New Year Messages: Cllr Tim Sinclair (Con), Stratford North, WCC

Warwickshire county councillor Tim Sinclair (Stratford North, Con)

Life as a County Councillor is a curious mixture of relatively small pieces of work, often driven by individual residents - potholes, hedges, street lights and the like - as well as the work we do at Shire Hall to influence future policy and formally scrutinise the Council’s activities that often goes relatively unnoticed.

Every now and then though a large project comes along which has an impact on a wider audience. For me in 2024 I had two of these. Firstly the Warwick Road safety scheme, that ran from February for five months, and then the restart of the long-awaited Birmingham Road project, which got going again in September.

Major schemes inevitably mean roadworks. These cause delays that people don't like and in this environment all sorts of misinformation can circulate. I'm a great believer in not only getting things done, but also in keeping residents informed of what's actually happening.

So, with both of these schemes my focus was partly on working closely with the project teams to get the works completed on time, to reflect residents’ views and to lobby for changes that would reduce inconvenience, but also to keep everyone informed.

Warwick Road completed on time and on budget. Hopefully in 2025 we'll see a verifiable reduction in the number of serious collisions here.

The Birmingham Road is so far on track and as we enter 2025 my aim is to keep it that way. I've got a long list of other pieces of work I'm also engaged in, the Park & Ride being another I'm on a mission to sort out. However, like many locals I’ve been wanting to see the Birmingham Road improved for years and I’m pleased to say that 2025 should finally see this project completed, with improved traffic flow and less congestion as a result.