Having served as a Parish Councillor for over 25 years and a District Councillor for 10 years, I feel I have some experience to bring to Lancashire County Council. Having said that of course there is much to learn from a much larger organisation covering areas of work not covered by District Councils. It will be quite a challenge!
I have lived most of my life in my division . My family farmed in Scarisbrick and I went to study Agriculture at London University, and gained a Master's Degree at Cornell University one of the "Ivy League" universities in the USA. I became a Research Manager for the pet food division of Spillers back in the UK.
I returned to the family farm on my father's retirement and soon began my interest in local affairs by joining Scarisbrick Parish Council. My interest in community affairs has grown since then , particularly on my retirement from farming.
A Councillor's job is to listen to individuals and local organisations and voice those concerns in the right quarters. Equally important is to look to the future, and village plans are to be applauded and projects contained therein will need my priority support.
Local Village schools are of paramount importance in our village communities as are the larger schools in Burscough. I want to encourage every school in my division to support the "School Travel Plan" initiative to help relieve school traffic congestion. Youth provision is vitally important and I believe in supporting worthwhile initiatives to add to our facilities. The Grove Youth and Community Centre in Burscough does sterling work and I am pleased to have joined the Management Committee.
I will strive to improve public transport services and infrastructure by supporting the re-instatement of the Burscough curves and further improvements to local railway stations to encourage railway use, and protect and develop local bus services.
I will stand up for our rightful share of road maintenance and improvements, including traffic calming measures.
People ask me if there is a conflict being a parish, district and county councillor. I can honestly say I am finding that the different roles complement each other. An issue thrown up on a parish plan for example that comes under a county council responsibility can be dealt with usually efficiently. By that I mean if it is within normal budget constraints.A county councillor knows his way around and has immediate access to the county officers.
