Caitlin Janette Bisknell

http://www.labour.org.uk/high-peak-caitlin-bisknell

High Peak, Caitlin Bisknell

Caitlin is the Leader of Labour led High Peak Borough Council and a Derbyshire county councillor, having made the borough her home more than 20 years ago.

Caitlin worked as a journalist in Shropshire after leaving university, before leaving full time work to bring up her family. More recently she spent five working as an administrator for a local county council managed project providing training in rural crafts such as dry stone walling.

Caitlin has been an active campaigner for her community and a local councillor for nearly 16 years. She joined forces with local parents to make sure their voices were heard when plans for Fairfield Sure Start Children’s Centre were being discussed. Together, they made sure that health facilities, including surgeries for nurses, doctors and dentists, were an integral part of the centre.

More recently she campaigned with local people against the closure of ambulance and fire stations across the borough. She has also taken the lead in working to make the council more open and responsive, regularly holding open meetings across the borough with community groups.

Caitlin has championed schemes to bring Buxton’s historic Crescent and Glossop’s major public halls back into use. She believes both schemes will help to stimulate the local economy, where long term unemployment is higher than the national average. She is also concerned about the impact of soaring energy bills for residents, many of whom live in homes that are difficult to heat.

Caitlin has two grown up children, both of whom attended local schools, and like all parents spent many hours taking them to rehearsals and training sessions when they were younger. She is still a governor at her children’s old junior school.