Cllr JoHN TUCkER By the Dart INTERvIEw
Interview by kate Cotton ELECTED LEADER oF SoUTH HAMS DISTRICT CoUNCIL
D
ITTISHAM born and bred, Cllr John Tucker has been the elected leader of South Hams District Council since May 2007. He leads the strategic direction of the council and
his team of 30 councillors and is also chairman of the leading Conservative group. Cllr tucker was elected as leader after his predeces-
sor Richard Young lost his seat at the 2007 election. He can legally stay in place until the next district election in 2019. Before becoming leader he was deputy leader for six years. He was born in Dittisham and has remained in his childhood home to this day, as well as serving on the parish council there for 25 years. He’s been with south Hams District Council since a by-election in March 1997. He said: ‘I’ve lived in Ditsum all my
life; in fact I’ve lived in the same house all my life. My parents moved here from east Allington and Diptford when they married in 1942. they rented Cott Farm and became part of the community. ‘I took on the farm from my parents and bought it.
I’m still a working farmer although my two sons now do the day-to-day stuff. I tend to the office side of things more, like working with Defra.’ Cllr tucker has inherited local politics, as well as
farming, from his family. ‘My grandfather was an alderman of totnes in the 1940s and 50s and my father was a member of Dittisham Parish Council,’ he said. ‘It gets in the blood to be honest and becomes addictive. ‘Being leader of the district council takes up a lot of time and it’s not paid. I work around 45 to 60 hours a week as the leader and for my ward. But this is my hobby. I don’t play golf or go shooting. ‘I fit the council duties around my work and I’m used
to early mornings. I used to be up tending to the farm at 4.30am.’ Cllr tucker’s ward is West Dart, from the edge of Dart- mouth to the edge of totnes, including Ashprington, Cornworthy, Dittisham, Harberton and Harbertonford. Rather than a single chief executive, south Hams
District Council has two directors, steve Jorden and sophie Hosking. they’re in charge of the operational and strategic day-to-day running of the council. But the councillors, under Cllr tucker, challenge policies and steer the council’s strategies and rules, to which the directors and officers adhere. ‘Local government works similar to
‘We don’t just tow the party line –
we’re here to serve the local residents,’
national government,’ explained Cllr tucker. ‘I have a deputy, Lindsay Ward and four senior members who look after the finances etc. ‘We set the council tax at our budget meetings and it’s down to us how it goes up and down. ‘this year we have increased our
precept by £5 for an average Band D property, the maximum permitted by
the government. this will enable us to keep all services and not make any cuts. All the time I’ve been leader I’ve been saying I will not cut services and I believe most people will accept a small increase to their council tax bill to keep services intact.’ Increases are also to offset government cutbacks to local authority budgets. Cllr tucker said a reserve support grant from the gov-
ernment to the council, collected through the return on business rates, is gradually being dropped. In 2010 the grant awarded was £5.5 million per annum and in 2018 it will drop to zero. He said: ‘We’ve lead a transformative programme
at the council to offset this loss. We’ve cut staff by 30 per cent and moved a lot of business online where it’s
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