Category: Saffron Walden Town Council – Castle & Little Walden Ward

• Uttlesford District Saffron Walden Castle Ward (Councillor)
• Saffron Walden Town Council - Castle & Little Walden Ward (Councillor)

Richard Freeman has lived in Saffron Walden for over 20 years.  For most of that time, he has represented residents as a Castle Ward councillor.  He has twice served as Town Mayor. In 2014 he joined R4U from the Liberal Democrats, becoming a founder councillor  to better serve local residents.

Much of his professional life has been spent in the manufacturing industries, particularly pharmaceuticals and also foodstuffs.  Latterly, he has worked for large international consultancies, providing technical and project management expertise to multinationals and governments.

Much of Richard’s time as a councillor has been devoted to making developers deliver on their Section 106 obligations.  These are legal requirements, often in the form of infrastructure payments made to the council that are designed to mitigate the impact of new housing.  Frequently, developers under-deliver on these.  As a direct result of Richard’s efforts, the town will soon receive two excellent new playing fields off Little Walden Road completed to Sport England standard,  Likewise, after much hard work, the new development of Tudor Park now has a RoSPA-approved children’s playground

Richard says that he believes that “local government has a duty to ensure the supply of homes for ordinary people – not just mansions for the fortunate rich! The limited supply of so-called ‘affordable’ homes linked to housing developments is not enough.  We need new social housing as well; homes that people can rent at prices they can afford. “

He has a particular interest in architecture, and has modernized several listed buildings. This interest was amply expressed when he was involved in managing the repair and refurbishment of Saffron Walden’s listed Town Hall.  Left in a sorry state by previous Conservative administrations, he helped plan and monitor its repair and restoration.  Richard was also able to assist with the design and installation of a very efficient and modern heating system for the building, making this iconic building usable all year, and much cheaper to heat.

• Uttlesford District Saffron Walden Castle Ward (Councillor)
• Saffron Walden Town Council - Castle & Little Walden Ward (Councillor)

Cllr Heather Asker is a well respected and experienced Uttlesford District Councillor, Saffron Walden Town Councillor and has been town Mayor a number of times. She was first elected in 2007 for Saffron Walden Castle ward, where she has worked on numerous residents’ issues.

Whilst being a councillor she has worked on many local ward and town centre issues, including planning and development, parking, road safety and speed reduction programmes. She is particualry proud of the initiatives that she’s driven and supported in Saffron Walden including the refurbishment of the Town Hall, new Common paths and play equipment, the takeover of street cleaning from UDC, and the paving of the market square.

She says she’s “Passionate about the heart of the Town, our fabulous market, now known as one of the best in East Anglia which is regularly featured in the national press.”

She works closely with her other ward councillor, R4U’s Richard Freeman. Both have recently worked tirelessly to hold developer Persimmon to account to deliver a safe play area on Tudor Park and new sports fields on Line Avenue.

Professionally Heather has a career in sales. She has lived in Saffron Walden since 1984 where her daughter attended the County High School.

She joined Residents for Uttlesford as a founding councillor from the Conservatives in October 2014.

• Saffron Walden Town Council - Castle & Little Walden Ward (Councillor)

Richard has lived in Saffron Walden for 20+ years and has 4 children and 7 grandchildren living in Uttlesford. He has chaired a number of construction businesses during his career as well as operating as a consultant to other organisations. He has a long history of active involvement with various charities both Chairing and Trusteeship, in the UK and overseas.

He has provided management support to Residents for Uttlesford since its foundation. Richard is concerned about the failure of the current administration to hold developers accountable for their community responsibilities and the effect this has on the both infrastructure and local facilities as well as poor business decision making that affects the cost that we all incur through our rates.