Category: Town Council in Uttlesford

• Uttlesford District Great Dunmow North Ward (Councillor)
• Great Dunmow Town Council - North Ward (Councillor)

Alex Armstrong is committed to creating successful business, and knows that a joined-up approach it the best way to take the district forward.  He is a Great Dunmow Town Councillor. He was Chair of the Dunmow Town Team for 2 years, has served on the Havering Chamber of Commerce and Industry for 10 years, where he was the chairman for 4 years.

In Havering he volunteered as a work experience mentor for the Borough, helping Havering College with apprenticeships. He also served on various committees including Safety and Community Partnerships, Town Centre Partnerships and Business forums and served for 10 years on the Havering Business Awards panel.

Professionally Alex has been Managing Director of both private and public companies in the printing industry. He now runs a local print consultancy.

Alex moved from the built up East End of London to Havering, which was then in Essex, only to see it become a London Borough and in his words a ‘concrete jungle’. He moved again to Great Dunmow and  fell in love with the town, the open spaces, and warm and friendly people. Alex says he doesn’t want Dunmow to become either a dormitory town or a concrete jungle itself, and so any development must be in tune with the desire of the local residents.

He has been married for over 40 years and has a son in Florida and daughter in Canada. His hobbies are golf, theatre, walking and Chelsea Football Club.

• Saffron Walden Town Council - Audley Ward (Councillor)
• Essex County Saffron Walden Division (Councillor)

Paul Gadd has been a Saffron Walden Town Councillor since 2015 and an Essex County Councillor for the Saffron Walden Division since 2021.

He is a retired lawyer, and former partner in a leading solicitors firm in London. He now works part time for an investment company.  He is one of the founder members of Residents for Uttlesford.

Paul is highly active in the community. He is a volunteer with Saffron Walden Cricket Club, the Fry Art Gallery and Bridge End Gardens as well as being heavily involved with the local branches of Friends of the Earth and Amnesty International.

• 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.

• Uttlesford District Saffron Walden Audley Ward (Councillor)
• Saffron Walden Town Council - Shire Ward (Councillor)

Arthur Coote is a well-respected councillor for Saffron Walden. He was born in the town where he lives with his wife. Arthur is active in many aspects of town life including the Baptist Church. Key interest areas for him are community, equality, youth development and sports.

He’s is a family man who is committed to youth development. Arthur is a director and manager of the Bell Nursery in Saffron Walden and member of the charity Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (PACEY). Two of his children have followed him into education as both are head-teachers, and the third has followed a career in law.

Arthur is a lifelong member of Essex Cricket Club and a strong advocate for sports and healthy lifestyles. He’s been active in the funding and design of new playgrounds by Saffron Walden Town Council, and been working to provide more open spaces and sports facilities.

Nationally and locally Arthur has been a long-time supporter of the Labour Party. He was elected as a councillor to Saffron Walden Town Council in 2015 and serves as Mayor for the 2019/2020 year. Like a number of councillors from all the main national parties, he joined R4U in 2019 to create a difference locally.

Arthur Coote says “Over the last 50 years I have taken part in hundreds of campaigns for Labour candidates. I have stood for office to try to create a more equal society and have been a member of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party. Over the last 4 years it’s become clear that the best way to represent local residents and uphold the ideals I stand for at the district council is by joining R4U. R4U has shown they care about the community’s future and want to create a positive difference for local people. They’ve proven that they are the only party that has the skills and support to deliver for local people. In my mind it’s simple: I will continue to vote for Labour on national issues, but am standing for R4U to deliver local things for local residents. I urge others to vote local Resident for local matters.”

• Great Dunmow Town Council - South Ward (Councillor)

Patrick Lavelle took early retirement after a successful 35 year career in the pharmaceutical industry. His career in the pharma sector gives him a unique perspective into one of our region’s most important industries.

Other areas that interest Patrick are policing and reducing crime, and the issues related to large new housing developments in the area.

As a councillor he works to ensure that new housing proposals are properly scrutinised and development controlled to benefit residents. He believes that it is important to make sure that due consideration is given to the impact on the environment, on the local services (schools, medical facilities and recreational facilities) as well as supporting infrastructure including not just vehicular access but also public transport, cycling and walking access.

Patrick lives in the ward he represents.

• Saffron Walden Town Council - Shire Ward (Councillor)

James de Vries has been an Uttlesford resident since 1985, and is an experienced district and town councillor, previously sitting on the UDC Investment Board, and scrutiny and governance committees.

For work he specialises in commercial IT and has a background in aviation working closely with Stansted Airport. In the local community he has spearheaded local business networking initiatives and runs a small sports club in his spare time.

James says “It is important that we retain the natural beauty and heritage of our communities. I’m concerned about the impacts of large housing developments, rural broadband, policing, traffic, and local school places. I’m also keen to tackle the smaller issues that affect quality of life, such as speeding, fly-tipping, travellers, potholes and recycling.“

• Saffron Walden Town Council - Audley Ward (Councillor)

Cllr Deryk Eke is a recently retired Chartered Civil Engineer with over 40 years’ experience of delivering major national infrastructure projects worldwide including in America, Europe, South East Asia and back home in the UK.

He was raised in Lower Sheering and schooled nearby in Sawbridgeworth and Harlow. He has been married for nearly 40 years and lived in and around the Saffron Walden area for more than 30 years.

In 1994 he and his wife returned from a major project in Hong Kong. Deryk says that they were “living in Great Bardfield at the time, but managed to secure places for our children at Saffron Walden County High, not something you could hope to do now!”

Since they moved into Saffron Walden town, Deryk says that the “explosion in house building, increase in traffic, deterioration in air quality, and lack of school and medical facilities” are all aspects that he and his children noticed more and more, and that is part of what has spurred him on to stand to represent other residents.

He says that “The district council must be prepared to stand up for the residents and demand developers give back to the community, and R4U is the best party to make that happen because it only answers to local people.”

Deryk belies that “with my experience and passion for delivering successful projects I can help improve our quality of life and better living environment across Uttlesford.”