MARTINA TAKES ON THE MANTLE OF THE NEW CHAIRMAN
Added: 18th December 2009
A chance reading of a public notice board was the unlikely starting point for the local government service of Cllr Martina Lovely.
Cllr Lovely is the Chairman of Greasley Parish Council for the current civic year.
"I saw the agenda for an environment committee meeting on the post office notice board and thought 'that looks interesting.' I wondered how to be involved. At the time there was a vacancy and so I took up the opportunity."
So far she feels her council work has lived up to expectations.
It's a way of knowing what's going on in the parish and provides an opportunity to be involved. There are a lot of things happening in the parish and its good to have an input.
The parish council doesn't always have the element of control and that can be frustrating along with the length of time it sometimes takes to resolve matters but within the political process the parish council is certainly a grass roots contact.
More power for parishes
Cllr Lovely would welcome parish council's having a bigger say in planning and environmental matters.
Sometimes on planning applications, for instance, we hae concerns about the impact on visual amenities that can be difficult to resolve and it would be good to have more power to respond.
As a resident of Giltbrook one issue which is very close to her heart is the community's infrastructure, particularly the road network. A lot of planned development has gone ahead and although some people were confident that the infrastructure would cope - I don't see that myself.
I see more and more traffic hot sopts which makes me very concerned about more developments.
It may seem there are a lot of green spaces in the Greasley parish and although assurances have been given I would not like the conurbations of Nottingham and Derby, for instance, to merge into one. We need our open spaces.
Cllr Lovely told the Globe that she was personally delighted when, earlier this year, the Parish Council took the decision it wanted no more large developments on green belt and green field sites in Greasley.
Keep the Green Belt intact
She is well placed to comment on environmental concerns as in her professional life she is an Environmental Advisor with utility company Central Networks. It is a role in which she helps manage and develop policy guidelines to reduce the company's impact on the environment and to make sure the appropriate procedures are in place to comply with the ever stricter environmental legislation.
Her degree is in human geography and after working for 10 years in London she headed north to the Midlands firstly with a job looking into health and safety matters before transferring to an environment based position.
Cllr Lovely initially lived in Awsworth before moving to the parish in 2000. As well as serving as a parish councillor she is also a member of the Board of Governors of the Brookhill Leys Primary School in Eastwood.
For many years she has been involved with the work of the Friends of Colliers Wood who have helped transform the former Moorgreen Colliery site into a surprisingly fertile and attractive park and wildlife habitat. She is actively working with the team of volunteers on everything from fund raising to concert organisation and from pond dipping to wildlife surveys.
The restored woodland is certainly living up to expectations, possibly exceeding them. When it first opened I don't think anyone could have thought it would develop to the level it has and to win the Green Flag award for two years running is an incredible achievement.
Colliers Wood is obviously very close to my heart but as Chairman of the Parish Council I want to play an active role in the parish and support the many community groups in any way that I can.
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