It was a pleasure to be invited to speak as a panellist by the Conservative Rural Forum on the challenges local rural councillors face. I was privileged to represent a large village in rural Kent for many years, so shared my experience of campaigning, fighting for infrastructure and the challenges of rural crime.
On the latter subject, the rise in rural crime - non-residential theft and fly tipping - were discussed as were strategies for tackling it. The Government's recent Equipment Theft Act was welcomed to help prevent the theft of ATVs and quad bikes, as were rural crime task forces.
Read more on the bill here: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3192
Thank you to Cllr Rachel Carnac for chairing and to Lizzie Hacking for organising.