Local Elections 2023: East Devon District Council candidate statements
By Kate Baxter
27th Apr 2023 | Local News
On May 4 Honiton residents will vote for five new East Devon District Councillors across two wards.
Voting will also take place to elect 18 new Honiton town councillors.
East Devon District Council candidates for St. Michael's Ward (3 councillors to be elected):
Violet Bonetta (Labour)
I am Honiton born and raised and attended both primary and secondary here. I'm invested in community work here in Honiton, through both volunteering and work. Through my role at Honiton Foodsave, I have helped to give away tens of thousands of items of food to our local community and keeping the operation running by making and upkeeping our website. I also worked as the Member Pioneer at a local supermarket, supporting community causes and charitable events. Locally, we need a more diverse range of councillors who know people's priorities and that will work with the community to improve the lives of working people in Honiton and beyond. With the cost of living only rising, something needs to be done, and I commit to doing all I can to continue with Labour's achievements on EDDC and to support you as your local Councillor.
Joanne Fotheringham (Independent)
Originally from London, I have lived and worked in central Honiton for five years. I am a business analyst, an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers and gained a History degree as a mature student researching Britain's secret chemical weapons programme in Cornwall. I am 100% independent and have never been a member of any political party.
Lockdown made me appreciate living in Honiton and the importance of our local independent shops and green and open spaces. I want to help to continue the positive work of our current town council. I will oppose Devon County Council's plan to introduce a pay and display parking system on the High Street.
The loss of HSBC and Barclays bank branches from the high street is a concern. Although it is good to see that Barclays is planning a part-time presence in the library, I will work with others to campaign for a proper community banking hub for the town.
I support the current Town Council's decision to contribute towards the cost of building a pedestrian crossing on Clapper Lane to improve safety for children and parents of Honiton Primary School and will support ongoing efforts to make sure that Devon County Council schedule the work urgently.
Finally, if you are voting in person at the polling station, don't forget you will need photo ID such as a driving licence or passport. The permitted forms of photo ID are listed on the back of your polling card.
Nicholas Ingham
I am an IT consultant and have lived and worked in central Honiton for five years. I was born in Manchester and grew up in Cornwall. I lived in Catford in south east London for many years where I was involved in a number of campaigns including Save Ladywell Pool (to save the local swimming pool from demolition) and the Bring Back Democracy campaign (calling for the abolition of the directly elected Mayoral system in Lewisham). Both campaigns involved working with a wide range of people from all political parties including Conservatives, Greens and Socialists.
At the forthcoming election for Honiton Town Council, a number of excellent town councillors are now standing down. I want to ensure that the progress made by the "Honiton Forward" group of new councillors is not lost. I am very concerned about the possible effect of the new voter ID laws on both voters and polling staff. Recent polling shows that 1 in 4 people are completely unaware that they will need to produce Photo ID or a Voter Authority Certificate to be able to vote in the Local Elections. Before the election, I will be campaigning raise awareness of the new Photo ID regulations. Joanne Fotheringham and I have set up a campaign website at https://readytovote.uk
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Councillor Phil Twiss has shared with Nub News a supporting statement for Paul Carter, Jenny Brown and Brice Cornelius who are all standing for the Conservatives:
Statement from Phil Twiss: All three Conservative candidates (Jenny Brown, Paul Carter and Brice Cornelius) are strong advocates for the farming community, buying locally produced food whenever possible, helping reduce carbon miles and supporting local High Street businesses from food shops to hospitality venues and other services, including people's health and wellbeing, where they will work for improvements to local health services and build more high quality affordable homes for local people.
Regenerating the High Street is a key priority for all of them, to keep Honiton sustainable and vibrant. We will all make every effort we can to regenerate Honiton High Street by innovative working, attracting more funding and new business, making Honiton an even better place to live, work, shop and socialise.
Paul Carter (Conservative)
Paul Carter works for the internationally famous Donkey Sanctuary, who have offices in Honiton High Street; in what spare time he has Paul breeds and trains horses. He was also previously a member of EDDC and has many years of experience in a number of Councillor Roles to call on.
Brice Cornelius (Conservative)
Brice Cornelius moved to Honiton 40 years ago and is well known locally. He is a highly experienced professional, working as a Senior Project Manager in the construction industry and would bring a wide range of skills to EDDC, if elected.
Jenny Brown (Conservative)
Jenny Brown is a Town Councillor and committed to community work, including help reduce social isolation by running the popular Beehive Arts and Community centre café and helping those she comes in to contact with. Jenny previously sat on EDDC, and was the lead Councillor for Tourism and successfully campaigned for the reopening of Honiton Police Station.
East Devon District Council candidates for St. Paul's Ward (2 councillors to be elected)
Tony McCollum (Independent)
For many years I have been a voluntary member of the Honiton & District Chamber of Commerce and Industry and for the last three years I represented the Chamber as their Honorary President.
As a Town Councillor I will continue to support Honiton and its small independent businesses by keeping High Street and New Street as free as possible from the large national companies who are happy to take money out of the town, but shut down at the first downturn in profit.
The driving force to provide Honiton's future lies with the council understanding the needs and aspirations of our townsfolk, and being engaged with so many committees and working groups I am always in touch with the people of Honiton.
I have lived in and around Honiton for 50 years, having worked in our local dairy business working my way up to factory manager over a period of 25 years and followed this with a further 10 years in the engineering side of the industry which has given me a ground level insight into the needs and wants of working men and woman.
As a Honiton Town Councillor I am involved with many charitable organisations and would like to continue to support them as best I can. In many ways I have been partially responsible for the changes brought about within Honiton Town Council and am happy to be able to report that the council now functions with civility and decorum between all councillors and changes are underway to ensure, by written agreement, that this will continue to be so.
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Councillor Phil Twiss has shared with Nub News a supporting statement for Andrew Pearsall and John O'Leary who are both standing for the Conservatives:
Statement from Phil Twiss: Andrew Pearsall and John O'Leary are strong advocates for the farming community, buying locally produced food whenever possible, helping reduce carbon miles and supporting local High Street businesses from food shops to hospitality venues and other services, including people's health and wellbeing, where they will work for improvements to local health services and build more high quality affordable homes for local people.
Regenerating the High Street is a key priority for all of them, to keep Honiton sustainable and vibrant. We will all make every effort we can to regenerate Honiton High Street by innovative working, attracting more funding and new business, making Honiton an even better place to live, work, shop and socialise.
Andrew Pearsall (Conservative)
Andrew Pearsall is a local builder, who is also a member of Honiton Town Council. He recognises the challenges facing all of us in the town, not least getting to grips with ensuring we have high speed Ultrafast Broadband across the whole of Honiton; essential for businesses to operate effectively, as well as attracting new ones who cannot be competitive without it.
John O'Leary (Conservative)
John O'Leary is very well known to many people in Honiton, who come across him working on the Deli counter at Complete Meats, in the middle of the High Street. John was previously a popular and hardworking EDDC Councillor representing Honiton St Paul's ward for a number of years, where he is again seeking your support on May 4.
The full list of candidates for the town and district level elections is available here.
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