Working for You: John Stokes Reports Back on Hythe Town Council

I was honoured to be elected to Hythe Town Council in May 2023, and have greately enjoyed working alongside other Councillors seeking to deliver great services, for a fair price, for Hythe and all local residents.

1.        A bit of a geeky one! I spotted errors in the preparation of the accounts and using my 40+ years of accounting experience I got them put right.

2.        The football pitches at South Road have been assessed as very poor. So I am working with my Green Party colleagues and the Hythe Town Youth FC to get a grant so that we can bring all pitches up to a good standard.

3.        Some of the facilities owned by the council are not being used enough, resulting in a high cost to council tax payers. I am working on plans to market them better including putting booking online where possible..

4.        The sporting facilities in South Road are looking a bit out of date and tired. We are working on plans which will shortly be put to Public Consultation that offer big improvements using external finance.

5.        I was appointed as Vice Chair of the Finance and General Purposes Committee as my fellow councillors felt I could contribute using my experience as an accountant in business. I put together, with the Green Party Chair, the Budget that had a few efficiency improvements and in spite of big inflationary pressures kept the increase in our portion of the Council Tax to to the minimum. We hope to do even better next year.

6.        I have served as a Trustee on the Hythe Institute Fund a Hythe based charity https://hytheinstitutefund.org.uk/ which gives grants to local organisations.

7.        I am investigating improving the access to Hythe beach for disabled people. No solutions as yet!