I am 28 years old and an Ashford resident, born and bred!
Ashford has changed tremendously during throughout my life. The pace and scale of change is uncomfortable for many local people. Listening to my friends and neighbours has convinced me that the real people of Ashford must stand up and get involved in our Borough Council.
As a local girl, now with a daughter of my own, I would like to help shape the way our Borough grows, because as a long term resident, Ashford’s changes greatly affect my own family’s future.
I am a former Highworth Grammar School and Sixth Form student. I spent my university years at Canterbury Christ Church studying Education, after which I qualified as a teacher. I taught in local primary education for five years before having my little girl in January this year.
My family and I live in Kennington on Canterbury Road, with my mother – as my fiancé and I are one of Ashford’s many young families who are trying to save for a mortgage and praying for an opportunity to get onto the housing ladder.
I love to be out and about (you may see me pushing Freya in her pushchair to town, or Sainsbury’s if I am feeling peckish!), meeting with friends and going to baby groups to meet new people.
Growing up in Singleton, Wye, Great Chart, Woodchurch, Willesborough and now Kennington, I have experienced many different aspects of living in our Borough.
As a younger person, I am excited at the opportunity to participate in the debates about the future of our town that the Ashford Independent Party is creating. I look forward to speaking up for my generation and fighting to make a difference to the future of the next one.
Little Burton Farm and Conningbrook are increasingly concerned about the proposed housing development on their doorstep, which will no doubt have unwelcome effects on Ashford’s already stretched health care system, schools and road network.
In addition to this, the ongoing stench issues from the sewage works continues to be reported regularly and is an unpleasant issue that needs addressing.
If elected, I will work to support all residents in our Ward, conveying the views and concerns of residents of Little Burton and Conningbrook to give them a strong voice in the Council.