I’m Richard and I’ve been a Petersfield city councillor since being elected in 2014, although I also represented the ward from 1983 to 1991. I’m a chartered accountant by background, now retired from a career spent managing the finances of housing associations and charities. This included 15 years as the finance manager/director of Cambridge Housing Society and a further 15 years at Newnham College.

I was drawn in to stand for election once more in 2014 by the way the Tory and Lib Dem government were undermining the welfare state and increasing inequality. I wanted to play my part in developing policies particularly on tackling poverty and inequality but also to take action on climate change, maintaining the environment, developing biodiversity, and providing affordable housing.

In my first term as a councillor I helped draw up the City Council’s anti-poverty strategy to deal with Thatcher’s attacks on ordinary people. As chair of the city’s Finance Committee for the years 1987 to 1991 I also had to oversee the administration in Cambridge of the grossly unfair Poll Tax, but also campaigned strongly against it and helped get it killed off.

As the city’s Executive Councillor for Finance from 2016 to 2020 I made sure that the Labour council has had the resources to fund our work despite the removal of virtually all government grants, using my experience of finance and investment to develop new income streams and to improve the efficiency of the council so that council services can not only be protected but also be delivered at lower cost

I work hard for Petersfield on a wide range of issues and have:

Helped direct the development of Mill Road Depot housing site now in the final stages of construction and made sure that there will be a community centre and 50% of the 236 homes will be let as council tenancies.

Campaigned successfully for environmental improvements in the ward including: the upgraded paths in the cemetery, planting of new trees and provision of community noticeboards.

Helped plan a more effective consultation on the issue of traffic and Mill Rd bridge, to ensure that the wide range of views and interests of residents of the Petersfield are fully understood and represented.

Worked to improve biodiversity in the ward including the wild-flower meadows and “Bee Bank” by Petworth St and the greening of the area of narrow terraced streets between Mill Road and Newmarket Rd with the project I initiated to provide all households with an offer of window boxes

Spoken for the interests of local residents at Planning Committee meetings including opposing the proposed two huge office blocks on Hills Road where the developer closed down the Flying Pig pub; the imposition of a monstrous building on stilts above St Matthews Piece; and the overdevelopment of the Travis Perkins site on Devonshire Rd.

Represented the interests of residents in an appeal to the Magistrates Court against the licence for sale of alcohol by the new Coop store on Mill Rd. The police and 50 residents wrote in objecting to the application but were ignored by a Licencing Sub Committee of the council. Mill Road already has a large number of stores with licences to sell alcohol and adding another one would only add to the cumulative impact on this area which has a long history of problems with alcohol misuse which local people have found threatening and intimidating.