Cllr Mrs Elizabeth Banks

Councillor

Cllr Elizabeth Banks has been a member of the Town Council since 1998 and has served three terms as Mayor: 2006-2010, 2015 - 2017 and 2023-2024.
 
Town Council Committee membership
 Cllr Elizabeth Banks is a member of the Planning and Environment Committee and the Finance, Personnel and General Purposes committee. She is also a member of the Recreation Ground Management Group.

Cllr Banks's personal statement
She is an eminent horticulturist, and manages Hergest Croft Gardens, Kington with her family. Hergest Croft Gardens is a 70-acre garden and arboretum which has been called “one of the finest collections of woody plants in private hands in the British Isles”. She published Creating Period Gardens in 1991 and has written, and given, various articles and lectures on horticulture. She has made several media appearances (TV and Radio) in the UK, USA and Canada.

• 1980 Diploma of Landscape Architecture: University of Greenwich
• 1981 Chartered Member of the Landscape Institute
• 2011 Fellow of The Institute of Horticulture
• 2011 Honorary Degree Design University of Greenwich
• 2012 Honorary Degree Science University of Worcester
• 2010-2013 President Emeritus of Royal Horticultural Society 

Cllr Mr Bob Widdowson

Councillor

Cllr Bob Widdowson served as the Town Council Mayor from 2010 - 2014, and again from 2019 - 2022.
Town Council Committee membership
Cllr Widdowson currently sits on the Planning and Environment Committee and the Scrutiny committees. As a Town Councillor he is also a member of the Kington Recreation Ground Trust.

Cllr Widdowson's personal statement
We moved to Kington almost twenty years ago. I first joined the town council in 2007 and was mayor for four years until 2014. I work as a consultant to voluntary organisations mainly in the advice sector such as CABs. I have spent most of my working life in the voluntary sector mainly with housing charities such as Shelter. I am currently vice chair of Herefordshire Campaign to Protect Rural England and a founder member of the Herefordshire Anti-Poverty Alliance where I chair the housing group. I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and my key interests are the environment, housing and poverty, and social justice. 

Cllr Mr Martin Fitton

Councillor

Cllr Martin Fitton was elected Mayor of Kington in May 2017 and served two terms of  twelve months each in this post. 

Town Council Committee membership
Cllr Fitton currently sits on the Planning and Environment committee, Scrutiny committee and the Finance. Personnel and General Purposes committee. As a Town Councillor he is also a member of the Kington Recreation Ground Trust.

Cllr Fitton's personal statement 
I came to Kington six years ago from Wales, where I was involved in running National Parks. I have lived in Brecon and Cardiff, so enjoyed city and small town life.

This career has given me long experience of managing the environment, planning and community development. I'm now involved in various organisations that protect the environment and promote community education. With my wife I live on, and help run, a smallholding which requires practical land management skill and close engagement with free range chickens with attitude.

Cllr Mr Richard Banks

Councillor

 Town Council Committee membership
Cllr Richard Banks currently sits on the Scrutiny committee and is chair of the Finance, Personnel and General Purposes Committees. As a Town Councillor he is also a member of the Kington Recreation Ground Trust.

Cllr Banks's personal statement
Cllr Richard Banks is an eighth generation Kington resident..

He is a financial marketing consultant specialising in promoting flows of investment capital into and from emerging markets. He runs his own company headquartered at Hergest Court where he also lives with his partner and two (almost) grown up children. 

As an elected member of the Council, Cllr Banks thinks that keeping and creating jobs for residents are a vital priority and that change must always be balanced by continuity. He believes that connectivity and communication are central to the creation of vibrant modern rural communities. Despite having travelled to nearly 100 countries Cllr Banks would always rather be in Kington.

Cllr Mr Tom Bounds

Councillor

 Cllr Tom Bounds is a long-serving member of Kington Town Council and has served the community for many years.

Town Council Committee membership
Cllr Bounds currently sits on the Planning and Environment Committee and the Finance, Personnel and General Purposes committee. As a Town Councillor, he is also a member of the Kington Recreation Ground Trust and a member of the Recreation Ground Management Group.

Cllr Bounds's  personal statement
I was born in Kington and have lived here all my life. I am a qualified Electrical Engineer, and the owner of Tom Bounds Electrical shop. I have dedicated myself to serving our community and have been a serving member of Kington Town Council for a long time. I am also a Parish Councillor for Kington rural and Lower Harpton Parish.

Cllr Mrs Esther Rolls

Councillor

As well as serving on Kington Town Council, Cllr Esther Rolls is also the Clerk for the neighbouring Kington Rural and Lower Harpton Parish.

Cllr Rolls currently sits on the Finance, Personnel and General Purposes Committee, the Planning and Environment Committee and the Scrutiny Committees. As a Town Councillor she is also a member of the Kington Recreation Ground Trust and a member of the Recreation Ground Management Group.

Cllr Rolls's personal statement
I moved to Kington in November 1995. Although no longer resident in the town, I lived here for 20 years - the longest that I have lived anywhere. I originate from a place called Champneys (yes - the Health Resort) and as my father worked there, I spent my formative years there. After leaving home I moved a few times, ending up in Kington in 1995, so Kington feels like home.  I have two grown up children and am grandmother to five boys.

As a Councillor, I like to think that as a long-term resident I got to grips with some of the issues and delights of the area.  I am a great dog lover and can say with confidence that the dog walks in this area are fantastic - I know, because I am often seen in the area walking my dogs. 

As a Councillor, I regularly attend most meetings and sit on most committees: I consider the planning committee to be the most important. I consider myself lucky to serve a community such as Kington and like to think that I have the majority of residents' interests at heart.

Cllr Nicki Cornish

Councillor

Cllr. Nicki Cornish was co-opted to the Town Council in May 2023.

Town Council Committee membership

Cllr Cornish currently sits sits on the Planning and Environment Committee. As a Town Councillor, she is a member of the Kington Recreation Ground Trust.

 Cllr Cornish's Personal Statement

 I moved to Kington in 2019 with my husband, a Herefordian, who attended Lady Hawkins School. I feel very much at home in Kington - it is the friendliest place I have ever lived. I studied Fine Art at Winchester School of Art. I am now a printmaker and have taught printmaking for many years.

 I have been involved with organising the Marches Makers Festival, an annual arts festival in Kington which showcases the work of local artists within a twenty mile radius of Kington, as well as promoting other local communal arts activities.

I am also a keen gardener.

Cllr. Ms. Judith Gardner

Councillor

Town Council Committee membership

Cllr Judith Gardner currently sits on the Environment and Services committees. As a Town Councillor, she is also a member of the Kington Recreation Ground Trust and a member of the Recreation Ground Management Group.

Cllr. Gardner's personal statement

I've been a resident of Kington since 2006 and I cherish being part of a local community. I'm self-employed and work full-time as a social researcher. I am passionate about helping to preserve all that's special about Kington and to make it a better place to live. I am particularly keen to contribute to improving Kington as a place for young people to live and flourish. I am the mother of two young adults so this is an issue close to my heart. I don't have the answers but I do believe the town council has an important role to play, and this is one reason why I applied to be a councillor. I am a co-founder and director of Open Arms Kington CIC that was established in 2021 to buy The Oxford Arms, to save it as an asset for the community and to develop it into a sustainable community hub with a dedicated provision for young people. And for the past two years I have been working with KLEEN and Rail and Bus for Herefordshire campaigning to restore evening buses, so that more Kington residents, especially young people without cars, can access services, work, and leisure opportunities in Hereford.

This is my third term with the council, having first been elected on in 2010. 

Cllr. Mr. Martin Woolford

Deputy Mayor

Town Council Committee membership

Cllr Martin Woolford was elected Deputy Mayor on 13th May 2024.

He is currently chair of the Planning and Environment Committee and serves on the Finance, Personnel and General Purposes committee. As a Town Councillor, he is also a member of the Kington Recreation Ground Trust and a member of the Recreation Ground Management Group.

Cllr Woolford's personal statement
I have been associated with Kington for over 20 years and have owned a home here since 2014. My wife, Vicky, and I are both retired having run our own estate agency business in Gloucestershire for some 13 years. We have two married sons and three grandchildren. Over the years, we have enjoyed the friendly and welcoming community of Kington, helping with the Food Festival and the Tourist Information Group.

I believe that Kington is a community that should continue to grow and thrive, and I look forward to being part of the team that helps to make a difference.

Cllr Mr Phillip Sell

Mayor

 Town Council committee membership

Cllr Sell was elected Mayor on 13the May 2024.

As Mayor, Cllr Sell sits ex officio on all of the Council's committees.

Cllr Sell's personal statement 

Phillip has lived in Kington since Autumn 2010 when he took up the post of Director of Education for the Diocese of Hereford. Prior to this, he held headships of five primary schools - three in Essex, one in Cornwall and one in Northamptonshire. He retired in Autumn 2018, which gave him more time to pursue his many hobbies and interests. He is a keen gardener and spends lots of time at his allotment in Kington. He is the Director of Music and Parish Administrator at St Mary's Church. Lock-down provided opportunities to try new things, and this led him to experimenting with wine-making, exotic cooking and various forms of art work, some of which have been displayed (and sold) in the town!

When he lived in Cornwall, he was elected Ward Councillor in Truro. He chaired several committees of the District Council. In this capacity, he was a member of the Port Health Authority, the Court of Exeter University and a member of the Board of the Hall for Cornwall. He was also a member of Truro City Council, and particularly enjoyed his role as Chair of the Parks Committee.

He is a member of the Academy Board at Lady Hawkins School and this enables him to share his experience and knowledge of schools and education.

Cllr. Buzz Bishop

Councillor

Cllr. Buzz Bishop was co-opted to the Town Council in January 2024.

Town Council Committee Membership

Cllr. Bishop is a member of the Planning and Environment Committee, the Scrutiny Committee and the Finance, Personnel and General Purposes Committee.  As a Town Councillor, she is also a member of Kington Recreation Ground Trust and a member of the Recreation Ground Trust Management Committee. 

 Personal Statement

 I am fully immersed in the local community and have been an active member of St. Mary’s Church congregation (including learning the traditional skill of bellringing and practicing this all over the Herefordshire Diocese) since relocating here. I am a member of various local community groups, I participate in and support local events, and now wish to add value and benefit to the Parish Council’s proceedings by offering the Council Committee Members, and also members of the public, my time, professional skills and comprehensive working experience, in order to support the Council with its decision-making responsibilities. 

I currently work for Central Government within the department which regulates MPs’ business costs and salaries. As such, I have an in-depth understanding of the role of government and have a professional objective that focusses me on protecting the taxpaying public from the misuse of funds by our elected representatives. Ensuring that MPs and their staff comply with legislation and rules is not only fundamental to my professional role, but that ensuring that the public purse is not exploited, funds are not misused and value for money is considered, will always be important to me. I believe that openness and transparency is key to gaining the trust of the public.

My role within the Strategy and Change Directorate gives me responsibility for managing Change Improvement Programmes and also for monitoring the risks, impacts and benefits associated with change initiatives. 

In addition, I am proud to have created the business case to set-up the ‘Pride Group’ and also the ‘Inclusion and Diversity Network’ which I continue to Chair, giving me responsibility to lead the department on all matters related to inclusion and diversity. This has allowed me to hone my skills and passion for ensuring the provision of a safe and inclusive working environment for all people; with a specific focus on people from under-represented groups i.e. people from ethnic backgrounds, people of all faiths and religions, people with disabilities, people from the LGBTQ+ community, or people who face age or sex discrimination – I am simply passionate about representing all people from any minority background, whatever that minority group may be.   

I am confident that my skills, experience and knowledge of the working of Central Government can be put to good use through the Council’s Committees and will add value as they make decisions on the social, environmental, technological and economic challenges that impact on our community and people. I believe that my professional skills and personal character will add benefit to the Council, and more importantly, to the local community and citizens who I wish to represent.