helps families who currently rely on those aging industries to make the move safely and securely."

Samuel Williams said: "Our region deserves to be led by someone with energy and optimism who can knit together the tremendous assets we have across the West of England and build something really special as we emerge from this pandemic.

"We live in a part of the country which is diverse in so many ways, and to turn that diversity into strength we need a mayor who is able to connect to those communities, industries and sectors and ensure our enterprise and our hopes and dreams are met.

"This is not a time to risk our recovery, it's a time to seize the opportunity and secure our recovery and this means implementing a modern transport system that gets us where we need to go and delivering skills and training for high value jobs of the future.

"As we emerge from the pandemic we need a leader who will drive forward our regional recovery with a fresh vision, ready to connect our region to opportunity and deliver a hope-filled future."

Stephen Williams said: "If you look at what's happened in South Wales, the Midlands or Greater Manchester, all the leaders of those areas have started to transform their regions to get new investment and the metro majors have established themselves on the national stage of sticking up for their communities.

"That has not happened here. We've got a mammoth challenge to get this region to catch up with other regions and to make sure that catching up and recovering is done in a green way but also a socially just way.

"I will use all my skills and expertise to bring together people in the housing sector with social enterprise so we can bring forward homes for sale and also homes for social rent.

"Above all we need someone who understands the region but also how to work the system to get the best deal for the region."