Meet Andy Burton an Independent candidate at the by-election in Rutland County Councils Barleythorpe Ward.

My name is Andy Burton and I am standing as an Independent candidate at the by-election in
Barleythorpe. 

I live in Barleythorpe so the issues that affect the residents of the village affect me aswell. One of the main worries of residents is the lack of progress with the adoption of highways and infrastructure on the Oakham Heights developments. 

I live on the Bellway development which has now been completed for nearly 10 years and highways adoption seems to have stalled. 

I am a member of the Barleythorpe Parish Council and we get frequent updates from the developers on the progress of adoption but still very little progress seems to have been made. A priority of mine will be to work with the developers and officers of the planning department to find out what problems still
remain and get them to prioritise the adoption process.

I served as a County Councillor for 20 years at the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, much of that time
as Chairman of a planning committee and later as portfolio holder for Planning and Economic
Development, as such I have had first hand experience of working with planners and developers to
overcome these difficulties.

Flooding in the village has been a great source of worry to residents. The floods last year caused a lot
of damage to properties near the brook running through the village and much distress to those affected. 

As a member of the Parish Council I formed a Flood Reliance group to investigate and try to remedy the causes of the flood. 

I have held meetings with the Chief Executive of Rutland Council, the Planning department, developers, our MP and the Environment Agency to try to rectify the causes of the flood and to put in place measures to help prevent future occurrences. I served on 3 separate Internal Drainage Boards in the East Riding where flooding is a major issue, I do have a broad experience of flooding issues and if elected I will be better placed to engage with agencies to try to come up with solutions.

Another priority will be to help residents to engage more effectively with the Council when they have
issues relating to Council services. It is often difficult to know who to contact when you need help. 

I will work with Tracy Carr the other Barleythorpe councillor and we will hold regular surgeries to keep
residents informed and to deal with issues that may arise. 

I believe one of the main tasks of a local Councillor is to be one of the first points of contact into council services and I will be contactable at all reasonable times, my phone number and email address will be available for people to get hold of me if elected. As an independent Councillor my priority will be service to residents of Barleythorpe not to any political party.

My working background is in Agriculture where I have worked mostly in crop protection and advanced
crop production techniques, recently working with biostimulants that help the crop make more efficient
use of soil nutrients to reduce the reliance of artificial fertilizers. 

I am Married with 3 grown up daughters. I moved to Rutland about 6 years ago. My interests include Gardening, I have an allotment and I serve on the allotment committee. I have a sailing boat on Rutland Water which I go to whenever I get the time. I also enjoy walking and other outdoor pursuits. If elected my priorities will be those of Barleythorpe residents.

The election will be held on 24th July 2025 and the results will be known the next day. All the candidates are: Andrew Dinsmore, Conservative; and Jonathan Nichols for the Liberal Democrats,  Independent Andy Burton, Declan McCarthy Reform UK.  

Oakham and Rutland News has offered a page to all candidates.