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Councillors

GRANVILLE BANTICK 25 Udimore Road, Rye TN31 7DS  t  01797 227724 e c/o townhall@ryetowncouncil.gov.uk Cllr Granville Bantick was elected to Rye Town Council in 1999 and Rother District Council in 2003-07 as a Councillor for the Liberal Democrats, and previously as Borough Councillor for Maidstone – representing the ward of Headcorn from 1994 to 1998. He moved from Headcorn to Rye in 1998. He is married to Mona and has two married daughters from a previous marriage.  Cllr Bantick sits on Rye Town Council's Policy, Resources & General Purposes Committee. He represents Rye Town Council on the Defend Our Coasts organisation and is a member of the Rye Emergency Action Community Team (REACT). Cllr Bantick has wide and varied interests which include gardening, sport and travel. He is a member and participant of the Deal Triathlon Club and Rye & District Wheelers. He raises funds for Mencap on sponsored cycle rides abroad, is Chairman of the Campaign for a Democratic Rye and is Secretary of the Friends of Rye Library.

JOHN BREEDS (Mayor) 71 Udimore Road, Rye TN31 7EA  t  01797 222554 e  c/o townhall@ryetowncouncil.gov.uk John’s ancestor’s can be traced back in Rye for around 500 years. He has been married to Geraldine (nee Miles, also from Rye) for 35 years. John attended primary and secondary schools in Rye, followed by a degree in Chemistry at London University and, later, a Masters degree in Science Education. He has been a Science teacher for 34 years and has taught at local schools, including Thomas Peacocke Community College. He is currently a full-time science teacher at the Grove School in Hastings. He is an active member of St Mary’s Church, Rye, a member of the Rye Shakespeare Company and Chairman of the Old Rye Scholars Association.  He has actively campaigned against the closure of the Postern Gate Surgery, public conveniences and the Friary Day Centre - and has been Mayor since May 2010. He is a keen musician and artist. He has made stained glass windows for many local properties and drew the very popular Town Map for the ‘rye-tourism’ web site. His other interests include reading and gardening.

JONATHAN BREEDS The Standard Inn, The Mint, Rye TN31 7EN  t  01797 223393 e  c/o townhall@ryetowncouncil.gov.uk Jonathan was born in 1973 in Kensington, London but has lived most of his life in Rye. His family has been in the area for hundreds of years. Educated locally at Thomas Peacocke School he then went on to study Music and Performance Arts at university. Elected to the Council in a by-election in 1997-98 while working at Thomas Peacocke Community College, he has sat variously on Rye Town Council’s Planning, Safety Advisory, Rye Relief in Need and Tourism Committees. He has been involved with the Animate Youth Project, Rye Festival, Rye Shakespeare Company, Rye Singers, Simply Opera, Rye Players, St Mary’s Church, Rye & District Youth Service and raising money for LEPRA during a Rye Medieval Festival. Jonathan can be seen often performing in Rye and the surrounding area. His hobbies include music, singing, collecting books on magic and sorcery, the history of the Bubonic Plague and Ebay. Jonathan now runs the busy Standard Inn in the Mint, Rye, is a member of the Rye Bar Watch Scheme and is an associate member of the British Institute of Innkeepers.

LORNA HALL (Deputy Mayor) Rolvendene Farm, Love Lane, Rye TN31 7BB      t  01797 229808 e  c/o townhall@ryetowncouncil.gov.uk  Lorna was born and brought up in Sussex, moving to Rye with her husband in 2000. Previously the company secretary of their own business, she has management experience in buying, sales and marketing and now helps manage the family farm. Her first involvement with Rye Town Council came shortly after moving with a co-option to the Rye in Bloom committee, shortly followed by Chairmanship and the decision by the Council to allow the group to be run independently. Lorna and her committee took Rye through to the finals of the Britian in Bloom competition having won area heats and awards for environmental projects. They also run the Rye Flower & Vegetable Show. A keen gardener, Lorna also likes to cook and walk her dogs and supports local animal rescue organisations. Lorna is currently the Chairman of the Rye Marketing Group and is on the Rye Farmers' Market Committee. Lorna is very proud to live in Rye and is keen to market and promote the facilities in this lovely town.

SONIA HOLMES Rye Rother District Councillor 23 North Salts, Rye TN31 7NU  t  01797 222068 e c/o cllr.sonia.holmes@rother.gov.uk I was born in Brighton on 3 June 1944 and brought up in Chichester. I married John Wentworth Holmes in London on 11 December 1969. I have four grown up daughters and two grandchildren. I lived in Icklesham for 30 years and, on the death of my husband, moved into Rye on the 30 November 1999. I was the County Councillor for Rye between 1994 and 1997 and District Councillor for Camber between 1993 and 1996. Apart from politics my interests are riding with the Rye Wheelers and supporting a head injury group looking after people with head injuries. I successfully stood in the April 2006 Town Council bye-election on behalf of the group calling itself Democracy for Rye and was elected to Rother District Council again in May 2007.

JO KIRKHAM 10 Cadborough Cliff, Rye TN31 7EB  t  01797 222562 e c/o townhall@ryetowncouncil.gov.uk Jo has served on the Rye Borough Council and the successor Town Council for 35 Years, being Mayor 1979-82, always standing as an Independent. She is Chairman of the Rye and District Council for Voluntary Service, a Director of Rye Partnership, a Governor of TPCC and a committee member of the Care Centre League of Friends. Very interested in history, she is involved with the Museum, edited the Rye Memories series and produced the books Ryennium and Rye’s War. She is a graduate of Manchester University, taught at TPCC and Brighton University, and has three children, all educated in Rye. She sings with Rye Singers and St Mary’s Church Choir. She thinks Rye should be a working town – not just for tourists. Rye should regain control of as many services as possible from Rother DC, with the money to run them, allowing good management and the lowering of our Council Tax.

PAUL OSBORNE Cadborough Cottage, 170 Udimore Road, Rye TN31 6AA  t  01797 222415 e c/o townhall@ryetowncouncil.gov.uk

FRANK PALMER 4 The Strand, Rye TN31 7DB  t 01797 222603 e c/o townhall@ryetowncouncil.gov.uk

IAN POTTER 146 Udimore Road, Rye TN31 7DZ  t  01797 223453 e c/o townhall@ryetowncouncil.gov.uk

DAVID RUSSELL Rye Rother District Councillor Mountsfield, Rye Hill, Rye TN31 7NH  t 01797 227106 e c/o cllr.david.russell@rother.gov.uk David Russell, married with two daughters, four step-children and six dogs, was elected to Rye Town Council in July 2003. A former Member of East Grinstead Town Council, he was Mid-Sussex District Council Cabinet Member for Community Development 2001-03. His business career spans books and magazine publishing, and the energy and leisure industries. He was a director of two charities for some 20 years and is a primary school governor and a local steward of race meetings. He is a Director of the Rye Partnership and Vice Chairman of Rother District Council.

MARY SMITH 10 Tower Street, Rye TN31 7NH  t 01797 227569 e c/o townhall@ryetowncouncil.gov.uk

SAM SOUSTER  96 Udimore Road, Rye TN31 7DX t 01797 224305 e c/o townhall@ryetowncouncil.gov.uk Sam was first elected as a District and City Councillor (Lichfield) in 1979 and served for around 8 years before moving away. He was elected to Rye Town Council in 1999 and has been Chairman of its Leisure & Tourism Committee. He served on Rother District Council between 2003 and 2007. Formerly, Sam has been a magistrate, school governor and Community Health Council member. Currently he is Chairman of Rye Sports Centre Management Committee and a member of the Rye Harbour Local Nature Reserve Management Committee. On completing his apprenticeship Sam was an Engineering Officer in the Merchant Navy. On leaving he joined the Central Electricity Generating Board as a Management Services Engineer. After privatization he became a management consultant for Powergen. Sam’s partner, Rita – a Director of Rye Town Services - runs a guesthouse locally, which they share with two cats. They have little free time but both enjoy gardening, walking and reading.

DAVID WRIGHT 11 Landgate, Rye TN31 7LH t 01797 227696 m 07703 214793 e c/o townhall@ryetowncouncil.gov.uk David was born in Tunbridge Wells in 1948 and has lived in Kent and East Sussex all his life. He is divorced and has three children, one in the final year of her degree at Warwick University.                                                                                                                   A regular visitor, he moved to Rye in 1998, following a career which spanned 34 years in the telecommunications industry. Working in Tunbridge Wells, Canterbury and London, David has been instrumental in introducing many of the new products which have appeared in the marketplace over the years. He has been Secretary to the District Board and was heavily involved in the regulatory framework established after de-nationalisation and the roll-out of Quality Management processes to ISO 9001. He was appointed Energy Conservation Consultant for the South Eastern Region and has extensive experience of energy saving strategies. Whilst living in Canterbury he served as a parish councillor in the village of Blean. David, currently, is the Hon. Secretary of the Rye Conservation Society and Chairman of the Landgate (Residents') Association which he founded in 2006. He drives for Rye & District Community Transport on a regular basis. David believes that whilst maintaining its heritage, Rye needs to develop a vibrant infrastructure with modern amenities and local employment opportunities for all. He is currently a member of the Council's Planning & Townscape, Policy Resources & General Purposes and Leisure & Tourism Committees. He chairs the Devolved Services Working Group and is one of the Council's representatives on the Rye Partnership. He is also a Director of Animate. David's interests and hobbies include obsessive DIY, gardening, film, The Simpsons, photography, Ebay and occasional sailing. He has a keen interest in politics and current affairs.

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