Monthly Notes: May

by Ryan Bate on 20 May, 2016

As a new Borough Council I think that it is essential to communicate with residents about what I’m up to on their behalf. To this end I am aiming (emphasis on that word) to write some monthly notes to summarise what I’ve been doing. This first edition looks back over the election campaign and the first few weeks as a councillor.

Campaigning

Together with my fellow candidate Mike Biggin, as well as the six Lib Dem candidates for the Parish Council, we delivered somewhere in the region of 10,000 leaflets, put up fifty or so posters around the village, knocked on hundreds of doors and spoke to many, many residents. It was a great feeling to be standing to represent my local area on the Borough Council. It was an even better feeling to know that so many people value the work that many Lib Dem councillors and campaigners have done over decades to serve our area. I hope that I can maintain that reputation.

Attending the election count, which took place over three sessions, had that extra edge this time as Mike and I were technically defending the seats, despite the changes enacted by the Boundary Commission. So watching the boxes come out from the five polling stations across the ward, I was slowly filled with a sense of relief and happiness as it became clear that the voters of Grappenhall had placed their faith in us. You might be able to sense that relief from this photo:

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Councillor

It is still early days as a Borough Councillor and so I continue to get my head around the systems and processes which operate, not least in terms of getting telephones and e-mails sorted out so that residents can contact me. Driving up to the Town Hall for the first time as a councillor was a very fulfilling moment though and I am looking forward to attending my first full Council meeting on Monday 23rd May.

Chairman

One of the many upsides of being re-elected to the Parish Council was that I would have the chance to serve as Chairman for 2016/17. The role involves providing political leadership to the council as well as being a civic leader for the villages. For the latter, I look forward to attending as many events as possible across both villages as I seek to raise public awareness of what the Parish Council does. If you are organising an event which you’d like me to attend as Chairman of the Parish Council, please do get in touch.

In terms of political leadership, I have two main aims, one of which is to raise public awareness of the Council as I’ve already said. The second aim is the start the process of creating a Neighbourhood Development Plan for Grappenhall & Thelwall. This allows the villages to set out their priorities for the future, including on the issues of housing and development. Eventually the plan has to be adopted by voters through a local referendum. If adopted, the plan has to be taken into consideration for all planning decisions and provides the Parish Council with a greater cut of the money which developers have to contribute to the area for each project they build.

Coming Up

I have already picked up a number of issues which I will be trying to take action on and I will look to update you on these via this blog, our Facebook page and, of course, our Focus leaflets. If there is something that I could help with, please do get in touch.

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