Archive for: Councillors

Piers Spence swapped a desk in the City for a pair of wellies when, in 2011, he quit the board of Quarto Publishing and moved to Cotmore Farm, aiming to recreate for holiday visitors the experience of staying on a working farm that he and his wife Sue remember from their respective childhoods in Ireland and Cornwall. The last of their three children having left the family home, they now have more time to spend with their horses, rare-breed pigs, Shetland sheep, ducks, chickens, and (in Piers’ case) a garage-full of old Italian motorcycles in various states of repair. Piers chairs the Parish Council, edits the website and is Parish Tree Warden.

Gail Addison was raised in Manchester and worked there and in Somerset and Devon as a civil servant for over 20 years. After many holidays spent in the South Hams she and husband Brian finally moved to Chillington in 2005. Gail enjoys walking the footpaths and Coast Path in all weathers, and her appreciation of the outdoors and the natural world drew her to volunteer at Slapton Ley Field Centre and with the Woodland Trust. Gail joined Parish Council in February 2019 and is our rep on the Chillington Community Association and Chillington Woodland Volunteer Group, as well as Footpaths Warden for the Parish.

Olly Brooking grew up in Chillington and Hallsands and attended school in Stokenham and Kingsbridge. He took a Diploma in Agriculture at Bicton College before spending a gap year on a seed farm in Cambridgeshire, followed by work and travel in Australia, where he gained experience combining and seeding hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland. Olly is one of the owners of Stokeley Farm Shop, and manages the farm, shop, cafe and bar, working with his team to provide a welcoming experience for both locals and visitors. Outside of work he has a long-standing connection with Kingsbridge Rugby Club, where he played from the age of 8 and now supports as a sponsor, and in his younger days was an active member of Kingsbridge Young Farmers. Olly lives at Island Farm with his partner Rosemary.

Kim Greening’s association with the Parish goes back to 1985, when she first holidayed in Torcross. In 1988 her family moved permanently to Stokenham and she returned regularly to the family home while building a nursing career in the NHS, and later as an academic in the Universities of Plymouth, Chester and the Open University. During this time Kim explored the health benefits of contact with nature for her doctoral research. Upon retirement from full time work Kim took up external examining roles, and worked as a nurse vaccinator throughout the South Hams. Kim is the Community Voluntary Service and Health Care representative on the Council and oversees the Parish Emergency Plan.

Tim Lynn was born in Stokenham, went to Stokenham Primary and then to Kingsbridge School (as it was then known). Upon leaving school he worked as a tractor driver on a number of local farms; he now specialises in groundworks for a local construction company. Tim joined the parish council in order to help local people. He lives in Hallsands with his wife and son, which is where he keeps the small fishing boat that is his life’s other passion. Tim is a member of the Kingsbridge & Salcombe Estuary Conservation Forum; he is a Snow Warden and a Beesands & Torcross Flood Gate Co-ordinator, and deputises on the Parish Hall Committee.