Peter Fane

I’m standing for election to the Cambridgeshire County Council on 4th May 2017. I’m one of the two Lib Dem candidates (along with Brian Milnes of Sawston) for the new Sawston and Shelfords division – which will have two county councillors.

I’ve lived in Great Shelford since 2014, when I moved here from Dry Drayton. I’m a member of the parish council in Great Shelford, and lead on the development of our neighbourhood plan with Stapleford. Before that, I was chair of the parish council in Dry Drayton.

I’ve always stood as an independent, because I don’t think parish councils should be partisan, and I’ve worked closely with councillors from other parties, as I would do as your county councillor.

I’ve been a member of the Lib Dems since the party was formed, and before that I was a member of the Liberal Party. Liberal values inform my approach to politics – safeguarding a free, fair and open society, balancing the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community. These values have never been more under threat, and I’ll be proud to stand up for them as your county councillor.

Neighbourhood plans:

I’m leading the development of the neighbourhood plan for Stapleford and Great Shelford because I’m keen for parish councils and other tiers of local government to be more pro-active, rather than waiting to problems to occur and then reacting to them. The steering group is a good way of involving local people and the wider community, regardless of political views, helping to bring forward plans for the future of our villages.

These plans are an opportunity to ensure that planning in our area takes more account of what residents actually want. They give us a chance to say what sort of development we want to see, and what sort of services and facilities we need. Unlike the village and parish plans we produced in the past, these neighbourhood plans will have a formal status in the planning process, alongside the long-awaited local plans for this District.

About Peter Fane:

Peter Fane is married with two children, one now at university. You may see him walking his two small terriers on the footpaths and greenspaces which help to make this division such a fine place to live.

Peter is a self-employed surveyor and adviser on public policy, advising businesses throughout UK, including now on Brexit risk analysis.

He set up his European policy consultancy business twenty years ago, after some years running the British Agricultural Bureau in Brussels and representing the interests of UK farmers and agricultural co-operatives.

Peter was a director of the government’s former Countryside Agency – he was deputy chair when the Labour government abolished it ten years ago, leading their work on landscape and access to the countryside, and on the formation of two new National Parks.

As a member of the green spaces committee of CPPF (Cambridge Past Present and Future), he contributes to efforts to protect the Cambridge green belt, and to improve access for all to the countryside around Cambridge. His main policy focus is on rural communities, and he’s vice-chair of the Lib Dem policy group on these issues.

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