Councillors

Phil Davison
(Chairman and Town Mayor)

I have been involved in local politics since being elected to Beverley Borough Council in 1979 as a Liberal. I have also served on Hessle Town Council since 1996 representing the Westfield Ward. I have been Chairman of Finance and Planning Committees and of the Council. In 2007 I was elected to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

I have lived in Hessle for over 40 years and have recently retired from a career in accountancy and auditing. I will continue to listen to the views of Hessle people, representing them on the Council and will work to develop the traditional, distinctive community nature of Hessle.

Frank Kitchen
(Vice-Chairman and Deputy Town Mayor)

A retired Business Man in the Marine Industry, living the majority of my life in Hessle I have served on Hessle Town Council since l986 & also a term each as a Beverley Borough & East Riding Councillor.

My hobbies are gardening, golf & reading.

Currently the Deputy Town Mayor and served as Town Mayor for 2 years until May 2011

Chay Bell

I have been active in Hessle politics for twenty years. I work at a local school and my children attend Hessle C of E school. I am delighted and also feel privileged that I have been elected to the Town Council. I believe that Hessle can be better.

My time on the Council will be spent seeking ways to improve our community from car parking to tree planting, protecting our community to cleaning our streets, from consultation with residents to raising the profile of Hessle as a business or shopping destination.

Hessle needs to be outward looking, pro-active and progressive. I look forward to working towards these goals over the next four years and beyond.

Laura Bettison

I moved back to the local area in 2010 after a nine year stay in the Sheffield area. Whilst I am a marketing officer by profession (don't hold it against me) having worked in the local government and higher education sectors since leaving university in 2002, I now run the Oxfam shop in Hessle and juggle this with raising our daughter and controlling our springer spaniel.

I decided to stand as a Town Councillor to try to give something back to the area and become an active member of the local community. I am passionate about empowering people to campaign for improvements and look forward to representing Hessle over the coming years.

I have recently taken on responsibility for editing the Hessle Town Council Newsletter and would encourage you to get in touch if you have news/events or issues you would like us to raise.

Rob Bettison

It is a great honour to have been elected as Labour Party Councillor for the Northfield Ward and I am looking forward to working with and for the local community over the coming years.

I am a relatively new member of the Hessle community, having moved here from South Yorkshire in 2010 for family reasons. I am married to Laura (also a Town Councillor) and we have one little girl and an (as yet unknown) addition due in November this year.

I have worked in and for local government all my professional career and understand the need for the Council to work hard during hard financial times to ensure Hessle gets its fair share of investment and improvement.

I currently act as vice-chair to the Planning & Traffic Committee.

Pete Carpenter

I moved to East Yorkshire in 2001 to study at University and remained in the area afterwards, working for a finance company in Hessle. I later retrained as a teacher and currently teach history and politics in a school over the bridge.

I first moved to Hessle with my wife in 2008 for a brief 8 months while our house, which had been damaged by the floods in 2007, was renovated. We enjoyed living in Hessle so much that on moving back we sold our house and moved to Hessle permanently.

I am keen to preserve the best aspects of Hessle - the open environments, access to the foreshore and the character of the village centre, as well as seek to improve the experiences and lives of residents in Hessle.

Mike Hogan

I am born and bred in Hessle and live here too. As a recently graduated university student and as a part time worker in the NHS, I am acutely aware of the impact of increasing tuition fees and the enormous amount of changes facing our community services.

Having a young voice on the Town Council would give young people's issues a voice.

Paul Hogan

I have been active in politics since I was a teenager, which is a long time. I have setup two businesses in the last seven years and despite difficult times for small businesses both are developing well.

I am married to Hilary and have lived in Hessle for 23 years. My two children enjoyed being taught in Hessle schools; All Saints and Hessle High, both schools where I have been Chair of Governors and a Governor for nearly twenty years.

Being elected to the Town Council and to the East Riding Council is an honour for me, one which I intend to do my best to live up to by working hard for the residents of Hessle in any way I can.

These are hard times for many of our neighbours and we need to do all we can to encourage enterprise and job creation, listening to our community understanding their needs and acting accordingly. I look forward to working with my colleagues on the opportunities and threats we will face over the next four years and beyond.

Brian Jefferies

I have lived in Hessle for 39 years working as a teacher/youth worker at Hessle High School and Area Youth Officer for Humberside C.C. I served on Beverley Borough Council and am presently on the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, where I have represented Hessle for 12 years. On Beverley B.C. I was on the planning and leisure committees whilst on EYRC.

I have a special interest in economic development and planning. My greatest interest is in helping the people of Hessle create a thriving, safe and pleasant place in which to, work and play.

Kathie Jenkins

Kathie Jenkins joined Hessle Town Council in 2007 to represent the Southfield Ward. She moved to Hessle with her family in 1984.

A lecturer with the University of Humberside and more recently the University of Lincoln, she retired in 2006. She serves on the Environment, Planning & Traffic, Communication, Events, Tree Visits and CCTV Committees.

Joe Key

I am 84 years of age, I have lived in Hessle for 26 years, married with four children and five grand children. I was educated at Boulevard secondary school and became an apprentice electrician.

I served in the Royal Navy for 13 years as first an electrical engineer then transferred to the Fleet Air Arm and eventually became a petty officer aircraft electrician. On demobilisation I was an electrician with British Rail then in management services with Hull City Council and Yorkshire Water Authority. I was the Nalgo branch secretary for the North and East division of YWA for 11 years.

David Prattley

I was born in Hessle and have lived here all my life. I was elected to the Town Council in 1989 and have served continuously ever since being active on all the committees at one time or another.

I had the honour to be elected Chairman of the Council, first in 1998/1999 and latterly in 2007/2008. It was an even greater honour and privilege to be appointed the first Hessle Town Mayor in 2008/2009 and to be able to represent Hessle in that capacity.

My aim always has been and will be, to do my very best to enable Hessle's residents to live and work within the unique community of Hessle in a happy and healthy environment.

Eve Rose

I was appointed as Hospital Chaplain 7 years ago by the Humber Mental Health Trust as it was then called.

I began to look for somewhere to move to from Leeds and fell in love with Hessle and consequently moved here with my two children. I then became the Assistant Curate at All Saints Church in Hessle.

I am an active trade unionist in UNISON which represents health care workers. I am very pleased to have been elected as a councillor and will be spending my time working for the community particular in relation to the Community Centre, and also events and facilities for our young people.

I look forward to undertaking this role on behalf of the Hessle constituency.

Margot Sutton

I have lived in Hessle for the last 18 years. I served in the Humberside Police for 15 years and left to travel worldwide at sea accompanying my husband in his Merchant Navy post.

I currently run a sports injury clinic from home and have done this for 10 years, prior to that from a treatment centre.

I have been a volunteer for the Samaritans, Survivor of Bereavement by Suicide and Adoption UK. I have one active son, three boisterous dogs and four noisy cockatiels. My hobbies are reading and patch working.

Phil Withers

I am a financial services professional who has lived and worked in Hessle for the best part of 25 years. I live in the Southfield Ward with my wife, who is a teacher at Hessle High School, and teenage son.

I serve on Planning & Traffic, Events and Communication Committees.