Denham Parish Council Member

I have not been a 'political animal' for most of my life. It started when I moved to Buckinghamshire and mys children entered the education system.

I looked for something that would give my brain a challenge so I answered an ad to fill a Parish Council vacancy. My first application was unsuccessful, but that spurred me on to try again, I don't like failure.

During my time as a Parish councillor I sat on the Planning and Open Spaces Committees. It was interesting learning which Council was responsible for the various services. Like most people I referred to 'the Council' when complaining, not realising that there were several tiers of local council.

For a couple of years I served as Chairman on the Open Spaces Committee, we won Best Kept Village in our section, which was very gratifying to the large number of villagers who really put time and effort into keeping the village in a lovely state.

There is no 'salary' or 'expenses',as a PC, just the desire to serve the community. Only the Chairman is delegated to authorise a minor expenditure, such as a bouquet for for a 100th birthday etc..

Denham Village has often been used for filming by TV and film production companies and they usually offer to 'pay' for the use of public areas. A Community Fund was set up for such payments and the proceeds are used to the benefit of Denham in cases where grants from other Committees may not be available.

My time on DPC was a very happy one and it was only due to my boys needing assistance with learning difficulties that I didn't continue.