There are three Oxted & Limpsfield Residents Group (OLRG) candidates standing in the Tandridge District Council elections being held on May 4th.
Claire Blackwell and Chris Langton are standing for re-election. Peter Damesick is standing for election to the District Council for the first time.
If you are voting in person, don’t forget to bring your photo ID. These are the first elections where photo ID is needed.
Claire is standing for re-election in Limpsfield Ward. Claire was first elected in 2019 and is currently chair of Planning and a member of the Planning Policy committee and is committed to dealing with the difficult issues we have inherited regarding the Council’s submitted Local Plan. Claire also represents the Council on the Friends of Limpsfield Common and on the AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) partnership board. She has lived in Limpsfield parish for the past 30 years. If re-elected, Claire would continue representing Limpsfield together with fellow OLRG Councillor Ian Booth
If you have any questions for Claire or would like to call her for a chat, she can be contacted at claireblackwell15@yahoo.co.uk or phone 07711 561890.
Chris is standing for re-election in Oxted South Ward. Chris is currently chair of the Council’s finance committee (Strategy and Resources) and has one of the hardest jobs in our administration. When we took over in May 2021, we inherited a position close to bankruptcy. Chris has played a key part in getting the Council’s finances back on track and setting a balanced budget for 2023/24 without major cuts to services or reducing the amount of money available for grants to voluntary organisations. We have also been able to keep 2 hour free parking in Ellice Road car park. If re-elected, Chris would continue representing Oxted South together with OLRG Councillors Deb Shiner and Bryan Black.
If you have any questions for Chris or would like to call him for a chat, he can be contacted at chrislangton50@yahoo.com or phone 07780 901811
Peter is standing for election for the Oxted North and Tandridge Ward. Peter has lived in Oxted since 1986. For many years, he was a research director for a major commercial property adviser. He was chair of the Trustees of TVA, a charity supporting the voluntary and community sector in Tandridge District, from 2015-2020 and has been active as performer and director with local theatre groups at The Barn Theatre, Oxted and the Miller Centre in Caterham. He has been an Oxted Parish Councillor for the last four years. If elected, he will represent the ward together with OLRG Councillors Jackie Wren and Council leader Catherine Sayer.
If you have any questions for Peter or would like to call him for a chat, he can be contacted at pdamesick@gmail.com or phone 07825 640947
A number of other linked Independent candidates are standing in wards around the District and if enough of us are elected on May 4th, we will be able to continue as a residents-run Council.
Oxted Parish Council is also up for election and OLRG has 12 candidates, 8 of whom are currently Oxted Parish Councillors and are standing for re-election. For details, click on their election leaflets below
There are 2 candidates not included on the Oxted South leaflet:
LOUISE KIRK: Louise lives in Hurst Green with her husband and their two teenage children. Louise and her family run a local business, and also foster for Surrey County Council. She pledges to dedicate her time on the Parish Council to investing whatever energy and effort is needed to understand local people’s concerns, instigate change and protect our community.
PETER QUINN: Peter retired from the police as a detective sergeant in 2011. For the past 12 years he has worked for a neighbouring district council installing lifeline community alarms for elderly and vulnerable people. He believes that “ The provision of council services should never be allowed to be driven by politics, it should always be the best service for the community, based on local knowledge and experiences.”
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