Local elections 2023: Honiton Town Council candidate statements
By Kate Baxter
27th Apr 2023 | Local News
On May 4 Honiton residents will vote for 18 new town councillors across two wards.
Voters will be asked to vote for a candidate for their ward (either St. Michael's or St. Paul's) and as well as an East Devon District Councillor.
Below are the statements from 10 town council candidates.
Candidates for St. Michael's (10 councillors to be elected)
Melvyn Baldock
I am from Tunbridge Wells originally and moved to Honiton area in January 2019, just before Covid. Having been a paramedic for 32 years and a former ambulance officer in Kent I became very involved in the East Devon pandemic response and establishing and coordinating the swabbing centres. I worked with two local charities for the benefit of Honiton and the surrounding residents and delivered the free CPR/defibrillator courses to residents via Volunteer4All. I have also supplied several public access defibrillators to the surrounding area and teach first aid, responders and advanced blue light driving. I have also mentored paramedics. Before my ambulance career I worked as a baker, civil engineer, sales rep and a coffee roaster and tea blender.
I am divorced and have three daughters back in Kent and Sussex and my mum who is near Newton Abbot. I was a county sprinter and played football and rugby at a high level. Rowing (coxed 8s) was also an interest as well as, cooking, photography, vintage cars and helping anyone in need. I believe I can give an unbiased, honest approach to the town council and hopefully drive projects and benefits forward for Honiton residents. Throughout my career I have attended many meetings regarding health and safety, emergency response, major incident and event management and believe this will stand me in good stead to deal with the issues related to the town in a firm but fair way. Thank you for considering voting for me.
Jenny Brown
Jenny Brown is a Town Councillor and committed to community work, including helping 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.
Joanne Fotheringham
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.
Joanne is also standing as an East Devon District Councillor for St. Michael's Ward as an independent.
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
Nicholas is also standing as an East Devon District Councillor for St. Michael's Ward as an independent.
Tony McCollum
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.
Lauren Passmore-Stuart
I am a mum of 3 the co-founder of The Honiton Community Swap Shop and an administrator for #BroCheck. I am passionate about our community, the people and the environment. With the impact of the cost of living crisis and energy crisis making life more challenging for everyone, I have made it my mission to try and help as many as possible. I have done this so far through the Swap Shop by inviting Citizens Advice and Honiton Foodsave to join us, which has turned it into a huge event helping more in our community. The Swap Shop started as a way to prevent clothing waste and to recycle but it has become much more than that and is an event that is not only a lot of fun, but something I'm very proud of.
As part of my role in #Brocheck I can see the very real impact that financial struggles are having on people's mental health. Mental health is also something I'm very passionate about and in our community we are very lucky to have several organisations that support those in need on their mental health journey.
I hope that if I am elected to the council I can do more to help those in our community. I am also interested in helping to set up a youth council. Our young people are full of ideas on what they would like in our town and it would be an excellent way to give them a voice.
Robert Sexton
I am a retired Police Superintendent, having managed several 'interesting' London divisions and worked for 3½ years at New Scotland Yard. I have since been a management consultant with a company in the City of London, acted as a Non-Executive Director with an NHS Trust and as the CEO of a charity in Somerset. In addition I have a Masters degree and a post graduate diploma in business management. I have lived in the Honiton area for over 17 years and I feel this has given me a good appreciation of the issues facing the town.
Since retiring I have always been active in the voluntary sector, including as a NHW co-ordinator, chair of a Community Safety Partnership and the initiator and first Chairman of the Wiltshire County Neighbourhood Watch Association. Since my time in Honiton I have undertaken several voluntary roles, including as a Director of ReadEasy Honiton and currently as a Trustee of the Beehive, for which I have been instrumental in developing their recent business plan and the opening of the cafeteria.
My particular interest in becoming a Councillor is to revive the town, so that it becomes an attractive place both to live in and to visit. It needs a permanent site for the market, providing purpose built stalls for vendors with products that will act as a draw for people from miles around. Similarly the appearance of some buildings in the town requires improvement and I will work hard to see how these objectives can be achieved.
Sharon Thorne
Hello, some of you may know me from working at TRiP for many years, especially over the pandemic. From my time there I know that Honiton has an amazing community ethos, stepping up when needed to help out a neighbour. This 'spirit of community ' has become more apparent as I have helped coordinate Operation Rudolph since the start, with this year being our forth year. As a volunteer on this project I am always amazed by the generosity and kindness of others to help out where they can.
My approach is simple in that, if elected, I want to take this kindness and community 'strength 'and help further drive positive change for the people of Honiton. I will go to community groups and places where people meet and listen to what's important to them. Then look at the good support that is out there, how we can connect people and see how best HTC can help them deliver these projects for the benefit of the wider community.
Candidates for St. Paul's (8 councillors to be elected)
Caroline Kolek
I've had the great privilege of serving my fellow constituents in St Paul's as a Town Councillor for two terms and also as Town Mayor for two years. I would be delighted if you voted for me so that I can continue serving the community.
As a teacher and senior leader in a special school I am passionate about inclusion and enabling everyone to have a voice. I have, as a councillor, previously served on the League of Friends and Honiton Dementia Action Alliance in ensuring people's needs are understood and heard. I've worked with the committee for Honiton as a FairTrade Town since its inception promoting FairTrade for farmers growing products that cannot be grown here.
I have also been active in the campaign to reduce the use of single use plastics in Honiton. I am a proud user of the Beehive and recognise this as a jewel for our growing town. Whilst it has rightly needed the support of the council post-covid we need to work together to make this financially secure for future generations. If elected one of my aims is to address the growing litter and fly tipping that blight our roads and verges into Honiton.
Joseph Furneaux-Gotch
I have a background in policing, security, finance and organised crime worldwide. I've been involved with the local Honiton Chamber of Commerce as well as running a business on the High Street for 8 years. I'm aware of the need for the Town Council to continue to support, advertise and increase trade and tourism in our Town. I describe myself as blunt and plain speaking.
Andrew Pearsall
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.
Andrew is also standing for the Conservatives as an East Devon District Councillor for St. Paul's Ward .
Serena Sexton
I have lived in Honiton for over 17 years and been a Town Councillor since May 2021, acting as Chair of the Council for the last 15 months. I am a retired Prison Governor and have been a Magistrate in both the Criminal and Family Courts, and since retirement I have also undertaken voluntary work with Honiton Surgery, Hospiscare and the Beehive, for which I acted as both a Director and Chair of the Board of Trustees.
As a Councillor I have worked in collaboration with the League of Friends, Charter Day Committee, Operation Rudolph, and in particular with various youth groups in the town, with a view to establishing a Youth Council as a voice for our young people, something I have been working towards over the last 12 months.
I have been instrumental in resolving all the outstanding legal and employment issues from the previous administration that cost Honiton's taxpayers so much money. On a more positive note we have made good progress on a number of projects that will benefit local residents and I would like the opportunity to see these to fruition. In particular I am proud that the Council has supported the Beehive to ensure its continued existence and would wish to see that support continue.
I believe integrity and honesty to be essential qualities in public life and will encourage my fellow Councillors to share those common values, allowing them to express their views openly, but equally necessitating respect for the opinions of others.
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