The candidates for the upcoming Cheshire East Council (CEC) & Wilmslow Town Council (WTC) Elections, representing Wilmslow Lacey Green Ward, have been announced. Chris Hilliard has decided to stand for election to both.
Residents in the Lacey Green Ward will have the choice of three candidates to fill one seat on CEC and five candidates to fill three seats on WTC when they go to the polls on on Thursday, 4th May.
The candidates standing to represent Lacey Green Ward on CEC are:
- Hilliard Chris - Residents of Wilmslow
- James Robin - Liberal Democrats
- Stockton Don - The Conservative Party Candidate *
The candidates standing to represent Lacey Green Ward on WTC are:
- Elaine Evans - Residents of Wilmslow
- Nigel Halford - Local Conservatives
- Chris Hilliard - Residents of Wilmslow
- Joseph Shenton - Local Conservatives
- James Vickers - Residents of Wilmslow
I will publish brief interviews with each of the candidates, in the order in which I receive a response to my request. Use the tags below to locate the other candidate interviews published to date.
Please tell me about yourself - occupation, where you live, interests, family?
I live on Lacey Green, and a fair number of my family live in Wilmslow too - including my grandparents who moved to Wilmslow over 40 years ago. I've noticed during canvassing that families tend to come to Wilmslow and stay for generations, really building that community feel.
I'm a bit of a geek, so this bleeds into my work and my interests. I work two part-time jobs, one of which is head of sales at The Electric Bike Shop in Wilmslow, where I do a lot of outreach, attend events, and educate people about ebikes. One of my joys in that job is taking customers (or, quite frankly, anyone I can persuade onto a bike!) on a test ride around Wilmslow. We've had a few of the local councilors on bikes, and you're likely to see me riding around Wilmslow on my bright blue Tern cargo bike!
My other job is working with a group of charities, organisations, government bodies, and practitioners on access to justice for people with disabilities. In this role, I use my legal knowledge from experience and my law degree to provide perspectives and assistance with projects, but most of my role is supportive - I'm the pet IT person! This role is fantastic as it gives me a wide range of challenges, from assisting with running and planning international events, to video editing, setting up websites, and more.
Hobbies wise, I enjoy learning, designing, and making - that spans a wide range of different areas! Current projects include starting on the journey of making shoes, and mapping out potential cycle routes and quiet rides around Wilmslow.
How long you have lived in there?
I've lived in Wilmslow for over 20 years at this point! As a younger child I attended Colshaw School, and following that I joined Wilmslow High School. We've lived on Lacey Green for most of that time. I've spent some time away at university (Portsmouth and Teesside), but came back to Wilmslow to roost.
Are you a member of any local groups or societies?
I'm a member of the Business Improvement District team that formed earlier last year - this team has come together after the town council helped spur it forward with post-covid funding. This is the group responsible for the fantastic dinosaur models dotted around Wilmslow! I'm also a member of Transition Wilmslow, and Cycle Wilmslow on the cycling front, working to help the regrowth of cycling in Wilmslow.
Further afield, I'm a member and have been a director of Manchester Makers Ltd, also known as HacMan or Manchester Hackspace. This is a community workshop and maker space near central Manchester, where we have all sorts of tools and equipment available for members to use - such as laser cutters, 3d printers, a woodworking shop, electronics equipment, and sewing machines! It's an amazing community built resource.
Why have you decided to stand for election as a borough and town councillor?
Like many people, I saw the video of Handforth Parish Council. I laughed like many, but then considered the reality - those are elected officials, and I'm at least as capable as they are!
Then, due to my work, I met with some of the Residents of Wilmslow group when we invited the local councilors on a test ride event around Wilmslow as part of the Festival of Nature. After talking to Lata Anderson (Dean Row RoW), David Jefferray (Wilmslow East RoW) and Suzie Akers Smith (Congleton West Independant), I knew I'd found my community. Political parties aren't for me - there's too much baggage, and not enough focus on the communities that really matter. The independents in our area have really changed things locally, and I think I can help.
That's my focus - Wilmslow. Cheshire East. How we can make things better for our local residents.
That's why I'm standing. Because I'm a Resident of Wilmslow, and want Wilmslow to shine.
What do you consider to be the important issues facing Wilmslow?
Wilmslow is facing a wide range of challenges - many of them are not specific to us. We're seeing changes to highstreets, changes in where people visit for leisure, and where people want to live.
We also have significant issues around accessible transport. Much of our town is taken over by cars, making pedestrians and cyclists feel unsafe - such as with the illegal parking on Cliff Road, and the inconsiderate pavement parking. We're also continuing to see a drop in bus services, but this is somewhat driven by a lack of demand. How can we engage with our services better? With potential draft plans for a tram service to Wilmslow, and our fantastic train service, how do we make the most of what we have?
We're seeing more housing pop up around Wilmslow, but we need to focus on where it gets built (protecting greenbelt land, and the areas that make Wilmslow a perfect place to live). But part of this is also about how we keep Wilmslow feeling like a community as it grows and new families move into our town. It's this community feeling that draws people into the local groups and has people engaging to make their town better.
What do you hope to achieve and how in the next 4 years?
Over the next four years, I hope to work with the Business Improvement Team and the Town Council to really push Wilmslow as a destination town. We have so much to offer - from a town to live in or visit, to a town to have a business in. Our electric bike shop sees people visiting from as far afield as Bolton, Sheffield, and Wrexham, and I'm sure many of the other shops see the same.
I also really want to work on the issues around The Carrs Park.
We've had the beginnings of last year's parking insanity start again, with people parking on the pavement and up Cliff Road, making walking down the cliff dangerous to say the least. We need to bring Cheshire East and the Town Council together to find a range of solutions to this. The flower trugs worked well from some perspectives, but ended up vandalised - we need to look at permanent solutions.
We also need to look at busy weekends, and if we need to look at providing bigger bins - it was fantastic to see the Carrs park buzzing with activity, and it was also clear that people wanted to throw their rubbish away responsibly. But the bins were far past capacity. Providing larger bins on busier event weekends may be the easy solution to this in the future.
The Carrs Park is a true gem for Wilmslow, and something the community really cares for and enjoys - working to protect and enhance it will definitely be a goal.
What experience and personal qualities will you bring to the role?
I have a mix of IT and legal knowledge, community building experience, and a love for creativity. I think these skills are a fantastic bedrock of skills for this kind of role.
I also bring a different train of thought, and a broad range of knowledge. I love looking at problems from different perspectives, and have historically come up with solutions and resources that others have missed.
Why should Wilmslow residents vote for you?
Because you want to see the Wilmslow that can be, if we work together. Because you want to see the town thriving and bustling, with the town centre a vibrant and cared for space. Because you want Wilmslow to be the focus of those who represent you.
*Current councillor
