Chris has a genuine love for the Forest district, considers carefully all ways in which he can improve people's lives and the place we live in, and fosters partnerships to work together to tackle problems collectively.
Chris has been listening to residents for more than a decade now, addressing the issues that matter most to them. Since becoming a parish councillor in 2011 he has responded to people’s concerns, and suggestions to make the place we call home a better place to live in and for.
The elections of 2019 were dominated by the arguments over Brexit. But the underlying local themes were of the need for community, health and well being. These undoubtedly came to the fore in March 2020 and Chris was one of the first to help set up the covid mutual aid groups locally to ensure people were provided for whilst shielding and isolating.
It is still clear that local people want better representation from someone who cares, works hard, and considers all points of view when making decisions at higher authority. Someone who stands up for you.
Bravely standing for the greatest issue of our age, as the green councillor, Chris proposed the motion at Forest of Dean District Council, both recognizing and winning unanimous support for the declaration of a Climate Emergency in December 2018.
He is a hard-working Parish Councillor and School governor at St. Briavels and Redbrook Primaries as part of the Wye Forest Federation. He has continued to support children's education throughout his governorship and focused on the need to tackle food poverty and childhood hunger.
Chris lives with his family in St Briavels working as a part-time handyman. Throughout his life Chris has volunteered for charities for the homeless and nature conservation.
His commitment to the green movement began whilst working as a naturalist guide in Ecuador, though he also worked with the BBC Natural History Unit for 7 years. Chris co-founded the Galapagos Conservation Trust in the UK to help protect the pacific islands Charles Darwin visited in 1835.
Locally, Chris has fought for years against quarry extension in the Dean, supported the Hands Off Our Forest (HOOF) campaign and the Hands off Lydney & the Dilke (HOLD) campaign. Since 2012, he has taken a leading role in the Foresters' Forest Lottery Funded Landscape Partnership, protecting and enhancing the Dean's natural, cultural and built heritage.
In 2015 he was elected as the first ever green councillor on the Forest of Dean District Council. A passionate campaigning figure and leader who lives and works in the Forest of Dean, Chris was re-elected as a District Councillor in the St. Briavels ward in May 2019, taking an astonishing 81% of the vote against his conservative opponent. He was asked to serve again on the 'rainbow cabinet', this time to exercise professional oversight of the district's Planning and Climate portfolios.
Chris says: "I am committed to tackling inequality and improving opportunities for everyone, and in particular our young people. We have to come together on two fronts: working locally on issues such as jobs, education and services whilst building community resilience, and at the same time, fighting global threats to everyone's future such as climate change and pollution in all its forms."
Chris has a deep and genuine love for the Dean, considers carefully all ways in which he can improve people's lives and the place we live in, and fosters partnerships to work together to tackle problems collectively. No wonder he is standing as a candidate in the County Council elections on May 6th 2021, to help lead the Forest to a healthier, happier and more prosperous future.