EERF Members April 2008

John Yates: Rural Forum Chair
John developed his professional career in the NHS. He had a number of senior positions including hospital management and planning officer for East Anglia. He worked closely with DCLG on sustainable communities, and had specific responsibility for key worker housing for NHS staff. John is a Town Councillor and Director of Ely Perspective. He has lived in villages around the country and in East Cambridgeshire for the last 20 years. He has seen the problems of rural deprivation first-hand, and wants to use his experience to improve the balance in service provision and opportunities for rural residents.

Andrew Budden: Rural Forum Vice-Chair
Andrew is Vice-Chair of the East of England Rural Forum and led the commissioning of a survey by the Country Land and Business Association on landowner attitudes towards land for affordable housing.  He represents the EERF on the Regional (Assembly) Housing Advisory Group which works with the Regional Housing Board in setting the strategy for affordable housing.  Andrew is a member of the Board of Suffolk Housing Society and until recently was a Board member of Suffolk ACRE and Foundation East.   Andrew is a member of Bury St Edmunds Rotary Club and St Edmundsbury Cathedral Council.

Pat Holtom: Rural Forum Vice-Chair
Vice-Chair of East of England Rural Forum, Chair of Norfolk Rural Forum; Chair of the Market Towns Sub-Group; Board Member of ACRE (Action With Communities in Rural England); Chair of the Waveney Valley Leader Local Area Action Group;  Board Member of Screen East, the regional screen agency;  former EEDA Board member with the rural issues brief;  former Rural Development Officer with Norfolk County Council dealing with social, economic, environmental and training projects. I am currently working as a freelance consultant on rural issues including bid writing, evaluation, training, facilitation and research. 

Greg Luton: Regional Director of English Heritage
Greg specialises in Building Conservation and manages a team of specialist advisers for the government on cultural heritage, sponsored by the Department of Culture Media and Sport. He has been the Suffolk-based county director for CPRE. Greg is a board member of the Regional Cultural Consortium “Living East”, and the Culture Sector representative on the Rural Forum. He sits on the Advisory Group for “Inspire East”, the Regional Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Communities.

Stuart Pile: Councillor
Stuart is Vice Chair of the main governing body at De Havilland Primary School and on the Management Board of The Park ESC. He has been a member at Welwyn Hatfield District Council since 1996 (Welwyn South ward) and Cabinet Member of WHC 2002 – 2004. Stuart has been a member of Hertfordshire County Council since 2003 and Executive Member of Hertfordshire County Council – Transportation & Environment portfolio.

Jane Burch: Regional Adviser for the Country Land and Business Association
Jane gives advice to and lobbies on behalf of landowners and rural businesses on all aspects of the rural economy. Topics of particular interest and expertise include planning and farm diversification, affordable rural housing, the role of farming in maintaining and enhancing the environment, renewable energy from crops, public access to the countryside, flood and coastal defences and local foods.

Ann Lovesey: Chairman of the Bedfordshire Association of Local Councils and also of EEAPTC
EEAPTC stands for “East of England Association of Parish and Town Councils’. A retired Primary School teacher, Ann has been a Parish Councillor for almost 30 years. She is also a member of the National Association of Local Councils. Ann has great interest in making sure that those who live in rural areas have a good quality of life.

David Burch: East of England Policy Officer for the Federation of Small Businesses
This provides an ideal background with which to keep in touch with the concerns and issues affecting such businesses. David is one of two members representing the interests of businesses in rural areas. He also serves as a member of the Forum’s Learning & Skills Sub Group which focuses on the issue of skills provision for rural based employees and employers.

Richard Woolley: Vice-Chair of the Rural Community Council of Essex
Richard has been involved with community development in Essex for over 25 years. His main focus has been on empowerment for local communities in influencing and managing change to their area through the production of village plans, market town health checks, village design statements etc. Richard is a member of Regional Executive of the Royal Town Planning Institute and a trustee of the Essex Environment Trust (1998-2005). Richard works at Anglia Ruskin University.

Paul Wilkinson: Head of Regional Conservation Policy
Paul works for The Wildlife Trust and is Chair of the East of England Biodiversity Forum. As a member of the East of England Rural Forum he represents the best interests of regional biodiversity and wildlife in general. Paul is also a member of the DEFRA (RDS) Regional Consultation Group, East of England Environment Forum and Chair SITA Trust Regional Project Assessment Panel.

Pamela Forbes: Regional Director of the National Farmers' Union in the East of England.
The NFU represents the interests of over 6000 farming businesses in the region. Traditionally seen as a lobbying body predominately in Westminster and Whitehall, the NFU's horizons have widened and increasingly efforts are turned towards Brussels and the wider food chain. Pam manages a regional team, including staff in 29 group offices which provide ground level support for local farmers. Her aim is to facilitate an environment in the East of England which will allow sustainable, profitable farm businesses to flourish.

Mike Seville: Forestry Manager, Sandringham Estate
Mike is a representative for the Land Based Industries, nominated by the Forestry and Timber Association and is the chairman of the Continuous Cover Forestry Group. He is also a member of the committee for the East of England Region of the F&TA and was for six years a Parish representative on the Norfolk Coast Project. Mike is particularly interested in raising the status of woodland in the area and promoting ways of improving its financial viability.

Rev’d Canon Graham Hedger: Bishop’s Chaplain and Liaison Officer for the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich
Graham has special responsibility for links between the church and county and regional strategic bodies. He also represents the East of England Faiths Council and acts as rural lead. Graham co-ordinated the Faiths Council’s work on CAP reform and the sugar regime (2003 -2005). In the past, Graham has worked in banking, retailing and local government (community and economic development). Graham is currently a member of the Rural Forum Housing Sub Group and Regional Sustainable Food and Farming Implementation Group (representing EEFC). He is a Trustee for Suffolk ACRE, Rural Action East and the Suffolk Foundation. He is on the Board of Hastoe Housing Association and also chairs the Association’s East Region Committee.

John Day: Outreach Development Officer, MENTER
A Romany Gypsy, John lives with his wife on a Local Authority Traveller site in Peterborough. John has been active in Gypsy/Traveller civil rights for thirty years wanting a better way of life for his children and grandchildren. He is a founder member and the current Assistant General Secretary of the East Anglian Gypsy Council and is also the Executive Director of the International Association of Gypsies in Professional Occupations (IAGPO), where he has been active at the forefront of this work both on the national and international scene. John has been an active member of Peterborough Racial Equality Council since 1975 and is the Current Vice-Chair of this organisation. John Currently Works for MENTER, the East of England Black & Minority Ethnic Network, where he holds the post of Outreach Development officer for Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Thurrock & Southend. He also has a regional responsibility for Gypsy and Traveller Issues.

Anne-Marie Hamilton: NHS Confederation
Recently appointed to the Forum as representative of the NHS Confederation (whose members are the individual organisations that make up the NHS), Anne-Marie has been a non-executive director with Huntingdonshire Primary Care Trust since its inception. She is ‘Champion’ for Children’s Services and has a special remit for rural issues and transport and access. She is married to a Cambridgeshire farmer, runs an agricultural training company and is a founder member of Beds and Cambs Rural Support Group.

Michael Page: Essex County Council
Michael Page is a member of Essex County Council and is portfolio holder for Regeneration on Tendring District Council. He is a member of Frinton & Walton Town Council, a Board member for Colbe Enterprise Agency and a board member for the Rural Community Council. In addition, he is a member of Walton Market Town Forum, a member of Essex Rural Partnership and a member of the Haven Gateway Partnership. His aim is to encourage services for the benefit of all age groups, whilst retaining the dignity and history of our areas special way of life.

Norman B Costin: Environment Agency
Norman holds a number of posts within the region, as follows:
Representative on Anglia (Central) Regional Flood Defence Committee; Representative of EERA Policy Committee on the Regional Environment Protection Advisory Committee; Chairman of Buckingham and River Ouzel Internal Drainage Board; Vice Chairman of River Great Ouse Branch of ADA; Farming in partnership with my brother; Director of Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity; Leader of South Bedfordshire District Council.

John Goodwin: Suffolk County Councillor for Felixstowe North and Trimley Division
John is the Assistant Portfolio Holder for Environment, Waste and Economic Development. He was born and brought up on various East Anglian Farms where his father worked as a cowman. After leaving school John started his own haulage company. Success followed and the business grew to a point where it was sold as a going concern in 1997. John and his wife developed a property business which has now become their main source of income. John was elected as Conservative councillor for his area in May 2005.

John Buchanan, Councillor, Billericay
John is the Vice Chairman of the Essex Association of Local Councils, and Vice Chairman of Billericay Town Council. He also represents the
Basildon Association of Town & Parish Councils, of which he is the Secretary. He represents the Parish sector on the Basildon Standards Committee. Prior to the creation of rural and urban fringe parishes in the Basildon District in 1997, John was a member of the Steering Group which petitioned the Local Government Commission for England for parishing. He is nominated to the EERF by the East of England Association of Parish and Town Councils (EEAPTC). John has had a career as an Information Technology professional in manufacturing industry, retiring at the end of 2005.

Cllr Henry Cordeaux: Elected Local Authority Member, Norfolk

Corinne Meakins: Environment

Michael Hargreaves: Rural Voluntary and Community Sector, Hertfordshire

Peter Medhurst: Rural Voluntary and Community Sector, Norfolk

Suzanne Roast: Sub-regional Rural Forums, Essex

Jason Groco’: Sub-regional Rural Forums, Hertfordshire

Frances Bedding: Sub-regional Rural Forums, Suffolk (alternating with John Mullen)

John Mullen: Sub-regional Rural Forums, Suffolk (alternating with Frances Bedding)

John Carrick: Tourism and Leisure

Jim Page: Town and Parish Councils

Cllr Judith Watson: Town and Parish Councils

Philip Hayes: Town and Parish Councils

Hazel Williams: Rural Voluntary and Community Sector, Cambridgeshire