It’s hard to believe it’s 4 years since I was elected as the first Green County Councillor in Cherwell in 2021 during the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was a worrying time for all of us and as a new County Councillor I had to quickly come to terms with my new responsibilities whilst navigating remote meetings and all the various limitations that were placed on all of us in our day to day lives. I know people who were personally affected by the virus and some that still are. Thankfully I and most of my family came out unscathed, although I did lose a close family member to the virus who I still miss today.

Covid now seems like a distant memory as we all deal with other issues, not least the cost of living crisis, the ongoing lack of affordable housing and the pressures on our health service. We are also about to see seismic changes in the way local government operates which means that this is likely to be the last County Council election in Oxfordshire.

We also have boundary changes to the County Council which sees my current division of Kidlington South split into 2 new divisions – Kidlington East and Kidlington West. This left me with a dilemma about which division to stand in for this election. Ultimately I chose Kidlington East which includes most of the area that is also covered by my District Council Ward. I’ve dealt with a lot of casework in this part of my current division and there are still a number of ongoing issues so I feel I have to try to maintain some contiunity there.

We do also have a strong Green candidate in Kidlington West though, which includes Yarnton and Begbroke as well as Roundham ward in Kidlington. My wife and fellow councillor District and Parish Councillor Fiona Mawson is standing there and I hope she will be able to provide some continuity of representation there, as well as building on her 10 years experience as a Yarnton Parish Councillor where she is currently the Deputy Chair.

Over the next 2-3 years there will also be a further reorganisation of local government which will see a single authority combining the remits of both the District and the County Council. The details of how this will be achieved are still being hammered out but there are concerns that moving to a larger, more remote authority could reduce local engagement.

There are also moves being made by the City Council to expand their borders to swallow up areas like Kidlington, Gosford, Yarnton and Begbroke into one larger authority. I don’t think that’s what local residents want. Neither do I think it will be in their best interests. So I will be fighting to maintain the integrity of all our local villages to prevent us becoming just a suburb of Oxford city.

On top of this we have to deal with the creation of a new local plan amidst sweeping changes to the planning process which could also see a significant erosion of local democracy. This is likely to lead to even more erosion of our surrounding green spaces, especially if the City Council get their way.

So it’s clear that, during the next few years, we will need strong voices at all levels of local government in Oxfordshire to ensure we end up with a workable model that truly represents local residents and responds to their needs. I would like to continue to be that voice for Kidlington East

Whilst I hope we won’t be facing anything on the scale of Covid again for a very long time, there could be other equally disruptive events on the world stage coming our way. We are now seeing the impacts of climate change on our communities with increased incidents of flooding which has brought misery to many residents. I’m working hard to try to reduce the impact of that and we’ve seen new measures introduced locally to support residents faced with the threat of flooding. I am continuing to push for more.

So I hope you will choose to support me again in the County Elections on May 1st to work for you as probably your last county councillor before the changes are made to local government structures. I still feel there’s work to be done in the division, not least in the face of some of the new developments that over the next few years that could have significant impacts on all our lives along with the challenges posed by national government and global events.

I’m trying to get round to meet as many people on the doorstep as possible, but with all the changes going on at the moment, it’s a huge task. If you’d like me to come and see you to discuss any local issues please contact me and I’ll try to arrange something. Otherwise feel free to email, message or call me.