After what he describes as 15 very happy and extremely busy years in Little Hadham, Mike Fairchild is moving with his wife Pat to Debden, near Saffron Walden, and as a consequence is standing down as chairman of the Parish Council.

Mike’s announcement coincides with a decision by Councillor Tony Skidmore to retire from the council.  Mike took over the chairmanship from Tony and both have served as chairman of the planning committee.

“Pat and I will really miss the village and the many friends we’ve made,” says Mike. “We are looking forward to having more time to ourselves and getting to know another lovely village.”

Pat says she has warned Mike not to take on new commitments but he has already been caught reading the Debden parish council minutes and discovered that the village shop needs volunteers!

Mike joined the Parish Council in 2002 and became chairman in May 2007. At recent meetings he has remarked on the increasingly important role of the parish council and said he believed it was more effective than ever in looking after the community’s interests. Mike helped to launch the Parish Plan, now in its second edition and accompanied by a Village Guide. The plan has contributed to Mike’s ambition to build community spirit through better facilities and fundraising events. Mike was a founder member of Little Hadham Conservation Society, set up to oppose the possibility of a gypsy site in the village, and has also been a staunch supporter of Stop Stansted Expansion.

Tony has served for nine years as a councillor, five of them as chairman.  He wants to spend more time with Elspeth and his daughter and granddaughter and to maintain his voluntary work for the NHS and his duties as a school governor, church warden, and committee member of the Army Benevolent Fund.

“In our work together, Mike and I have contributed to a great many parish council projects that have benefited the village, particularly winning a Biffaward to refurbish our playing fields, the creation of a business plan and a housing needs survey and, most recently, the refurbishment of the war memorial,” says Tony.