Ben Adams

I was born and grew up in Streetly and since getting married 18 years ago have lived in Burntwood, Longdon and Shenstone.

I have been proud to live in and around Lichfield all my life and think I have a good understanding of the different demands of both the urban and rural areas in the district.

I left school at 18 to pursue a career as a professional golfer. Something I learnt a lot from, including my limitations as a sportsman. I caught up with my education at this time by studying for a degree with the Open University and covered my expenses with a variety of part time jobs.

Wanting to get married focuses this mind, so I moved into computer sales before spotting the chance to build up a computer business with my father and sisters based around bookkeeping and management systems. This has given me the opportunity to see how business of all sizes and types operate and to recognise the value of good information and efficient operation.

My children, Henry and Collette both go to the King Edwards school in Lichfield which is an excellent example of a well managed and productive State school and a real asset to our District. My wife Jackie, also from Streetly, now offers consultancy for education and arts organisations having worked for Birmingham City Council for several years.

Fazeley and Mile Oak is a diverse ward but, whilst you might expect the needs and concerns of residents in Bonehill and Deer Park to be quite different, I have found that most residents want to see good services for the old, support for the needy and opportunites for the youngsters.

One of the shared concerns is anti-social behaviour. I am delighted that a recent Conservative survey I helped with has persuaded the Licensing Authority and local police to implement an Alcohol Control Zone in the areas where most residents were concerned about this. Hopefully we will see a real improvement as a result of this and we will be carrying out further survey work to ensure further alcohol bans are introduced wherever residents have problems with drink related bad behaviour.

I also recognise the real concern of residents to protect the ward’s boundaries and keep our green belt intact. The area shares a good sense of community, something we should seek to build on.Together with Ian Lewin and Brian Yeates, after the election, I hope to accelerate the investment into Fazeley and Mile Oak so it continues to benefit from the success of our Conservative led Lichfield council.

With regard to national politics, I think many of the arguments being played out at now will have a significant impact on the local community. New Labour has gone too far with trying to control and manage services from Whitehall.

Conservatives are showing across the country that local management works best. I believe we should all have more influence on education, housing and transport locally so I hope to see more power devolved back to our elected representatives at District and County levels after the next election.

With less central government interference we can take more responsibility for our own expenditure and better satisfy local needs.