About me: Councillor Nick Bennett

It was a great privilege to be elected as the councillor for Alfriston, East Hoathly and Hellingly. My background is in policing in London and here in Sussex, so to be elected ‘first go' was exciting and very rewarding.

I have ten parish councils to support which is a real challenge in itself and I attend as many meetings as I can. I have been given council cabinet responsibilities for Learning and Schools Effectiveness and I am delighted to have been appointed as a member of the South Downs National Park Authority.

I have successfully completed post-graduate studies in local governance.

But how did I get here?

I moved to East Sussex in June 2000 when I was promoted to superintendent in Sussex Police.

After leaving the police I was involved in a number of local issues including governorship of Uckfield College and conservation of Ashdown Forest. Although I was busy supporting management change with several large public bodies, I wanted to get as closely engaged with local issues as I had been in the police. So I applied, was selected and, thanks to 1720 good people, was elected!

My community

We share a strong sense of community in which we take pride. I have campaigned actively to support the work and ambitions of the parish councils as well as community groups. As your local member. I have worked hard to support :

• the SAFE campaign in Alfriston that shows how people can work with councillors to improve safety and quality of life
• safety improvements for the A22 and several speed restrictions in our villages
• installing the preferred road safety improvements for Hellingly village
• the ‘NO to Landraise' campaign and pushed for modern, environmentally sound solutions to support recycling and re-using.

As the Lead Member for schools I continue to press for improvements to primary education, the development of our children's centres and secured funding for rebuilding and refurbishing our older buildings.

My home life

I have been married to Joanna, who is a prolific cookery writer, for 30 years and our children have set off on their own careers. Although I have many professional interests in leadership, change and programme management, I'm a full time councillor and hope to remain so.

My spare time

In my spare time I play tennis, go to the gym and walk a lot – anything to burn off the calories that my wife's work generates.