Beaconsfield Independent Electors Association

I am now retired after working for over 30 years in pharmaceutical research.  I am married with a grown up son and daughter and have three grandchildren; two grandsons and a granddaughter.  These three keep me young and enable me to identify with issues relating to all age groups. I’ve lived in Beaconsfield for nine years, but have lived within a 10 mile radius of the town for much of my life.

So why did I stand as an Independent councillor?  Over the past 40 years I’ve watched the main parties politicise local government.  In Slough in the sixties, it was the Labour Party and in Chiltern District in the seventies and eighties it was the Conservative Party.  When I came to Beaconsfield,  I was pleased to find a viable alternative in the Independents.

First elected onto the Town Council in 2003 I served on many of the working groups and chaired the influential Finance and General Works Committee.  As the Council’s representative on the joint local committee I worked hard to improve the services that South Bucks District Council  and Bucks County Council provide for the town.

In 2007 I stood in both the town and district council elections in Beaconsfield West Ward and was elected onto both councils and in 2011 did so again.  This time I retained my seat on Beaconsfield Town Council but not at the District Council.   Whilst on the District Council, I sat on the Community/Leisure and Environmental Policy Advisory Groups and also on the Licensing Committee.  Community safety is a key focus for me and I led the CCTV working group at town council and sitting on the South Bucks CCTV working group.  These roles fit very well with my membership of the Beaconsfield Neighbourhood Action Group and my position as NHW co-ordinator for Holtspur.

I have long been convinced that the three existing tiers of local government are in need of reform.  I remain concerned that the Pathfinder Enhanced Two Tier Local Government initiative has still found no effective way in engaging parish and town councils in the quest to improve the efficiency of local governance.  While remaining convinced that town and parish councils could more effectively deliver more community services, I feel this can only be achieved with funding to significantly improve the infrastructure at this level.

Please feel free to contact me at geoff(@)beaconsfieldindepenendents.org.uk