Working together for Cliftonville West since 2003

From Cllrs Linda Aldred, Doug Clark and Clive Hart:

After twelve years we are standing down as your Cliftonville West ward councillors.

We've done our very best week-in, week-out since 2003. Firstly, we’ve made sure Cliftonville West has had strong representation at every council meeting since 2003. We've also helped hundreds of residents through our joint ward councillor surgeries, held regularly in Cliftonville since the very day we were first elected. In addition our home phones just haven’t stopped ringing and we've helped over a thousand more individual residents with complicated personal and confidential issues in one way or another. To keep residents informed we have also delivered a ward newsletter to all 3,000+ homes in Cliftonville West, three to four times each and every year. That’s well over 120,000 newsletters - all delivered by hand.

Just as importantly, we have fully supported a whole range of initiatives in our ward both as members of the opposition and leading groups at TDC over the past twelve years. Whether in opposition or as part of the ruling administration, we have always been closely involved and consistently offered information and practical advice to support and improve a wide range of schemes and projects for the benefit of Cliftonville West and our residents.

A few examples are scheme’s like Thanet’s first Neighbourhood Dispersal Area, Housing Renewal Area status for Cliftonville, the Cliftonville Development Plan Document, the Task Force, the Landlords Selective Licensing Scheme, the No Use Empty campaign, the roll out of Conservation Areas and a whole raft of Housing Interventions aimed at the very worst offending properties through the Live Margate project. We were also heavily involved in feasibility discussions and finding an eventual location for the Cliftonville Children’s Centre in St Paul’s road, right at the heart of our ward and we supported our residents in saving the 56 bus service for Cliftonville.

Each of us sat on the Safer & Stronger Communities Fund Board, which provided funding to save the Theatre Royal, refurbish the Cliftonville Community Centre and build the Viking Playground among many many other projects. Through Thanet District Council, Kent County Council and our more recent Cliftonville First scheme we have also accessed funding for dozens of local resident, voluntary and community groups here in Cliftonville.

In short we believe we have helped raise the profile of the Cliftonville West area from the totally neglected place it had been for several decades, to a top priority for Thanet District Council and all the other agencies and authorities providing services for residents here locally.

Thanks to local residents we became the very first councillors for Cliftonville West when the ward was first created back in 2003 and due to your continuing support we have been re-elected on two further occasions in 2007 and 2011.

Thank you to all our residents for your wonderful support, we wish you the very best for the future.

Linda Doug Clive

Cliftonville West – Onwards and Upwards

Note: We'll still be around. Linda and Doug stand down at the elections in May. Linda will continue working in the community through her 'day jobs' in housing and community development. Doug will continue with his local voluntary and community roles. Clive leaves next week to join the NHS Thanet CCG Governing Body.

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