Welwyn Hatfield Local Council Elections (May 6th 2010)

The Welwyn Hatfield elections will take place on the 6th of May, the same day as the general election. As well as our candidate Paul Zukowskyj standing in the general election, we will also be fielding candidates for the local councillor elections for Welwyn Hatfield borough council. Local councillors perform a vital role locally in representing residents views and issues to local government officers. They also take part in various committees and other decision making bodies in the local area. More details and biographies of candidates are further down the page. Please bear with us as some of these are hot off the press and furthter details are being compiled and completed in the next day or two. So please keep coming back to check the state of the details for the candidate in your ward.

Welwyn Hatfield Local Council Elections and General Election(May 6th 2010)

The Welwyn Hatfield elections will take place on the 6th of May, the same day as the general election. As well as our candidate Paul Zukowskyj, standing in the general election, we will also be fielding candidates for the local councillor elections for Welwyn Hatfield borough council. Local councillors perform a vital role in representing residents' views and issues to local government officers. They also take part in various committees and other decision making bodies in the local area.  Why not help us?  If you would like to help with canvassing, leaflet delivery or to help in any other way, please email us on helpers@welhatlibdems.co.uk We would love to hear from you.

Local Elections - candidates by ward:

Brookmans Park and Little Heath - Jenny Blumsom

Haldens - Shirley Shaw

Handside Ward - Tony Skottowe - Group Leader, Liberal Democrat Group on Council

More recently he has resumed his political activities and has represented Handside since 2006, in the last year he has only missed one meeting, due to a visit to Liege for the Welwyn Garden Heritage Trust, which he helped create. He is a member of the WGC Society and was the only Handside councillor to criticise the decisions put forward over the Stanborough poplars.

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Hatfield Central Ward - Hazel Laming

Hatfield East Ward - Lis Meyland-Smith

Lis Meyland-Smith is a former primary school teacher. She is a long-standing member of the Liberal Democrats and has previously acted as their agent. Lis has a tremendous knowledge of local government through her work for the party, and this would stand her in good stead as a councillor. Having lived here when Hatfield was a very active, bustling town, since my return 16 years ago she has been actively involved in the re-development of the town centre, Action Hatfield, and the on going re-birth of Old Hatfield, and the incinerator campaign, to the benefit of the whole community - young and old. Lis took a very active interest in the Hatfield Charrette. Lis enjoys travel, gardening and entertaining. She is also a Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator.
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Hatfield South Ward - Sheila Archer

Sheila Archer has been involved with the church and community of Hilltop for many years. She is passionately opposed to the plans for an incinerator at New Barnfield and has been active in local efforts to stop the Tory led county council pushing it through against residents’ wishes.
Sheila has welcomed the new proposals for redeveloping Hilltop shops and will push for those to begin as soon as possible. She feels positive regarding the new town centre plans but wants to make sure the Farmers Market remains a feature of the town in the future.
She is involved in the community in many ways, including a mother-and-toddler group. Sheila is concerned that the town centre development should be delayed no longer. She wants to challenge the Tory county council on its schools policies, that have led to the closure of New Briars and Stream Woods schools, and she would like the council to come up with some workable plans to deal with the parking problems of Hatfield residents.
Sheila Archer lives in Hatfield and works for the educational charity Pre-School Learning Alliance as a book-keeper and administrator. Sheila is concerned about the lack of school places for children in Hertfordshire and she would like to see a much higher proportion of children being allocated to the schools of their choice.

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Hatfield Villages - Bobby Bridgeman

Bobby Bridgeman has lived in Lemsford for the past 14 years. His work involves considerable driving and he is appalled at the state of the roads locally and the amount of money being wasted by Herts Highways. Bobby thinks the council needs a shake up and would like the opportunity to do just that. He is fed up with the litter in the area, especially Stanborough Park. He believes the park is a great asset that has been totally wasted by the present Conservative administration.
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Hatfield Villages - Maurice Richardson

Maurice was appalled by the decision of the Borough Council to abandon this Forum, which worked with the bus and train operators to provide good services and clear information so as to coax people out of their cars and on to public transport. The decision makes a mockery of the Conservative Party’s claims to have “green” credentials! Maurice worked for many years in the computer industry and has sometimes been referred to as a 'boffin' a term he does not object to as long as people realize that he worked for a bus company for many years, prior to his IT involvement. But this does mean that he has an interest in bus services and planning of bus stations. Maurice, a Hatfield resident for over 40 years, is the Greenpeace representative on WHEN (the Council’s environmental network). He has also represented Bus Users UK on the Council’s Transportation Forum, helped by his 12 years experience of bus company management.

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Hatfield West Ward - James Finlay

James Finlay has lived in Hatfield for 33 years, an ex-lecturer at the University he is acutely aware of the advantages to Hatfield and the problems it brings to those who live near it. While having nothing against individual Tory councillors he is appalled by the majority they have on the Council (38 Tories, 7 Labour and 3 Lib Dems) which enables them to do exactly as they want. He urges everyone to think carefully before voting Conservative. If elected he would try to visit every home in Hatfield West before June 2011 to find out what you want. Pet hates: the Incinerator proposal, parking problems and wheel clamping, the current Town Centre.
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Hollybush Ward - Ewan Armstrong-Bridges

Ewan is third generation Welwyn Garden City and so knows the place well and is well aware of its good and bad points. He is a self-confessed ‘computer nerd’ and has been accepted as a student at the University of Hertfordshire starting in October. Councils are familiar for Ewan as he was one of the driving forces behind setting up the Youth Council and was a member for some time.

He is naturally interested in the facilities for young people within the town and would champion their concerns. Ewan knows that one of the top priorities is providing something for young people to do in Welwyn Garden City, and he is concerned about the poor record of spending on young people. Ewan’s combination of family involvement with Welwyn Garden City and youth give him an ideal background to represent the people of Hollybush.

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Howlands Ward - Lynda Cowan

Lynda Cowan has lived in the Garden City for several decades, including 9 years in Howlands Ward. Lynda is well known for her outstanding work managing the former WGC Citizens Advice Bureau for nearly 20 years. This has given her a knowledge of how to help people that will stand her in good stead as a councillor.

She is standing as she wants Howlands to have at least one WGC resident among its councillors (none are from WGC at present), and as she is fed up with the declining standard of services provided by Welwyn Hatfield council, especially during the periods of snow.

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Northaw and Cuffley Ward - Nigel Bain

Nigel Bain is a long-standing member of the Liberal Democrat Party and has fought many local elections. He has lived in Hatfield for the last seventeen years been a Governor of Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School seven years, serving on the main committees.

 

Other local interests include Neighbourhood Watch Co-Ordinator and Editing the Northaw and Cuffley Parish Magazine. He is an active member of the local Group of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) of which he is a Fellow. He has lead seminars in Corporate Social Responsibility organised in conjunction with The Business School of the University of Hertfordshire.

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Panshanger Ward - Frank Marsh

Frank worked in Welwyn Garden City for 12 years for a local firm of Solicitors as a personal injury and litigation lawyer before starting his own business, which he now runs. He lives in the town with my wife and children have all attended local schools. He has always taken an interest in helping people both in his professional working life and life outside work. If elected, Frank will work to clear up the problems at Moneyhole Park. He will fight for a barrier to keep the park locked and to keep out noise and anti-social behaviour at night. Frank will work to clear litter and to establish social and pastoral outlets for young people in the ward. Frank will work to establish the concerns of residents and will aim to maintain a visible presence in the ward. He will get to know the area and help to clean it up and keep it looking good.
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Peartree Ward - Caroline Duke

Caroline Duke lives in Peartree so she knows the community there and would love to serve as a councillor.  As a former nurse, working with the elderly, Caroline knows a lot about people and the problems they face, and would like to bring a caring dimension to Peartree Ward. Caroline works in the ward and if elected will be on hand to answer casework enquiries.
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Sherrards Ward - Jonathan Arch

Jonathan Arch moved to Welwyn Garden City in 1993 as an employee of SmithKline Beecham. In 2001 he moved to the University of Buckingham, continuing to research obesity and diabetes. Believing in justice, fairness and liberty for every individual makes him instinctively a Liberal Democrat. At a local level, he is especially interested in environmental initiatives that promote a healthy lifestyle. Having Sherrardspark Wood at the bottom of his garden makes a wonderful asset in a very special town, but he is concerned that only with vigilant councillors, like our current Liberal Democrats, can the town reverse its gradual decline. Jonanthan's wife is a wood warden.
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Welham Green Ward - Simon Archer

Simon Archer has lived in Hatfield since 1978, working for the local bus company (originally London Country and now Arriva). Simon is interested in traffic movements within the district, and took a great interest in the Hertfordshire and Hatfield Charrettes. These were initiatives to improve traffic planning in Hatfield and all over Hertfordshire Simon's commitment to politics in the south of Hatfield is well known. Simon has also worked to solve traffic problems in Dixon's Hill Road.  Continued action on the dreadful state of the roads will be a key part of Simon’s efforts and pressure on the borough council to improve its poor recycling record. Simon Archer is passionately opposed to the plans for an incinerator at New Barnfield and has been active in local efforts to stop the Tory led county council pushing it through against residents’ wishes. “Even the Government is worried about the sort of pollution this can produce” he said, “It is in utterly the wrong place, and the technology has attracted many critics too.” Simon and his wife Sheila have been involved with St John's Church and with the Youth & Community Centre on the Hilltop for nearly 30 years, where Sheila ran the Pre-school Playgroup and still runs the Mums & Toddlers Group. Simon is also interested in holding local government accountable for financial decisions.  He is is highly critical of the way the Conservatives are managing our council tax money.
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Welwyn East Ward - Ian Skidmore

Ian Skidmore has lived in Welwyn Village for the past 26 years, his children went to St Mary's School and then to schools in WGC. He is a Parish Councillor in Welwyn and chair of the Council Finance Committee. He is also secretary of the Welwyn Parish Plan Steering Committee. In his spare time he runs a consultancy advising Biotechnology companies on Drug Discovery and Development. Ian is a firm believer in the Liberal Democrat principle of responsible and accountable local government. While acknowledging that both can be improved he is committed to the NHS and to state education.
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