As your Member of Parliament, I spend a lot of time thinking about the future we’ll leave for the next generation. We are hugely fortunate to live in a beautiful corner of Hertfordshire and my guiding philosophy has always been simple: protect the things that make our area great and tackle the issues that blight it, so we can all be proud to call our villages home.
I’ve been spending this summer thinking about my priorities for the future.
We must ensure that our beautiful natural environment is protected. I’ve been leading a campaign to extend the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty across our area – recognising our precious Chilterns landscapes and delivering new powers to enhance local chalk streams, biodiversity and our countryside.
We must protect the quiet enjoyment of our homes. That’s why I oppose any expansion of Luton Airport – protecting our communities from the excessive increases in noise and air pollution and traffic congestion (particularly on our rural roads) it would bring.
We must deliver new jobs and apprenticeships for local people. Our current unemployment rate locally is just 1.6%, but we mustn’t be complacent in growing our local economy. I’m working to deliver 10% more jobs and apprenticeships in Hitchin and the villages.
We must make sure people are safe on our streets and in our communities. We have already delivered record numbers of police officers in Hertfordshire and crime is down since 2019, but working with local police and our communities I want to tackle issues around road safety and rural crime to make our villages even safer.
We must ensure that everyone has access to high quality healthcare. We’ve successfully secured funding for the new specialist Cancer Hospital that I’ve been campaigning for and now I’m working to deliver a new GP surgery to serve our community.
And we must tackle traffic congestion. That’s why I’m working to deliver projects like the new Eastern pedestrian and cyclist access to Hitchin Station which will reduce traffic and congestion in Hitchin – making it easier for all of us living in the villages to drive into Hitchin when we need to.
I’m so proud every day to represent our beautiful village communities. Together, I know that we can continue to make them brilliant places to live, work and spend time – now and in the future.
