Frank Keegan is standing as the Conservative candidate for the Alderley Ward in the local election on Thursday, May 5th.
Frank Keegan moved to Alderley Edge in 1984 and has been a Parish Councillor since 1987. He was a Borough Councillor from 1999 until 2009, joined the Cabinet in Macclesfield Borough Council in 2004 with the Environment Portfolio and in 2006 he took over the Finance Portfolio. Two years later he became Leader of Macclesfield Borough Council and was then elected to Cheshire East Shadow Council in 2008 becoming Cabinet Member for Resources - a position which he held until he was axed from the Cabinet in November 2010.
Looking to the future, Frank told me "My objectives in the next session of Cheshire East (2011-2015) if elected, are to spend more time shaping my own village, rather than being at the centre of Cheshire East. Alderley Edge is a beautiful village and there are many pluses to being the elected member.
"I want to make sure that we have the right level of retail units available - currently I would prefer a bigger retail offer but in the final analysis it is up to local residents to support the local shops. I like the idea of Waitrose being in the precinct, as I think they will complement the Co-op. When we get a bigger food offer in the precinct, we need to offer a different parking offer around the village centre, so that visitors are encouraged to stay and spend some money in the other retail outlets.
"I also like the idea of keeping the Post Office exactly where it is. I thank the landlords, Bluemantle, who have borne with a difficult situation which has been costly for them in the loss of revenues, and I know they are very supportive of a thriving village centre.
"In the next 4 years I would like to see a renewal of the pavements on London Road, having said that, the pavements around the whole village are looking very tired and in need of some TLC!
"We are being encouraged locally to welcome services back into local management - it was a policy I sponsored at Cheshire East, because I firmly believe that Alderley Edge can take the money which was previously spent by Cheshire East and get more value for money.
"We have taken back the Festival Hall and already it is being proved that we can manage the hall very effectively. The rules for procurement for Parish Councils, indeed all Councils, are quite onerous but I hope we can build on the good work which Cllr Paul Tomlinson did in taking forward the development of the Festival Hall.
"My vision for Cheshire East was to involve external talent in the development of the Council - many people have skillsets which could benefit the unitary council and I wanted to tap into them. There is no reason why we could not do the same with the village and bring in external talent for specific projects, since we are fortunate to have a wide range of talents within our village. Not all of those talents want to run for the Council but they might want to do certain one-off tasks. A great example of that was the Village Plan group and there is no reason why we can't continue on those lines. We did after all have a Village Enhancement Committee for many years, and this would just be a modern version of that.
"The local councils have changed in many ways, we are in an era where information is more readily available, and where residents are more ready to want to share in the information. That is great news, and I would like to ensure that the search for information is used constructively to shape the scrutiny and performance of the local councils. I am comfortable that where councils get things wrong, they should own up, put the matter right and move on. The electorate will be tolerant of a Council which can admit the occasional clanger, provided there is an open attitude to dealing with the matter."
Two candidates have been confirmed for the Alderley Ward in the Cheshire East Council election on Thursday, 5th May. Frank Keegan will be up against the Labour candidate Dominic Brown, click here to read my interview with him.
Councillor Keegan is a member of alderleyedge.com and a frequent reader so please use the comment box below if you have any questions you would like to ask him.
Comments
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This is a pathetic target, when what is needed is a thoroughly considered traffic-management master-plan that (amongst other issues) addresses the continued north-south priority enjoyed by traffic still travelling, at considerably greater speeds post-bypass, through the village.