Nick Baker

I live in Laverstock and am passionate about ensuring that local people have a voice in decisions about their community and enabling local groups to make a difference in their community. I have been a member of Laverstock and Ford Parish Council since 2019 and became Chair of the Council in 2020. I really enjoy the opportunities this gives me to impact on both the little things and the big things in our community.

I was responsible for surveying and arranging the re-painting of all of the Street Name Plates in Laverstock after several local residents came to be complaining how tatty they were looking and also take a leading role in campaigning against inappropriate development in our community such as the proposal to build 135 houses on greenfield land next to the Cocky Down Site of Special Scientific Interest. I am a member of the working party which brings together the local schools, parish and Wiltshire council and the police to try and deal with the issue of traffic on Church Road (something of an on-going battle but hopefully we are making improvements one small step at a time!) and the liaison group which represents the community in the running of Castle Hill Country Park in Bishopdown Farm.

I spent sixteen years as a teacher and school leader, before moving into my current ‘second career’ in management roles in the charity sector and am still actively involved in working with children as a leader in the scout movement. I am therefore a passionate believer in the importance of education in changing lives, from the work of Children’s Centres with pre-school children to the importance of good quality advice and guidance to enable young people to develop ambitious plans for the future and understand how to achieve them. Seeing the way that years of Tory cuts have negatively impacted our young people is one of the reasons I became actively involved in politics.

Another issue that is close to my heart is the need to tackle climate change and the bio-diversity crisis that threaten to undermine the future of our planet and leave our children and grandchildren facing a far more challenging and less rich and beautiful world than the one we knew. Through my work on the Parish Council I have campaigned to get developers to go beyond the legal minimum and build houses in our community which help people reduce their carbon emissions. I am also a trustee of a national conservation charity and have been involved in working with local churches to help them take action on environmental issues.

If you are passionate about seeing change in Laverstock and Bishopdown Farm, then I would encourage you to get involved in the work of the local Liberal Democrats, we’d love to get to know you.