My front-line role
I am the Conservative County Councillor for Hertford Rural division. The ‘Your Community’ section provides local service information, news, events and contacts about the area.
I am delighted to represent the interests of the approximately 10,000 electorate of the Hertford Rural division and of course their families living with them. My division is very wide geographically, running from Ardeley in the North East to Hertingfordbury and Little Berkhamsted in the South West. In all, it covers 14 parish councils.
East Herts Council is my local district council and I am well known to the appropriate district Councillors, particularly those representing the five Wards in my area. There are three Members of Parliament who cover parts of Hertford Rural, representing North East Herts, Stevenage and Hertford and Bishop’s Stortford. There are numerous active community groups within so many Parishes and they are frequently in touch when appropriate
Residents who wish to raise any issues with me are welcome to do so at any time, whether by e-mail, (frequently the preferred choice these days) letter or telephone.
As is the case with every County Councillor, I have a locality budget of £10,000 a year to spend on community projects in the division. Follow the links for more details of the scheme and details of applications I have agreed and declined. I am always delighted to discuss any possible applications.
My County Council responsibilities
I have been on the County Council since 1997 and for much of the time I have concentrated on the Regulatory Committees and have chaired Development Control for many years. This is the Committee that considers applications from land fill and aggregate extraction companies and also deals with the County Council's own applications, e.g new school buildings and extensions. I am currently Vice Chairman of this Committee. I have also chaired the Investment (Pensions) Committee and sit on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. I also chair the Review of Recommendations Topic Group.
As the local County Councillor, I chair many liaison groups which are the local links with quarry and land fill operators.
Roles on outside bodies
I have become very involved with a number of charities in recent years.
I am Chairman for the County for MacMillan Cancer Support and also sit on the Regional and National Committees for this charity. I am also on the County Boards of the CPRE (Campaign for the Preservation of Rural England) and the CDA (Community Development Agency).
I am a Trustee of Hertfordshire Heritage Trust, which exists to give financial support to our museums and similar organisations.
Personal, professional and political details
I was born in Hampshire and went to school at a local Grammar. My business career was in Insurance and Insurance Broking. I am a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance institute and have been President of the Local Institute. We moved to Tewin, Hertfordshire for business reasons 33 years ago and are still there. My children finished their education in Hertford and St Albans schools.
I became a County Councillor in 1997 which was my first entry into politics, but my son has always been very involved politically and is an M.P. My daughter runs the UK operation of an American IT company - unfortunately my IT skills do not match hers!
I was privileged to be Chairman of the County Council from 2005-7. This really was a great experience and one my wife and I will never forget. It was humbling to see how many people work so hard for their communities and neighbours. It gave even more incentive to continue working for our communities.
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