Councillor Barry Walters  (Conservative) East Ward Portishead and North Weston

Councillor Barry Walters  (Conservative) (also NSC District Councillor)

Coast Ward Portishead and North Weston

I have represented Coast Ward on Portishead and North Weston Town Council and North Somerset District Council since May 1987.

Coast Ward is a beautiful area and generally a very pleasant place to live.  Much of the local work I have done has been to do with the protection of the area.  All planning applications are reviewed and when necessary I have them brought before the Councillors.  I try to ensure that the coastal footpath is kept open and in good condition, making sure that we get our share of money spent on the Lake Grounds and the woods and grassland within the Ward.

Within the District Council I have also spent many years on environmental matters.

I have a long-term aim to get a footpath along the entire coastal length of North Somerset.  At the moment we are working on the link between Pill and Portishead, which will give a through walk from Clevedon to Bristol.

I am now retired but I am a Chartered Engineer and Member of the Energy Institution and spent many years in the petrochemical and heat-using industries.

In my spare time I try to work my allotment.

Arthur is married with a grown up family, and has lived in the area all his life.  Educated at Gordano School, he now works in security and has been involved in local politics for 16 years, serving on both Town and District Councils.

He currently represents East Ward on North Somerset Council.  Arthur has chaired both the Housing and Planning Committees of the former Woodspring Council.  He now has responsibility for the review of the Council’s Structure Organisation, to bring the workings of the Council into line with the new Local Government Act.

Arthur is a Trustee of Portishead Playgroups.  He has also served as a governor at several local primary schools, and at Gordano School.  He is interested in sport, having represented Somerset in rugby at youth level.  His interest in the environment is pursued through his membership of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the British Trust for Ornithology.