Stuart Mowbray – Parish Councillor since November 2020, Chair
Along with my partner and son, I moved to Sutton upon Derwent from central York in late 2017, having spent much of my early adult life living around the south of England and London for education and work. A key motivating factor for this move was to give my son better access to nature and wildlife as he grows up. I think it's fair to say that the village, along with the school and its excellent outdoor spaces, have not disappointed us in that respect!
I became aware of the Parish Council when volunteering as part of a team, carrying out maintenance work at the playground, and became aware of a vacancy on the Council the following year, eventually joining in November 2020. Becoming a Parish Councillor felt like a good way to put something back into the community and make a tangible difference to the place my family now calls home.
Watching my son grow up in the village and walk to school every day, I am acutely aware of road safety issues in the village and am keen to look to address these. I am also passionate about our local environment and wildlife, and ensuring that key facilities, such as the playground and the school, get as much support from the Parish as they can, to ensure that the village has a strong future and families like mine can continue to enjoy living in Sutton upon Derwent for years to come.
|
|
|
Alex Patient – Parish Councillor since January 2021, Vice-Chair
 My family and I moved from London to Sutton-upon-Derwent in 2018. Wanting to contribute to the local community, I met a few of the other parishioners that made up a volunteer group to maintain the playground equipment.
Subsequently, I became aware of the Parish Council’s activities, and joined in January 2021. With two young daughters, I am particularly keen to chip in on matters that affect them: road safety and playground development being the two key areas of interest for me.
I have spent the last +20 years as various kinds of analyst, and currently lead the Performance Insight team at Natwest for the Commercial bank. I hope that helps me bring a level of experience to the Council when it comes to data collection and analysis (e.g. the Parish Survey), besides competence in writing briefs for funding support (we have successfully received National Lottery funding for the playground!).
In my spare time, I am commonly to be found with my children walking in the local area, grumbling on the village tennis courts, playing badminton in the Village Hall, or having a drink with other dads in the Vincent Arms. Feel free to give me a shout if there is some way the Parish Council can support you.
|
|
Maria Lovatt – Parish Councillor since November 2018
Geoff and I moved to Sutton upon Derwent in 2000, we lived before in York and wanted to move to a community with a village pub, neighbours that we could recognise and a place we could get involved in. The Parish Council was a natural progression in late 2018, as I have always been a volunteer, starting in my 20’s with the Samaritans, later organising the library at my children’s school then many years later as a Victorian Pharmacist's assistant at the Castle Museum. I also volunteer in the Acute Ward at York District Hospital, the village school and the village church on the flower rota.
I retired at 65 after 30 years working in residential letting so I suppose I have always enjoyed working with and for people.
My Parish Council interests are varied but however I steered towards Beacon Green; the rose garden, extra seating, the veg plot and to plant more trees there plus a mixed hedgerow in the children’s playing field.
My personal interests? Gardening, growing things, painting, crafts and a budding author, (maybe one day I will blossom!) and of course my little dog Jack.
|
| |
Steve Flanagan – Parish Councillor since August 2022
My family and I moved into the village in early 2008, having spent all my life in the York northern suburbs. After the hustle and bustle of Huntington, the relative tranquillity of village life appealed, and Sutton upon Derwent and surrounding area has not come up short.
After a career in railway engineering, I’m currently the CTO in an engineering design business and can be seen walking around the village with my Hungarian Vizsla, trying to get as many steps as possible into a sedentary lifestyle!
As I near the end of my working career, I have been looking at ways to contribute to the voluntary sector and found that being a Parish Councillor gave me that opportunity. I’m particularly interested on building on the great work of past councillors and trying to work with others to identify a long term solution to the flooding problems that previously blighted our village.
|
|
Duncan Muress – Parish Councillor
|
|
Debbie Marini – Parish Councillor
|
|
Vacancies: come join us!
|