Councillor Heather Smith

Councillor Heather Smith was elected to Northamptonshire County Council at a by-election on 3 May 2007. Heather has lived with her husband in the Prebendal Division for more than 25 years. An active member of the local community, she served as clerk/councillor and chairman for Nassington Parish Council for 10 years. She has led a number of local campaigns including a five year fight to preserve a local amenity, working to keep public rights of way open to villagers, and securing funding for flood alleviation in two local villages. As a County Councillor, she gets involved in a range of issues within the 24 villages in her division and takes specific interest in the condition of roads, rights of way and traffic calming. Her professional experience includes ten years working as a senior manager for British Telecom and, as an entrepreneur, successfully setting up and running her own wine business. After retiring from her business life she became a keen supporter and fund raiser for her chosen charities as well as undertaking management roles in a number of local organisations. Councillor Smith has served as a member of the Children and Young Peoples Scrutiny Committee and became Deputy Scrutiny Champion with specific responsibility for growth in the county and as such attended all scrutiny committees. She was involved in the working group looking into the impact on schools of children with English as an additional language and in 2008-09 chaired working groups looking into the water contamination alert and the issue of Section 106 funding. After the 2009 local elections, Heather was appointed Cabinet Member responsible for Highways. Minerals and Waste.