Cllr Clive Carver is the County Councillor for Hawarden and also the Conservative Community Councillor for Hawarden Ward on Hawarden Community Council.

I am a retired Merchant Navy Technical Officer and former Civil Servant, 60 years of age, a qualified Engineer and I live at 8 Overlea Drive with Cheryl my wife.

Following my retirement from the Merchant Navy, I worked as a Greeter at a local supermarket (Asda) for twelve months prior to August 2004. I also got involved with local issues.

In 2004, Redrow were appealing a planning application refusal to build on land off Overlea Drive.

Many residents opposed this development because of the problems it would bring; from the safety aspect of the inadequacies of the existing access roads, to the likely overloading of the drainage system. I decided to concentrate on drainage issues and following a search of the planning application documents at Flintshire County Council, found that an adverse report to Flintshire County Council from Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water had not been presented to the Planning Committee. It was as a result of this error that prevented the Council’s Barrister from questioning Redrow regarding drainage. However, many of you who were present at this Planning Inquiry will remember me as the Hawarden resident who was given leave by the Inquiry’s Planning Inspector to question Redrow’s Consultant on drainage issues.

I stood for election as a Community Councillor for the first time in June 2004, and was successfully elected. Since my election, I have again been active in local issues, including:

In 2006/07 – where I assisted residents of Overlea Drive, Vickers Close and Gladstone Way who were threatened with the re-opening of the public footpath Number 33 which had not been used for many years. I gave assistance to the residents, initially by writing on a number of occasions to Flintshire County Council and subsequently by accompanying them on ELEVEN occasions to the Magistrates Court. I did not just go along for the ride, besides giving evidence in court; I was instrumental in persuading Flintshire County Council to proceed to extinguishment via the Magistrates Court, which I and the residents perceived as local justice, rather than the outcome being determined by a Welsh Assembly appointed Inspector. Eventually, in March 2007 we were rewarded by District Judge Andrew Shaw’s decision to extinguish the footpath; a victory for common sense.

In December 2006 it became apparent that Flintshire County Council’s proposed Unitary Development Plan (UDP) would change the status of the "land off Overlea Drive" and thus remove one of the obstacles for a future planning application. I produced a newsletter to affected residents which gave a suggested means of objecting to these proposals. I submitted my written objections and also gave evidence at the UDP Public Inquiry in November 2007.

I attended the A494 River Dee to Ewloe Public Inquiry in 2007 on a number of occasions. I was delighted by the Inspector’s report and his recommendation that the A494 proposal does not go ahead. This project would have caused unbelievable problems for the residents of Hawarden and surrounding area. Due to the intended closing of many junctions between Ewloe and Queensferry, congestion at the Queensferry roundabout and throughout Hawarden would have increased. I do not even wish to think about the local congestion during the construction phase; we have all seen what happens when due to an accident or serious breakdown, the police close the road between Queensferry and Ewloe. Within minutes, Gladstone Way, Glynne Way and The Highway become gridlocked and Hawarden residents cannot leave or return to their homes without severe delay.

In 2004 Hawarden Community Council appointed me as their Hawarden representative on the Hawarden Institute Management Council.

In 2006 I was appointed as the Local Education Authority (LEA) Governor to Rector Drew School.

In December 2007 I was elected as the Chairman of the Hawarden Institute Management Council; a position I hold most dear, since my grandfather, Edward Carver as a young man in the 1890’s, was a keen member of the Hawarden Institute Gymnasium.

Besides these local issues and appointments, I have also been involved in national issues. In June 2005 I was invited by the National Measurement System Directorate of the Department of Trade & Industry to attend a meeting to discuss the three year programme on Time & Frequency Metrology. This under the auspices of the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington. I regularly attend their meetings at Teddington.

It is my belief that to serve as a councillor at whatever level, it is essential to live in the area that you represent. This is the only way to ensure that you receive early and accurate feedback on the issues affecting the community and, most importantly, the residents who have placed in you their trust. I live in Hawarden, I travel through Hawarden and what affects you, affects me.

 

clive.carver@flintshire.gov.uk

 

www.clive-carver.org.uk

 

01244 458102

“Carelia” 8 Overlea Drive, Hawarden, Deeside, Flintshire CH5 3HS