My Pledges

1. To listen to and represent the residents of the ward


2. To protect the rural identity of our villages
• I have campaigned to remove Little Oakley from the Harwich development boundary and to protect our limited local facilities. I opposed plans to demolish the former village school, and this has now been retained and restored as a private residence.


• I successfully opposed the proposed removal of Strategic Green Gaps and Coastal Protection belt from the Local Plan. The Strategic Green Gaps prevent our villages from merging with each other or Harwich, while the Coastal Protection Belt prevents development along our coast line in the designated areas.


3. To lobby all levels and work to improve our Broadband
• I have been campaigning hard for several years to bring better broadband to the Oakleys. I have had discussions with Tendring District Council, Essex County Council (BDUK Essex), Bernard Jenkin MP and various companies that could potentially supply solutions.


• I have written to both the current (Ed Vaizey MP) and previous (Maria Miller MP) ministers for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to challenge the way that the £780m of public money is being focussed on giving superfast broadband to urban areas while leaving large areas of rural Britain without even the basic 2Mb/s.


• If elected, I will continue to campaign at the highest level to ensure that rural areas such as ours receive the investment required to provide us with an appropriate level of broadband. I will also actively seek solutions that can practically provide an acceptable level of broadband within Great Oakley, Little Oakley and Stones Green for all residents.


• The time has come for the people in rural areas to be heard. I will lead the campaign for our voice to be heard and for our villages to be receive the broadband service that we need and deserve


4. To keep our footpaths clear
• I have arranged for overgrown footpaths to be cut back and where appropriate arranged for these to be added to a regular rota for their future clearance. I will continue to do this.


5. To keep our lanes free of fly tipping
• I have regularly arranged for fly tipping to be removed. This has been most prevalent along The Soils, and has included the removal of black bags, animal carcasses, furniture, fridge freezers, vacuum cleaners and other general rubbish. I will continue to arrange for fly tipping to be removed and will seek to have offenders prosecuted by TDC where appropriate.


6. To protect and enhance local services
• I successfully campaigned for the Dovercourt Leisure Centre to be upgraded, for the maternity unit to be re-opened and to improve accessibility and disabled parking at public service sites. I will continue to campaign for local services and facilities to be improved and recognised.


7. To oppose unsustainable development, but support sustainable development
• I have campaigned to have Little Oakley recognised as a smaller rural settlement and to have it removed from the Harwich urban development area. This has been done in the emerging Local Plan, but it is important that this is seen through to approval in 2016 to continue to protect Little Oakley from urban sprawl from Harwich and Dovercourt.


• I successfully opposed the proposals to build 1400 houses around Little Oakley.


• I have opposed the application to build 60 houses on the Great Field opposite Seaview and have called this application in to the Planning Committee in the event of the planning officer wishing to approve the application


• I have supported the addition of a 3G football pitch at Little Oakley Memorial Hall for the football club.


• I successfully opposed a planning application to build 6 properties on the North side of Stoned Green Road at the Eastern end of the village that would have obstructed country views from residents of the southern side of the road and would have added too many properties to a small rural village. I called this application into the planning committee for consideration if officers had recommended approval.


• I opposed the further development of Great Oakley airfield, and while unsuccessful in my objections, I was able to have significant input into the planning conditions imposed that have made the use of the airfield more bearable as these conditions will be enforced if breached.


• In principle I support some level of development next to Great Oakley school and the provision of a new village hall complete with off street parking. However, I recognise that there are mixed views on this in the village and will seek that this site is not overdeveloped both when it is outlined in the Local Plan and when a planning application for the development is submitted.