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Fred Pritchard-Tagg
Deputy Mayor and Councillor at Dartmouth Town Council
B
eing the voice of young people and making local politics accessible for all – two aims of Fred Pritchard-Tagg who’s getting into the swing of things in his role as deputy mayor and councillor at Dartmouth
Town Council. So far the well-known Sainsbury’s worker has attended award ceremonies, civic dinners and had tea with cruise ship captains. But he says his top priorities are getting more people involved with the local authority, making it as transparent as possible and perhaps even introducing a youth council. Steph Woolvin had a chat with him…
“I am a firm believer that rather
than criticise and moan about something, you should get in there, change it and make a difference yourself.” Fred decided to join Dartmouth Town Council two years ago as he noticed people were becoming quite critical of the authority, blaming it for inaction and what were seen as decisions being made behind closed doors. “I started to agree with some of the complaints then thought, hang on a minute, if I want things to change I need to change them from the inside!” He admits getting his foot through the door wasn’t easy - failing three times to be voted in by members. But being the tenacious chap he is he decided to give it one more try and was co-opted on to the council in April 2017 following the death of Councillor Roger Chillcot. “At 36, I’m the youngest councillor and see that as a huge advantage as I can be the voice of young people, bringing their concerns to the table and hopefully getting some solutions.” He says
young people have a reputation for not being interested in the community around them, their attention diverted by smart phones, TV and video games. But Fred says they have plenty to say and want to be involved. Through his job at Sainsbury’s
Fred has had the opportunity to mix with a wide variety of locals.
“We also have to look to the future and take care of future generations.”
He’s worked at the store since it opened 10 years ago and has held many different posts including team leader, supervisor, customer services assistant and charity coordinator. It’s here that he met husband Daniel: “We are one of the few Sainsbury’s romances! Quite sweet really,” he says with a blush. He is a familiar face in the store and says people feel
comfortable approaching him with their problems from car parking to rubbish collections. “I think people prefer to chat informally with me on the shop floor rather than going into the council offices which some people find a bit intimidating.” He and Daniel used to hold bingo nights at Townstal Community Hall, and he says this helped him get to know residents at the top of town and find out what matters to them. Fred went to school in
Kingsbridge and was on the town’s youth council. He says they discussed matters alongside the ‘grown ups’ and talked to other young people to find out what concerns they wanted addressing. “It was usually issues like improving parks and recreational grounds with better facilities and equipment. It gave me a taste of local politics and I really enjoyed it. Anti-social behaviour levels dropped during these years and I think a similar thing could be done in Dartmouth.” He says giving young people a voice will get them engaged in local politics and make the town council more relevant to people under 60. “I think many see the council acting for older people and visitors. Dartmouth does have a
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