The candidates for the vacancy on Chehsire East Council, representing the Dean Row Ward, for next month's election have been announced.
Residents in the Dean Row Ward will have the choice of four candidates when they go to the polls on on Thursday, 2nd September.
The candidates standing are:
- Lata Anderson - Residents of Wilmslow
- James Booth - Green Party
- Birgitta Hoffmann - Liberal Democrat
- Frank McCarthy - Conservative Party
I will published brief interviews with each of the candidates, in the order in which I received a response to my request.
Lata Anderson - Residents of Wilmslow
Please tell me about yourself - occupation, how long you have lived in Wilmslow, interests, family?
Wilmslow has been a great place to bring up our son and after 24 years I cannot imagine living anywhere else. I live on Summerfields in the heart of Dean Row ward and love being able to see the hills of the Peak District, especially before dusk when the sun is shining off the hills.
I have a senior role in a well-known bank, working in IT. I enjoy walking, have recently taken up cycling, love outdoor theatre and listening to live music.
Are you a member of any local groups or societies?
I already sit on Wilmslow Town Council and I am on the Community & Order and the Finance Committees.
I am helping organise Wilmslow's Festival of Nature with groups including Transition Wilmslow, Civic Trust, Cycle Wilmslow and many more. Additionally, I am involved with the Wilmslow Community Market Garden.
I am also an active member of the Wilmslow Civic Trust.
Why have you decided to stand for election as a county councillor?
Having been on the town council since May 2019, I realise that Cheshire East governs the more important parts of our lives. Therefore, I want to improve these bigger issues for the residents of Dean Row by using my strong listening skills with my determination to get things done.
Toni Fox did a great job for Dean Row as an independent for Residents of Wilmslow. She has been very supportive and believes I can live up to her high standards.
What do you consider to be the important issues facing Wilmslow?
In Wilmslow there are the three P's: parking, potholes and planning. Recently, there is a 4th P though: Pandemic recovery.
Within Dean Row there are also issues of building on green belt space and more recently, over development where single houses are being replaced with multiple ones. Excessive noise from the A34 is also an issue, especially in the summer months.
What do you hope to achieve and how in the next two years?
Initially, I will have 2 years to prove to the residents in Dean Row that I have continued the great work of their previous councillor, Toni Fox of RoW. This means helping them with their issues such as planning, blocked gullies and overgrown hedges. It will also mean resisting inappropriate planning and helping ensure the town centre develops into a thriving place to shop, eat and work. I will challenge the Central Government cuts to the road maintenance budget.
In the very short term, my focus is to ensure when the Tour of Britain rides through the centre of Dean Row, we are able to utilise the event to bring benefits to the ward.
What experience and personal qualities will you bring to the role?
My different roles in IT have required different skills. When fixing computers, I learnt patience and how to learn quickly. As an analyst, I interpreted data to drive improvements and then as a senior manager, I delivered large, global systems within agreed timescales, budgets and customer expectations.
I have also delivered on the Town Council too. Helping our town centre businesses recover from the lockdown, leading the Councils thank you to our 'Wilmslow Stars' of the pandemic and by formally improving how the Council communicates what we do.
Why should Wilmslow residents vote for you?
I believe the heritage and beauty of Wilmslow should be cherished and protected. This means building new homes that our children can afford but without destroying our wonderful green belt.
To do this, we need to repurpose existing buildings and sites. I am pleased to hear Cheshire East is now turning disused and derelict council buildings into affordable housing for rent or shared ownership. It is the first time in a decade that they are taking an active part in social housing, so I want to help Wilmslow benefit from this new policy too.
Additionally, I am the only independent candidate with no national agenda or political dogma to follow. My only concern is "What is best for Wilmslow?", and as an independent, I am never told how to vote on CEC matters, so I can really deliver on this promise.
On a personal basis, my time as a Wilmslow Town Councillor has shown that I deliver results and that progress can be made without it taking years to achieve.
Finally, whenever anyone has asked me for help, I have always engaged with them to find a solution, even if it is outside my immediate control. Everyone is always welcome to contact me and share their views on how they would like to see Wilmslow develop.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
We have for many years had issues with parking around Wilmslow Academy. Perhaps we could have planters along the verges etc to stop the parents parking on them and also the double yellow lines?
The recent make over of the park on Browns lane is a delight and hopefully the path around it will one day be finished. Be great to see a coffee/tea van there, something similar to the cafe at the Carr's?
We need a dynamic and go getting counsellor in this area who will get the ward spruced up and a pleasure to be in.
We need another Julie Smith.
I agree with many of your comments apart from your first statement. Dean Row was not forgotten about but I appreciate there is still much to do.
I walk often down Dean Row Rd, the pavements are overgrown with vegetation, especially around the new Heathfield farm development. I can ask them to tidy up the hedges on there border. I have cycled on the cycle path on Dean Row and it was scary for an inexperienced rider. I can find out how often the cycle paths are resurfaced but I fear it may not be that soon due to budget constraints, but I can find out.
The are many options on parking around Wilmslow Academy. This will need to be done in consultation with the school and parents. A quick solution is to expand the walking bus that already operates, this would reduce the number of cars coming to the school.
I like the idea of a coffee van at the park. It will be handy to pop out and grab a fresh brew. I will look into this.
I am not Julie Smith, but I am dynamic and will get things done.
Cllr Lata Anderson
Residents of Wilmslow
Lata and the other members of Residents of Wilmslow do not know Diane, nor do we have much dealings with Cllr Julie Smith. However, I understand that Diane is very good friends with Julie though, which I suspect is not the connection you were looking for.
Still, I hope we will soon hear from the other election candidates too.
Our Chairman who lives on the ward tells us the Conservative campaign is being run out of Knutsford, with Conservative members from all over Cheshire East swooping on Dean Row to drum up votes for them (he spoke to a lady from Congleton). They are also giving out Conservative leaflets saying they are "ran (sic) by local people, for local people".
Hmmm, perhaps a Freudian slip there.
The Conservative leaflet also highlights the great work Wilmslow Town Council is doing but forgets to mention that nearly all the projects they cover were ideas proposed by RoW councillors. Sometimes it took us 3 months or more to convince the majority ruling Conservative town councillors to support these schemes, for which they are now taking full credit.
Still, it does show why we chose not to work with the Conservatives to reform Cheshire East after a decade of scandals, cover-up's and misinformation when they ran it. Unfortunately, it still seems that party loyalty and power is their key concern with integrity and honesty still an afterthought.
Cllr Mark Goldsmith
Residents of Wilmslow
Wilmslow West & Chorley - CEC & WTC
Wasn't it Residents of Wilmslow - RoW - that pushed through the widening of the A34 link road from the Dean Row turn off ?
We all remember the tail backs before RoW intervened.
And of course it was Residents of Wilmslow (RoW) that got all the improvements made to the Browns Lane Park to make it useable all year around.
Dean Row residents are very grateful for that.
By my recollection Julia Smith (Handforth ) wasn't involved in the Dean Row Rd ? grateful for that.
By my recollection Julia Smith (Handforth ) wasn't involved in the Dean Row Rd ?
Residents of Wilmslow 447
Green Party 34
Lib Dem’s 46
Conservatives 354
Spoilt Papers 0
Turnout 22.5%
Therefore, Lata Anderson is the new Cheshire East councillor for Dean Row. Congratulations to her and the team for a great effort.
The Conservatives threw everything at this, bussing canvassers in from Congleton, telephone canvassing from Knutsford, writing directly to each household and issuing more leaflets than us. All of which out spent us by £5 to our £1.
Therefore, thanks for everyone who voted for us and for putting your faith is us once again. As always, we will only do what is best for Wilmslow.
Clkr Mark Goldsmith
Residents of Wilmslow
Cheshire East & Wilmslow Town Council
This is a real example of 'people power' if only the 3,034 non-voters of the 3,915 eligible voters understood what could be achieved if they bothered to get involved and be motivated to actually bring change about.
Anyone care to start their own party and make a difference?
Anyone else who didn't vote care to explain their apathy here and be publicly shamed?