Archive for: Parish Councillors

I am delighted to be co-opted onto Woldingham Parish Council. Although a relative newcomer to the village, I have been a frequent visitor for many years through our family connections to Woldingham school.

With a background in central Government, I bring experience in policy, governance and strategy across large spending departments. I now work in management consultancy where I lead service transformation programme in the public sector. At a more local level, I have many years’ experience in collaborating closely with the local authority in my previous neighbourhood to host events and to maintain and enhance its conservation status.

As individuals and a community, I believe it is our primary duty to protect and preserve our shared environment for ourselves and for future generations. For me, this goes hand in hand with making Woldingham a great place to live, and I’m really excited to be working with the Council and our community to deliver on both of these aims.

I moved to Woldingham with my wife and two sons in 2013, and I have been helping on the WPC for the last year.  I am interested in maintaining the ambience and mood of our village and its surrounding areas – its a great place to live and its worth a bit of effort to keep it that way as well as looking for ways to develop, maintain and improve our services.

I have had a long career in public service, in the rail sector, and I have been a member of several companies executive teams over the years, including a stint at Commercial Director for our local railway services. I do think that my career in public service means I am well placed to continue to serve our community through my WPC duties. I have considerable experience in business planning, project delivery, managing budgets, risk management, commercial and contract management, procurement and sales, and of working with a vast range of local and national stakeholders. I have also volunteered to help many local organisations over the years, mainly sports clubs.

I have found that I have been able to contribute to many parish council activities and I have been involved in developing our plans for the future, our budget setting and management and a whole range of specific projects and reviews. I am currently working on our contribution to the Open Spaces Strategy and our work on speed safety. I have just completed our annual review of our risk management plan and the actions we have ongoing to manage this. I also try to support and help other councillors, and I believe we have become a strong team.

Lockdown has meant the last year has been strange for the council, as everyone else, and I am very much looking forward to the freedom I hope is just round the corner and the opportunities this will create for us all. But we have been able to adapt and continue our work.  I have enjoyed working with a team of committed, knowledgeable and positive individuals on the WPC; it has been good fun.

I would like to continue contributing to sustaining and improving our fantastic village environment and I would ask that you consider voting for me in the forthcoming elections.

I am a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects with 30+ years experience. I began the process of moving to Woldingham in 2018, when the first part of our house project was completed. Overseeing the works of the house being built gave me the opportunity to meet many neighbours and also made me understand the greatness of being part of such a lovely community. Whilst still living in South-West London suburbia, I attended a couple of Woldingham Parish Council meetings, and this is when I felt a great desire to become involved.

Apart from my career as an Architect, which spans from prestigious landmarks in Central London through to individually designed private houses in and around Greater London and the Green Belt, I am a mother of two (now grown up) children, and I live in the village with my husband and my elderly mother. In my spare time I have been a School Governor for a number of years, and also a committee member and a website administrator for a local Youth Orchestra in Wimbledon.

I would like to think I will make a good Councillor, as on one hand I am experiencing the specific charm of our village and the tremendous beauty of our surrounding countryside just like any other person living and working in this beautiful part of the world, and on the other hand, in my position as an Architect, I have the desire and the willingness to share from my experience for the benefit of our small community. Furthermore, given that we are in the Metropolitan Green Belt and very close to a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, I would specifically like to ensure we continue to preserve, nurture and enhance the village’s special character for generations to come. 

I will feel privileged to be able to bring a real contribution to our local community and I hope the above will inspire you to vote for me in the forthcoming local elections.

I was born in Purley and have lived in this part of the country all my life. As a child I lived in Sanderstead and since then have lived in Kenley, Caterham and Coulsdon. My wife and I moved to Woldingham almost 4 years ago.

After leaving grammar school I studied Structural and Civil Engineering at Brixton School of Building for which I was sponsored by Higgs and Hill, who at the time were one of the best construction companies in London. After 8 years with them various job opportunities arose which allowed me to work for Percy Bilton and John Laing.

In the mid seventies there was a strong draw to join the family business. Holbrook Construction has been building in the Croydon area for over 150 years and it was a privilege for me to work within the company set up by my great grandfather.

Having retired a few months ago I decided to look for something to help occupy my time and felt that becoming a Parish Councillor would enable me to put some of the skills and knowledge I have acquired over the years to good use and help to protect the wonderful environment we live in, here in Woldingham.