Councillor Pages

My Background and Interests

I spent most of my early years in East Anglia. I attended the King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford and then spent four years in the RAF working in Air Traffic Control. After leaving the forces I trained for four years to qualify as a Public Health Inspector or Environmental Health Officer as they are now called. I worked for Ipswich Borough Council, Colchester Borough Council and Hertsmere Borough Council at Bushey in Hertfordshire.

I have always been fond of sailing since my father taught me to sail on the Norfolk Broads aged 8, so when I saw the job advertised in the Isles of Scilly I sent off an application. I was successful and worked for the Council of the Isles of Scilly for 17 years as Chief Technical Officer. Some of my colleagues in Bushey were envious of my new appointment and thought it would be "a right little doddle" - others said it would be a dead end job. How wrong they both were as I found I had to work much harder here than at any of my previous positions and the job turned out to be very varied, fulfilling and interesting.

I spent 40 years working in local government before retiring in 1998 so I have a good idea of how the system works and also have extensive experience in the unique authority of the Council of the Isles of Scilly - the only local authority to run its own water and sewerage undertaking and one of the few to operate an airport.

Why Did I Stand for Council?

Whilst working as an Officer of the Council I often thought it would be interesting to sit on the other side of the desk as a Councillor and read and make decisions on reports instead of having to write them. I genuinely felt I was in a good position to make a contribution to the operation of the Council. So after 7 years out of office I decided to put myself up for election and was pleasantly surprised to receive a good mandate.