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Diary

Where were you born?

I was born in Nyeri, Kenya, where my family ran a farm. They moved back to England in 1961, when he was eight months old. I’ve lived in Damerham for 11 years, with Carolyn (who works for Salisbury District Council) and at first with daughter Sarah, who still lives locally with her partner.

How about your day job?

I’m UK Sales Manager for a firm specialising in equipment for large-scale free-range poultry houses. I have a company of my own that buys and sells various electronic components and controls. 

What do you like to do for relaxation?

I enjoy our garden and doing diy projects around the house. I am learning to fly model aircraft and try to watch as much of the Formula 1 Grand Prix season as possible. 

How long have you been on the Parish Council?

This is my 5^th year on the Council, and this year I became Chairman. I enjoy this kind of work, and being involved in the Village generally. I feel that however busy you are it`s important to become as much involved in the community as possible.

What do you consider the role of the Parish Council in Today’s World?

I feel that the Parish Council is frustratingly stifled by the District and County Councils..  Although it`s a struggle for the Parish Council to make its influence felt, it is easier to be on the inside to try to make things happen, than just to complain from outside!

It appears at the moment that the District Council does not seem to take note of our views on planning issues and the like, although we are obviously very close to the needs of our local community. This is really annoying – but we keep pressing on regardless, trying to influence the powers that be.

What are your major concerns about the Village?

A major issue is the traffic through the village. – both the size of some of the lorries which go through - and the speed of some of the cars.

Local firms and businesses may need to bring lorries through, and there is no way of discriminating between these and those which use Damerham as a short cut..  A differential weight limit for general traffic and local business traffic is possible, but it would be very difficult to enforce. .

 We are going to have a “SID” speed controller in the village, which will record the number of vehicles going too fast, but not the individual registration numbers. If it`s found that there is a lot of speeding, then the police will take some action. In Dorset, people are being trained to use speed cameras – although they cannot be used to prosecute speeders, they can be used by the police to “have a word.” It particularly grieves me that it is often local people who drive too fast.

What would be your dearest wish in your role as Parish Council Chairman?

It would be for the District and County Councils to LISTEN. I genuinely feel that 97% of the time, they do either what they want to do – or what Central Government wants them to do. But the Parish Council has much more knowledge of local issues, and deserves to be listened to.

How do you feel about the Parish Plan?

Well, of course, the full Plan isn`t available yet, but it may well appear a bit daunting. It’s been well researched, and there seems to be a lot of sense in it, but some things are easier to achieve than others. We just need to work step by step towards fruition. 

What are Your hopes and aspirations for the Village?

I really hope that things don`t change too much. There are obviously things that can be improved, but our Community but is going along quite nicely as it is.