Follow Adam at www.fb.com/CllrAdamYates

Adam lives in Ormskirk East ward and has been a ward councillor since 2016. He served as the Portfolio Holder for Finance & Economic Regeneration on West Lancashire Borough Council for five years, ensuring that unlike other councils – WLBC did not go bankrupt. He has been responsible for overseeing the restructure of the council in order to protect and improve services, and close the budget gap caused by Conservative cuts. He is a member of Community union, a primary school governor of over ten years, a former director of the CAB and is currently the acting chair of Ormskirk Flood Group.

Adam says:

I grew up in Ormskirk, where I now live with my own family, so I’m well aware of the issues concerning residents as they affect me too. Since becoming a councillor in 2016, I’ve helped residents with a range of issues, from planning objections to accessing financial support, and from tackling boundary disputes to dealing with anti-social behaviour.

I helped to secure traffic calming measures for Cottage Lane and the resurfacing of several roads across the ward – but there are many more now in dire need. I’ve helped with flooding issues, particularly in Halsall Lane and Redgate and I’m currently the acting chair of Ormskirk Flood Group and chair of the Borough Council’s Cabinet Working Group on Flooding.

I’ve fought against the conversion of family homes to student housing (HMOs), as well as against the expansion in size of existing HMOs. While on the council’s Planning Committee, I worked with residents in rejecting applications for properties on Aughton Street, Redgate and Peet Avenue, and have worked to guarantee that any future local plan will remove the current 5% threshold that still enables family homes in our ward to be converted to HMOs.

I have also fought to protect the ward from excessive development, including ensuring no housing is built on the land at the rear of Holborn Hill, Redgate, Cottage Lane, Black Moss Lane and Altys Lane.

As the Portfolio Holder for Finance at WLBC, I’ve made sure funding is available for improvements to play areas, and I introduced the council tax discretionary scheme. I’ve also played a key role in the full restructure of the council, which is improving customer support and modernising the delivery of services.

As the only serving councillor who has worked on Ormskirk market, our seven hundred year old market means a lot to me and I have worked hard to secure its future funding, as well as increasing the money available to promote the market. I also helped introduce the improved parking charges after consultation with local businesses, as well as supporting the launches of the Gingerbread Festival, the Ormskirk Night Markets and the artisan markets. I’m looking forward to our new artisan market provider arriving in the coming weeks and having artisan markets back in Ormskirk town centre again. Blocking proposals to increase parking charges across Ormskirk by 30% was a no-brainer for me.

I’m hugely proud that we have continued to invest in supporting Dial A Ride, to keep this vital service afloat to support our most vulnerable elderly, disabled and isolated residents with day-to-day tasks and activities.

I want to see continual improvements to our town centre and when BT tried to remove the last red phone box in the town without notice, I successfully applied for the council to adopt it. When I was first elected, I said that I wanted to see Ormskirk’s heritage celebrated and its services improved. I still do – this is my home and I want the best for it. Working together, I’m sure we can deliver even more success in the future.