In the run up to the General, Borough and Parish Council elections on May 7th we will be publishing brief interviews with each of the candidates that respond to our request (before the end of the month), in the order in which they respond.
To read the interviews with other candidates click on the tags at the bottom of the article. For example, pieces on the other candidates for the Alderley Edge Parish Council election will all be tagged 'Alderley Edge Parish Council Election'. Candidates representing the same party or group will also be connected via the tags.
Geoff Hall is an AlderleyEdgeFIRST candidate for Alderley Edge Parish Council.
Geoff was previously Director of a division of Shell, but left to buy into (and become CEO of) a start-up software company. He told me "With venture capital backing, we built the business into an international company, with operations in the USA, Germany and France. We later sold the business to an American NASDAQ-quoted company."
For the last two years, Geoff has been project managing the new Medical Centre for the Alderley Edge Medical Practice, where his wife has been a GP for 26 years. He is also one of the organisers of the Alderley Edge May Fair and, most recently, he gained an MA in Design at Manchester and has created a set of contemporary railway posters of Alderley Edge to raise funds for the Royal Voluntary Service and the St Philip Restoration Appeal.
Geoff enjoys motor-racing and used to race himself, but now acts as sponsor and mechanic for his son. Him and his wife also enjoy cycle-touring, both in the UK and abroad.
Geoff told me "I have decided to stand for the Parish Council out of sheer frustration with the conduct of the current Parish Council.
"This is a very friendly village, which I'm very fond of, and I'd like it to have councillors who better reflect the people they are representing.
"As a resident, as an organiser of the May Fair, and as project manager for the Medical Centre, I have witnessed at first hand numerous incidents which give me cause to question the competence and goodwill of the current PC.
"For example:
- Councillors making bad decisions because they have simply failed to carry out even the most basic check of the facts first (alderleyedge.com 11th Dec 2014 and alderleyedge.com 23rd Dec 2014)
- A Councillor falsely accusing a village resident of financial misconduct – because the Councillor concerned had failed to read a set of accounts properly (Parish Council Minutes 12 Nov 2012 and alderleyedge.com 13 Nov 2012)
- A Councillor gratuitously insulting a resident (numerous instances on alderleyedge.com, but look at PC Minutes 13 Sept 2014 for an example)
- A Councillor threatening to jeopardise the new Medical Centre by claiming incorrectly that it would not be possible to fund it without the PC first getting control of the Heyes Lane allotments (alderleyedge.com 10 Sept 2013)
- The Council choosing to ignore residents' clearly expressed views without any open discussion or review (alderleyedge.com 10/2/15)
"This pattern of behaviour worries me and, given the growing scope of the Parish Council's commitments, I believe it should worry others too."
Speaking about what he considered to be the important issues facing Alderley Edge, Geoff told me "Some would say parking, and I would not disagree. However, for me, the single most important issue is about how our Parish Council is run, how it treats the residents it represents and how it makes decisions.
"Too often the Council is being driven by a small group of people who appear to believe that, whatever the evidence to the contrary, they know best, treating with contempt anyone who dares to question them.
"This attitude is not by any means true of all Councillors, but regrettably it is the dominant culture of the Council.
"Projects like the Festival Hall and the Heyes Lane car park, requiring over £2million of investment, need to be managed with same rigour that a company would apply when making an investment. I see no evidence of that happening in the current PC; certainly any such evaluation has never been shared with residents.
"I also believe that the Parish Council needs to adopt the same commitment to listening to residents as good businesses do. One or two Councillors have tried to do this - and I give them credit for trying – but they appear to be swimming against the tide."
Geoff added "If elected I will work to ensure that the Parish Council acts in an objective and business-like way in its decision-making.
"I will also work to create a Council that actively communicates what it is doing, is friendly, approachable and genuinely open to constructive discussion."
Speaking specifically about the Parish Council's plan to build a car park at the Heyes Lane allotment site, Geoff said "I would not continue the existing Parish Council's plan to pave over the Heyes Lane allotments to create a 145 space car park. And if I were a betting man, I would wager that they will never achieve this either.
"Because of the crude and confrontational way in which the PC has approached this project they have created immense resistance, not just from the allotment holders but also from other members of the community; and they have attracted the attention of lawyers acting for the National Allotments Society at the same time. No matter what they say, they are far from having a quick solution.
"The opposition to their plan is borne out by the response to the Allotment Society's petition (which indicated almost 60% vote against) and the PC's own seriously flawed Parish Pledge exercise (which achieved a miserable 3% response - also with a majority against). This should not be ignored."
I then asked Geoff, If you are against this plan do you have any alternative suggestions for improving the parking situation in the village?
He said "I understand the desire to find a fast solution, but neither we nor the existing Parish Council are in a position to deliver an immediate answer. Nonetheless I believe we can get their quicker.
"The main problem we have is the demand for all-day parking by people working in the village and the need to balance that with short-term parking for shoppers. First I want to know how many all-day spaces we actually need – achieved by surveying local businesses - finding out how many people travel by car and where they currently park. (This could be done quite quickly, given the right approach).
"Alongside that I want to evaluate all potential sites. We have been told that the current Parish Council has already "thought about" all the possible locations for a car park. "Thought about" is not the same as thoroughly considered. I want a quick but serious evaluation of the pros and cons of each option. If they have already seriously assessed all possibilities at the same time and alongside one another, then let us see the output from that exercise.
"This will sound like a long delaying exercise to many, but it needn't be. If the Parish Council had approached things in a more business-like way from the start I believe we would all be much closer to a solution by now."
When asked why Alderley Edge residents should vote for him, Geoff said "Probably much more important than voting for me is for residents to vote for Craig Browne as our Cheshire East Ward Councillor, so that the process of re-building effective relations with Cheshire East Council can be restarted without delay.
"As for me, if residents are happy with the way the PC is currently run, then there is no reason at all why they should vote for me.
"If, on the other hand, residents share my belief that all is not well here, then I promise to do my best – along with the other eight AlderleyEdgeFIRST candidates, to bring a business-like, friendly and committed approach to the job. I am under no illusions about how thankless the job is and I credit the existing Parish Councillors for their achievements in the past, but I believe there is now an urgent need for a change.
"I understand that we have been accused of being 'nice' and 'naïve'. These are both qualities I admire, though I would probably substitute them with: "decent" and "positive"."
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
I feel that this goes to quash the rumour that is going around the village about how the medical centre won’t get built unless the village returns a Conservative Parish Council.
I would suggest that the medical centre won’t get built unless the Alderley First Candidates get elected.
Judging by the article previously about the Festival Hall and its funding etc. there are some very questionable decisions being made by the Current PC with our tax payers money.
Geoff certainly gets my vote!
you are clearly a capable chap I know from speaking with you from time to time that you are an approachable chap.
I have no arguement with you as a person.
Alas, even after reading your note above several times, there are as good as no specific policies/plans in it, that I can get my teeth into; except to stop a car park.
What does your party intend to do with the park? with the cemetery? with the appearence of London Rd.? with the residents only parking streets? to improve footfall for the traders?
After all, most of these topics have been under discussion for months, if not longer.
Surely your party must have some plans up their sleeve? Or are you simply going to tell me that your party will consider all this only if/after an election victory?
I am in total agreement. They want to be voted in before they tell anyone what they will do. A wing and a prayer whilst spending tax payers money on consultations. They know perfectly well what the ultimate answer is. Currently their complaint is being ridden roughshod over. They are doing exactly that with the poor people of this village who suffer daily with the parking problem. How lucky are they not to be affected!
Can you point us in the direction of where Mrs Norbury said that half the allotments can be built on as a car park?
Were those petitioned responding to the idea that the allotments remain completely untouched? If so, then quoting the 1850 signatures in light of this new development is inappropriate as those petitioned were not petitioned over the partial construction of a car park on the allotments. I would also like to ask what would happen if, having consulted the village, AE1PC discover the allotments are the most favoured site for a new car park? Will they move?
The AlderleyEdgeFIRST group want to be voted in but they're so evasive with their policies.
As I've stated before, every candidate for the GENERAL election knows exactly what policies their party is for, or against, so why can't these AlderleyEdgeFIRST lot explain exactly what they will do IF they are elected ?
A P.C. is supposed to represent the people of the parish.
You have to talk to the people of the parish and discuss their needs and wants before you can actually put any policies to reflect wishes into place.
This is a better way,even though you are always going to upset some people,rather than the majority.
It is as I thought - there was NO suggestion from Ruth that half the allotment could be built on as a car park.
What there was, was a suggestion that there is a "POSSIBILITY" that a "SECTION" adjacent to the Festival Hall could be used to provide some parking spaces.
However - and very importantly - AlderleyEdgeFIRST have made it clear from the outset that they will only act with the agreement and mandate of Alderley Edge residents, and so I would have to assume that any proposal to use a part of the Allotment would be put to residents.
you write of talking to people to discuss their needs. Every day of my life, as I pass through the park (dog walking) I consult people.
Its got so bad now then when I am seen, people flee crying 'leave us alone, stop consulting us'.
Seriously, the PC councillors do talk to people and listen to people; from some of the entries, you'd think that the PC hunkers down in its bunker with the public forbidden to enter!!!
Perhaps those who think that are the people who, in the past, did not need to seek out their representatives and talk to them?
I know you are one of the chatty ones,i have often had a natter with you when i've walked through the park (black lab.) not forgeting my good friend Mary,also very approachable.
So i must thank you two for that.
it does sound laudable that AEFirst would only act with 'agreement and mandate'. May I put a question, that I've put before but not had answered.
How will you actually consult with the 'residents'? How will you manage an unbiased view? How much will each consultation cost? As ever, the 'practice' is much harder than the 'theory'.
Or will 'you' simply go out there, into the streets and park and ask people? Or hold surgeries? Oh no, 'you' can't do that 'cos that's what the PC already does.
I await, with bated breath a consise and full answer. Please no more 'cost-benefit' or 'all possibilities considered' avoidance verbiage. Just tell us, in simple English, what/how you/they will do it. After all, the AEFirst party have had sufficient time to mull over such considerations. Or are they mull-free?