Neil Baker is standing in the Whitstable East and Herne Bay West Division, which includes communities across Eddington, Greenhill, Hampton, Studd Hill, Swalecliffe and Tankerton.
A Whitstable native, with family in the town since the early 1700s, Neil now lives in Greenhill and is keen to ensure all the different parts of the division are given attention, with localised solutions found for local issues and an avoidance of attempting to force "one-size fits all" answers to what can be complex problems.
Educated at Swalecliffe School and Simon Langton in Canterbury, Neil strongly believes that enabling access to quality education is the best way to ensure future generations are equipped for their lives, including making the journey to and from school each day as hassle-free as it can be.
Neil says he is desperate to see fair funding for Kent's roads to reverse the decades-long underinvestment in roads maintenance by successive governments, which often involves senior Government ministers of different parties appearing for photoshoots and promising sums of cash that almost literally just touch the surface, rather than radically boost resources to give residents the roads they want and deserve.
Neil has been a leading voice in demands for highways authorities such as Kent to be given real powers to coordinate roadworks, at a time when most works on our roads are undertaken by utility companies, who have an absolute right in law to dig the roads up and, due to legislation, are often able to close roads or put traffic lights up before telling the county council. His aim is for Kent County Council to be given the ability to control what works take place on the road - which the public understandably assume already exists. Lives are being blighted, businesses are being wrecked and the economy is being throttled because there is currently no real oversight to allow Kent County Council to keep our roads open and traffic flowing.
Neil has never claimed a councillor can change the world, but as someone who has seen so much change locally during his lifetime - and not all for the better - he wants to help keep our corner of the world as special for future generations as it was for his ancestors. The world is changing, there is lots of fear and uncertainty, but Neil is keen that nobody is left behind and modern technology and different approaches should be harnessed to benefit everyone, not just a select few.
With your support, Neil hopes to continue to provide all local residents a voice within Kent County Council. Local Government is not perfect, it can be hugely frustrating, but Neil will work to ensure however it works, it works for residents across Whitstable East and Herne Bay West.
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