Gareth Barrett for Brentwood South
Toby Blunsten for Brentwood North
Debbie Foster for Brentwood West
David Jobbins for Brizes and Doddinghurst
Pauline Watts for Herongate, Ingrave and West Horndon
Jane Winter for Hutton East
Dr Richard Millwood for Shenfield
Susan Kortlandt for Warley
Fran Dapp for Hutton South
Marian Jenkins for Hutton Central
Dr Tim Barrett for South Weald
Liam Preston for Pilgrims Hatch
Emma Benson for Ingatestone, Fryerning and Mountnessing
Gareth Barrett for Brentwood South
Gareth has served as a Labour Councillor in Brentwood South since 2014. He grew up in Brentwood, attending local schools, before heading for University. He currently works for a water company and is completing a PhD in politics part-time.
In 2017 he was Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for Brentwood & Ongar – getting over 10,000 votes (more than double the Lib Dems) and securing Labour’s best result in our town since 1979.
He believes that all the people of Brentwood South deserve better than the failing services, patchwork roads and declining transport system we are offered today. He will demand more from the County Council to improve education and roads, whilst remaining a strong advocate for residents in the ward.
Toby Blunsten for Brentwood North
Toby has been a resident in the borough for the past decade, throughout which he has attended the Anglo-European school. In 2015 Toby graduated from Nottingham Trent University with a degree in Politics and Sociology. Since graduating Toby has found employment as a Bid Writer for a multi-million pound organisation.
Since graduating Toby has pushed himself to become increasingly involved in the political activities of the local community. Currently Toby is actively engaged within Chess in Chelmsford an organisation helping rough sleepers reintegrate into society.
Toby’s main ambition if elected is to fight for greater opportunities for young people, allowing them to develop the skills and capabilities to continue to live in this borough. As such Toby would support apprenticeship schemes within the council and the community to encourage. Toby would also challenge developers to utilise brownfield sites to further sustainable development whilst providing affordable housing and reducing our waiting list.
Debbie Foster for Brentwood West
Debbie spent much of her childhood and early adulthood in the borough and attended local schools. She returned after university to teach and is now raising her own family in Brentwood. She currently works as a Family Support Worker at a local special school.
She is a member of Brentwood Baptist Church situated in Brentwood West which seeks to play an active part in the local community.
If elected she will champion the community with real support for voluntary groups and public services.
David Jobbins for Brizes and Doddinghurst
David is a Brentwood resident born and bred and has lived in Kelvedon Hatch since 1970. If elected, he will campaign against the effects of austerity that have afflicted even the more affluent parts of the borough. He will press for improvements in our roads to safeguard vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists, whose safety is consistently overlooked.
The rural areas in the north of the borough need better bus services to cope with an ageing population who may not have access to personal transport as well as the extra pressures from the Local Development Plan.
The provision of new housing must reflect the need for truly affordable homes for local people with a shift in priorities away from larger executive properties to starter homes and suitable accommodation for older people seeking to downsize.
Pauline Watts for Herongate, Ingrave and West Horndon
Pauline has been a Brentwood resident for 26 years. She worked as a primary school teacher in East London and then taught in Essex. She is passionate about education and moved into higher education to work on courses for students training to teach. Pauline’s daughter attended local schools, Hogarth and Shenfield, before becoming a social worker. Pauline was a long-term parent governor at Shenfield School. Since retiring from full-time work she has run marathons to help fund girls’ education in Nepal. She is married to a retired Basildon Hospital consultant.
If elected Pauline will focus on new homes that are needed in the borough including ensuring that key workers and older people are able to access housing that suits their needs. She will target the County Council to work on planning for primary school places including appropriate funding. Pauline will work to protect local amenities including shops and sports clubs and will aim to improve response time to the repair of roads and pavements.
Jane Winter for Hutton East
Jane is a long term Brentwood Borough resident, having moved here in 1972. She worked for the NHS for over 40 years and is determined to see health and social care meeting residents’ needs effectively. A believer in community-led working she is a Parish Councillor in Ingatestone & Fryerning, where she lives, leading on the production of a Neighbourhood Plan.
If elected she will strive for a decent standard of living for all working age people. She will make it a priority that the Local and County Council pay it’s directly managed staff a Living Wage and include this clause in all of its contracted service providers.
She will actively support apprenticeship schemes within the Borough and Parish Councils and community services for local young people, working with the County Council to achieve this. She will work with the local Community Policing Team to understand residents’ issues and work towards a safer Ward.
Dr Richard Millwood for Shenfield
Richard has lived and worked in Brentwood since 1990 in the local university and as governor for two schools. He acts as a consultant on education and technology as well as leading research in the field. His concerns are that education is badly underfunded, that it should have democratic overview and that the academy and free school arrangements have lead to overpaid chief executives of unaccountable trusts. This affects local residents by making it easy for schools to drop support for a wide curriculum, leaving out the creative subjects and opportunities for children with special needs.
If elected Richard will work hard to sort out the housing crisis in Brentwood, which leaves many young people unable to afford a home and will pursue education issues working with the County Council.
Susan Kortlandt for Warley
Susan and her husband have lived in Warley since 1997. She taught French and German in comprehensive schools for 30 years. Now retired, she works voluntarily as a community adviser, supporting Brentwood residents with issues such as housing, employment problems or benefits.
She loves walking and cycling, and enjoys music and the arts. Genuinely affordable housing is desperately needed here. Susan will prioritise bringing empty houses back into use, giving first refusal to local first-time buyers on new homes and ensuring that developments include social housing and property for older people. She is also keen to require private landlord accreditation to provide decent accommodation at reasonable rents and to increase security by encouraging longer-term tenancies.
Cuts in Council funding threaten the very existence of community groups. Susan will work to secure long-term, stable funding for groups like Mind, Brentwood Community Transport, Citizens Advice and our Council for Voluntary Services.
Fran Dapp for Hutton South
Fran has lived in Brentwood for over twenty four years and brought up my three children here.
Among other things she spent a several years working in Barking and Dagenham Housing dept and also for Swan Social housing. She is now retired and enjoy attending a local art group, yoga classes and a walking club at Thorndon.
I am concerned about the shortage of affordable housing for young people, the effect of cuts on our local services and the direct effect of austerity particularly on poor people with regard to their cost of living and ability to save for their pensions.
Marian Jenkins for Hutton Central
Marian has lived in Brentwood for a number of years and have always been a Labour Party supporter as this is the party that puts people above politics. I became more politically active when Jeremy Corbyn first became a candidate for the leadership and subsequently won the position due to overwhelming public support.
For Marian, as for millions of others, he personifies the humanity, compassion and integrity so evidently lacking in the Conservative Party. These are the values Marian hopes to bring to bear if elected. These are the values that will guide her when standing up for the rights of the people of Brentwood to live in a decent neighbourhood that serves their needs.
Marian sees these needs not just in terms of the provision of facilities and infrastructure, important as they are, but also in terms of the community services that have been, and continue to be, decimated by the inhumane attitude of the current government towards those who matter … and that includes you.
Dr Tim Barrett for South Weald
Tim has been a South Weald resident his entire life, growing up in Lindsey Close and recently buying his first home on Shevon Way. He went to St Peter’s in South Weald and has been Scout Leader locally. Tim studied at Imperial College where he completed a PhD in Chemistry and now works in medical research.
South Weald is Tim’s community – it’s where he grew up and where he has chosen to make his home. He is dedicated to maintaining his area and community. He has lived here long enough to remember when our roads didn’t have potholes, when we knew our community police officer, we had street lights on when it was dark and when we saw street cleaners regularly.
Liam Preston for Pilgrims Hatch
Liam is passionate about giving more to the local community and that’s why he is standing for Pilgrims Hatch. He works for a homeless charity in press and public affairs and when not working he spends his time as a Vice-Chair of governors for a local Brentwood Primary School.
In 2017 he was Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for Epping Forest and in 2015 for Brentwood & Ongar – both times finishing above the Lib Dems.
Liam believes that the local council isn’t doing enough to support our community. Pilgrims Hatch has been let down for too long with Lib Dem Councillors failing to deliver on their promises. He is running to actually make a difference in Pilgrims Hatch and to challenge the failing services, patchwork roads and declining transport system we are offered today. That is why he will stand up for you and never accept second best for our community.
Emma Benson for Ingatestone, Fryerning and Mountnessing
