All Parish Councillors are required to notify Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council's Monitoring Officer of their Disclosable Pecuniary Interests, by completing a declaration of interests form. The Register of Interests is open to inspection by the public and copies of the Declaration of Interest forms can be accessed by clicking here.
The Council comprises 7 Councillors. Councillors may be contacted via the Clerk.
Richard was co-opted to the Council at our meeting on 12th October. Richard has lived in Balsall Common since 1991. His children attended both BC Primary School and Heart of England secondary school. Richard "crossed the line" into Berkswell Parish in July 2014. Now retired, Richard is a Management Accountant with a degree in Business Studies. He was born and grew up on a family dairy farm in rural East Devon. His career spanned a number of industries but from 1990-2012 he was a property accountant with Barclays at Westwood Heath (and London). Richard is a keen horserider, skier and walker. He is also a member of the Balsall Common U3A.
Dinah joined the Council having been co-opted at our meeting on 18 June 2015.She lives in Berkswell Village itself and has a young son at Berkswell Primary School. She is a Para Legal and works at a local law firm, her background is Housing law. She is particularly interested in day to day issues affecting the village and helping Berkswell Parishioners young and old.
Work brought Andrew to live in the Parish in 1997. Originally a Londoner, he has lived at his house on Old Waste Lane for longer than in any other place, having moved around the UK a lot in his career in human resources, quality and safety improvement and latterly as a plumber/handyman. Now retired he is also active in the Berkswell Society as it works on practical projects to enhance the beauty of our lovely Parish. A keen walker who enjoys the countryside setting of Balsall Common, Andrew has a keen interest in getting the right balance between preserving our greenbelt and providing somewhere for our children to live.
Kay is a history and politics graduate who spent her early career as an executive in the fashion retail industry. More recently she ran her own small business in the Parish and has renovated a number of old properties. Her Council experience includes work on the historic environment, conservation and strategic planning issues. She is a strong supporter of Green Belt protection and is liaison with our planning consultant.
Ali joins us as a Councillor having been co-opted at our meeting in January 2014. As a resident of Meeting House Lane and a senior finance professional Ali will bring fresh insight and skills to the Council, and we are looking forward to working with her.
Don Hitchcock served in the Royal Navy and graduated in Geography on return from War Service. Subsequent teaching and research was in Geomorphology and Historical Geography. He is Chairman of Solihull Tree Wardens and surveyed the Ecology of our Parish for the Millennium Project. He has spoken at Public Enquiries on Green Belt issues.
Richard Lloyd is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer (and Cambridge Graduate) who has carried out research and development work on military vehicles, constant velocity joints, and gearboxes. Other interests include photography, archaeology, and hillwalking, and he has climbed all the 'Corbett' and 'Munro' mountains and three of the continental summits. Richard has lived in Balsall Common since 1984 and greatly values the rural setting of our communities.
