My name is Clark and I am standing to be Cllr for Avondale Grange on both North Northants Unitary and Kettering Town Council.

Full statement

When I moved to Kettering my first home was Avondale Grange in Kettering, I still have friends who live on the estate and understand the issues that many people there feel, it is why I want to represent the ward on both Unitary and Town Council.

I have never seen myself as a politician and still don't really, I am a worker and I am a trade union activist, I am the shop steward at my workplace, a distribution centre for a major UK supermarket based in Burton Latimer. Many of my colleagues at work also live on the ward and surrounding areas.

I first got involved in Kettering's local politics in 2014 when I found out that the then Kettering Borough Council wanted to ban Skateboarding in the town centre, when I was a teenager my primary form of transportation was a skateboard, I was outraged and contacted my Local Cllrs to see what I could do.

The ban prompted me to put aside my fears of running for public office and stand for what I believed in. In 2015 I was elected to represent the Avondale Grange Ward of KBC and I campaigned along with members of the skateboarding communuty for many years to get the ban overturned, the outright ban was finally lifted in 2022 and replaced with a much fairer restriction where antisocial behavior with a skateboard was restricted. A compromise that the whole skateboarding community was happy with.

Another issue I cared greatly about was the threat of the link road that threatened the Green Patch, I along with other cllrs saw the incredible asset that the green patch is and wanted to save the facility from being cut in half, again this threat was removed in 2023.
I campaign for issues that affect the ward and I am successful in getting them resolved.

I want a new swimming pool for the town and I want our art gallery and museum to be repaired and re opened as a matter of urgency.
I want proper harmonisation of services across the authority.
I want life breathed back into our high street.

I will campaign for these and the rights of our residents if I am elected to represent you.

I organise the monthly Labour Party litter pick and will continue to do this, if elected I will hold regular surgeries and will work with local organisations to ensure the residents of Avondale Grange and Kettering as a whole get the representation that they deserve