Councillors
The Parish Council comprises thirteen Councillors who are elected for a four-year term. The last election was in May 2023.
East Bergholt Parish Council is looking for a new councillor, a person who wants to help make our village the best it can be. Could this be you?
The work of parish councillors is to provide play, sports and leisure facilities; try to persuade the bigger councils to make our roads and footpaths safer; manage the village car park, ensure there are facilities for younger people; provide and manage our cemetery and to help and support local people’s initiatives. We make your local voice heard on a variety of government and local council projects. We are responsible for creating the village Neighbourhood Plan with policies that will improve and preserve our delightful rural setting.
To achieve all of this we need representatives from all parts of the village on our PC.
We currently have a vacancy which we can fill by co-option. If you think you can help please can you write to the Clerk, telling us your name, where you live, what village organisations you are involved with and how you would like to contribute to the work of making our village a great place to live.
Please email the Parish Council Clerk, Graham White, at
parish.clerk@eastbergholtpc.co.uk or you can telephone 01206 413106 for more information.
Ricky Allen
01206 299543
Ricky Bio
Committee and the Burial Grounds committee. He lives in
Foxhall Close in affordable housing and feels the village needs more houses like this not only for the
elderly but for those looking for their first home. The aim is quality housing in the village at rents that
young people can afford.
Marion Burns
07899 908621
Bio
Marion was co-opted as a councillor in October 2024 having moved to East Bergholt with her husband the previous year. She also retired last year after a varied career which included television production and running a community arts centre. She wants to make a contribution to village life in her new role as a councillor – and is especially keen to see more facilities for younger people and safer streets for everyone.
Sallie Davies
01206 298368
Bio
Sallie is a lawyer and former journalist who has been an East Bergholt Parish Councillor since October 2022. She has lived in the village for 23 years and brought up two children who went to East Bergholt High School. She is also the District Councillor for East Bergholt and the Cabinet Member for Heritage, Planning and Infrastructure at Babergh District Council. Sallie became a councillor because she believes community is vitally important for so many reasons and the Parish Council must ensure our community works for everyone. She is currently Chair of the Young People’s Committee and is hoping to make swift progress to substantially improve facilities in the village for children and young people.
Bob Elmer
01206 298547
Bob Bio
Strategy, Finance and Policy Committee and is a member of the Playing Fields
Committee. He has helped to develop the East Bergholt Infrastructure Investment Plan (PIIP) which sets
out the Parish Councils priorities for the implementation of infrastructure projects. This gives the Parish Council the opportunity to spend the Community Infrastructure Levy
(CIL) on projects for the benefit of the village.
Michael Hockley
01206 298479
Michael Bio
Michael joined the Parish Council in March 2022. He is on the Roads, Footpaths and Flatford Committee and the Playing Fields Committee. He has an interest in finding more areas for sport and encouraging sport for all. He’s also interested in promoting the need for more low cost and genuinely affordable housing for people in the village.
Michael is a Trustee of East Bergholt United Charities.
Mark Hurley
01206 298223
Bio
Lyn Matthews
01206 298423
Bio
Joan Miller
01206 298517
Bio
Joan’s career involved directing large scale business transformation programmes and managing technology departments in local government and in the UK Parliament. She has lived in EB for over 50 years, her 3 boys having grown up here and her grandchildren being frequent visitors. She was on the PC from 1983-2000 and introduced the first village-wide survey in 1984. Working on the findings of that survey she led the project to build the tennis courts and worked with another councillor, Mervyn Austen, to build the new Sports Pavilion and purchase and equip the playground for East End. She returned to the PC in 2014 and has been closely involved with creating the Neighbourhood Plan and establishing PC priorities. She leads the project to transfer the Congregational Church charity to the PC with the objective of creating a community hub and sheltered homes. She is also involved in the traffic safety project. She has been chair of the PC since 2019.
John Price
01206 298528
John's Bio
John moved to East Bergholt with his wife and two sons back in 1996. His children have
long since flown the nest and when he retired he thought it was time to give something
back to the local community so he became a Parish Councillor. He has concentrated on the pavements and footpaths through the Roads, Footpaths and Flatford Committee.
Nigel Roberts
01206 298461
Bio
Nigel Roberts moved to East Bergholt from London in 2014. He is now retired and first became involved with the work of the Parish Council through his close involvement with the preparation of East Bergholt’s Neighbourhood Plan.
He has been a Parish Councillor since 2017 and is Vice-Chair of the Council. His career was in Property Research and Real Estate Investment Strategy. He is an Economist and Town Planner, and is involved across many aspects of the Council’s work with a focus on Planning, Strategy and Policy. He is a Trustee of the Lambe School and also a Trustee of East Bergholt’s Community Land Trust.
After a successful career in international real estate and fund management he brings widespread experience and skills to his role of Parish Councillor. He aims to contribute positively to East Bergholt’s future to ensure it continues be a great place to live, with good facilities and services, safe streets and remains a strong and cohesive community.
Rob Smith
07506 483508
Bio
Rob moved to East Bergholt in 2022 from Yorkshire, joining his partner and her son who have lived in the village for over two decades. They bought their “forever home” here later that year, and he’s delighted to now play a more active role in the community as a Parish Councillor.
He is the Technology Officer at the East of England Co-op, where he leads the approach to data, systems, and innovation to help the society run efficiently and effectively for the benefit of our members and communities. His career in technology and data spans more than 20 years, during which he has held a range of senior leadership and management roles across several national organisations.
Outside of work, he is the Membership Secretary at Mistley Cricket Club, a playing member, and occasional youth coach. He is also an enthusiastic DIYer, currently undertaking a full refurbishment of our home — a project that’s testing both his patience and my practical skills in equal measure. Rob has a lifelong passion for cars, including one he built from scratch about 20 years ago. He and his partner share their home with a lively cockapoo who ensures we make the most of the local footpaths.
Rob cares deeply about preserving the special character of East Bergholt — protecting our local environment, encouraging community collaboration, and ensuring residents of all ages have a voice in local matters.
Vacancy
Graeme Woodcock
01206 395752
Bio
He is currently a member of the Playing fields and Sports Council committees, striving to continually improve facilities for all our clubs. He supports the ‘Friends or Broom Knoll and East End Community Group’ seeking improvements in this valued area of our parish.