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10
Apr 2022
The owner of Swinton Estate in Masham has thrown her hat into the ring to be one of 90 councillors elected to North Yorkshire Council.
Felicity Cunliffe-Lister, whose formal title is Baroness Masham, has put herself forward as an independent candidate when voters head to the polls on May 5.
She will stand in the Masham and Fountains division against Conservative Margaret Atkinson, who has held the division for nine years, and Liberal Democrat Judith Hooper.
All three candidates have spoken to the Stray Ferret this week.
Ms Atkinson, who lives on a farm, said she was concerned about the closure of rural schools and the impact of high house prices on young people, as well as by the ageing population and the state of roads.
She said she had been "fighting for these things" constantly and the lack of progress in some areas was down to "shortage of money" from national government. She felt the devolution agenda would make it easier for the new council to take decisive action.
Asked what set her apart from her rivals, she said it was her long-term commitment to local causes and her deep roots in the community:
Ms Cunliffe-Lister said retaining young people in rural areas and improving standards of services elderly residents were key issues for the new council.
Ms Cunliffe-Lister also highlighted more immediate issues, such as fixing potholes.
Despite being new to the political arena and heading into a campaign without a team, she said she felt ready to “get out there”.
Her priorities are: holding regular public meetings rather than "taking votes for granted", getting fair planning decisions and "tackling the climate crisis and thus fuel issues and increasing fuel poverty".
She added she wanted to see more opportunities for activities for young people and to see what could be done to address the playground flooding in Masham.
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