I am one of three councillors representing the people of Morton ward. I am a Liberal Democrat, as is Cllr Peter Farmer. As well as looking after the needs of the people of the estate I also attend a number of committees on the City Council.

As a member of the city council I have to attend evening meetings approximately every six weeks or so. These can be rather long and sometimes contentious. It isn’t unknown to finish after midnight!

I am a member of the Regulatory Panel and also a member of the Licensing Committee and I find these very interesting. In particular the Regulatory Panel, as we hear such a variety of cases. Sometimes it may be a case where the applicant is trying to obtain a licence to drive a taxi, but there may be cause to bring it the panel for determination. This is when the officers feel the case is outside their delegated powers. We also have to determine if a taxi driver can keep his licence when they have breached the code of conduct expected of a taxi driver. This can be driving too fast when carrying a passenger (or not) or perhaps using the mobile phone while moving.

On Licensing Committee we are divided into groups of three to hear appeals in cases where, for instance, the police have asked for a licence review when a public house, licensed club or shop is causing problems for the local community. The councillors make the decision based on the evidence presented. We have legal advice at these hearings.

I also sit on the Development Control Committee to hear details for all kinds of planning applications from house extensions to applications from developers of new houses. One of the latter has been the application from Riverside Carlisle to demolish flats and build 43 new homes on the former Barras Close site, now called Caslin Way. These homes will be for rental, which is good news as there are many people on the waiting lists of all the housing associations.

We have recently given outline permission for the development of the Morton Masterplan.

I am also a member of the Employment Panel which has had a busy time lately due to the council transformation, We have had long days interviewing many applicants for the various positions which are now filled.

I am the member representative for the waste and fly tipping. I am a city council representative on the management board of the Morton Community Centre. I also chair the Morton Neighbourhood Forum. The chairmanship of this is shared with all three ward councillors.

I am the Vice Chair of the Environment and Economy Overview & Scrutiny Panel. We meet once every six weeks. We also have workshops where we can gain greater in-depth knowledge of plans before the council.

Apart from these I am engaged in some of the groups representing the various concerns of the people of Carlisle.

It is busy, but it is very enjoyable.