You may already know me through my very successful campaign to “Save Rock Park Bridge”, or my current “North Devon Pothole Community”, campaign about the appalling state of our road network in the geographical North part of Devon. You may even know me from a few years ago for my active involvement in the charitable work of the Barnstaple Rotary Club, or because of my involvement with the Barnstaple Allotment Association, or through my years of volunteering in the Cancer Research shop in Barnstaple. But maybe you don’t know me, so I hope that at the least you’ll do me the courtesy of reading this short introduction.

Having settled in Barnstaple more than 37 years ago, I’m happy to call North Devon my home even though it has changed and developed a great deal since I arrived in 1987. My children were both born at the North Devon District Hospital (NDDH) and grew up in Barnstaple, and both live nearby with families of their own; so that gives me strong incentive to strive for improvement in the North part of Devon.

My early career was in electronics and communications, with further study leading to an MSc. in computer science with an interest in health informatics. For a number of years I worked at senior management level in Information Technology in both the private and public sector (NHS). Now semi-retired after a period of ill-health, I work part-time as a school bus driver, which is a welcome and refreshing change from the demands that my previous career placed on my time, energy and mental faculties; this gives me the discipline of getting out of bed in the early mornings as well the opportunity to devote spare time to the benefit of our community.

During my years in Barnstaple I have seen many changes and developments, some improving things for our community, and some which have been less that well received. But overall, North Devon is a wonderful place to live, with Barnstaple being the