Category: District Ward

• Uttlesford District Takeley Ward (Councillor)

Geoff Bagnall moved to Takeley in 2009 and was been a long-serving parish councillor and now an Uttlesford District councillor.

He says “I am absolutely convinced that we need strong representation at a local level to ensure we are able to build the community in the right way. I believe we need it to be LOCAL representation at Uttlesford District Council rather than the mainstream political parties if we are to secure the proper future for our communities.”

Geoff has spent his career in the banking and finance sector. During that time he has held various roles, most of which have required him to look at making improvements to processes and implement organisational change.  He says “To help me achieve success in these roles, one of the key capabilities has been the ability to communicate and drive consensus across teams, as that’s the way you get things done.  To do that I have built up a large network of relationships, which you need to work through complex problems with a number of stakeholders.”

These core skills of communication and network building will stand Geoff in good stead to help resolve the many issues at Uttlesford District Council and Essex County Council.

Locally he is particularly keen to ensure that planning decisions are taken for the benefit of the district as a whole, and that they include all infrastructure provisioning at the same time, for example, schools, medical centres, roads and utilities. He said he remembers once asking a now former Conservative District Councillor about the lack of school places when planning decisions were made at Uttlesford District Council. Geoff said “The Councillor replied that schools are the responsibility of Essex not Uttlesford District Council”. Geoff says he disagrees and believes that responsibly cannot be shirked. He believes that things like school places should be “very much part of planning decision making and that deciding in isolation is to the detriment of existing communities.”