I live in Whitley Bay, was employed in the voluntary sector for most of my working life and am now retired.

Full statement

I was involved as part of the Murton Action Group 2016-17 in opposing the development plans for the Murton fields as part of the Local Plan. Unfortunately that battle was lost and the development is now going ahead but as your local councillor I will be actively monitoring progress on the site. In particular I will want to know how the open space is to be developed and maintained from a bio-diversity and ecologically sustainable view and how residents can have some say in those areas. I am also concerned about lack of community facilities on the site and will support local resident involvement in finding ways of developing these.