John is a retired civil engineer and has lived in Calne Rural ward for 17 years.

Full statement

He is passionate about the countryside and has been involved in practical conservation work since he was 15. Since 2021, he has been a volunteer leader for a local charity that has planted 19,000 trees across two sites between Calne and Chippenham.

He has been a Calne Without Parish Councillor for the past four years, including serving the last two years as Chair of the Council. He set up and chaired the Council’s Road Safety Working Group and has championed road safety improvements, such as the reduced speed limit through Studley Crossroads. He rolls up his sleeves to maintain and improve local footpaths, working with Wiltshire Council’s Rights of Way team. He has also organised practical schemes that have made a difference, such as the Parish Council’s free thermal imaging camera loan scheme (to help with energy saving) and its popular free tree scheme.

John says: “I’m worried that with everything that’s happening in the world, climate breakdown is being pushed off the news agenda. Wiltshire Council has made a start in putting the county on the road to tackling climate change, but so much more needs to be done, working in partnership with national government. As a unitary councillor, I would work hard to make this happen.”