August might quieten the council chamber, but local politics carries on.
For Councillor Denis Healy, leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition at East Riding Council and a St Mary’s ward councillor, that means planning meetings, casework and plenty of conversations on Beverley doorsteps. There is also time for one of the better perks of reaching bus-pass age: taking his granddaughter upstairs on the bus to Bridlington and watching the East Yorkshire countryside roll past.
For the latest in Beverley Review’s summer series, we asked Denis what keeps him busy through recess, why he loves summer in East Yorkshire and, naturally, which five songs provide the soundtrack.
What’s on your plate this summer?
County Hall may be quieter, but the work hasn’t stopped.
“It’s not completely recess at County Hall,” he says. “Planning meetings continue, including site visits. And, of course, dealing with residents’ casework never stops.”
Much of the rest of the summer will be spent closer to home, walking around Beverley and talking to residents.
“As a Beverley ward councillor, I know that I will be spending a fair amount of time knocking on doors and saying hello to the good residents of Beverley.”
It isn’t the glamorous side of local politics, but much of a ward councillor’s work starts this way. Conversations on doorsteps, emails from residents and problems which might seem small from County Hall can be rather more important when they are happening outside your own front door.
For an opposition leader there is the wider political business of the council too, but August provides a little more opportunity to be out in the ward before the full council calendar gets going again in September.
What’s on your playlist this summer?
Our latest contributor has taken the word summer in this question rather seriously.
Katrina and the Waves’ Walking on Sunshine leads the five, followed by The Beach Boys’ Good Vibrations and ELO’s Mr Blue Sky.
The Lovin’ Spoonful supply Summer in the City, before things head firmly back to 1976 with England Dan & John Ford Coley’s I’d Really Love to See You Tonight.
It is difficult to imagine a playlist more determined to improve the East Yorkshire weather.
As with our other summer profiles, we’ve made all five songs clickable, so you can listen along and bring a little of Denis’s summer soundtrack into your own.
Why is East Yorkshire such a great place to be in summer?
The answer to this one involves a granddaughter, a newly acquired bus pass and a trip to Bridlington.
“Because I can get on a bus outside my house and take my granddaughter to Bridlington for a day at the East Yorkshire seaside for free, using my newly acquired bus pass and free fares for kids during August.”
And they’re going upstairs.
“We can sit upstairs on the bus and see the stunning countryside pass by.”
There is something rather lovely about that. A bus from Beverley, the East Riding countryside passing the window and a day at the seaside with your granddaughter waiting at the other end.
It is also a reminder that enjoying East Yorkshire in summer doesn’t necessarily require an elaborate itinerary. Beverley and Bridlington are separated by some of the county’s loveliest countryside, and sometimes the journey itself is part of the day out.
Summer doesn’t stop the casework
The idea behind our summer series has been to show a slightly different side of the people involved in local political life.
Council chambers become quieter and the formal calendar thins out, but planning meetings continue through August. So do site visits, emails from residents and the everyday casework that comes with representing a Beverley ward.
For Denis, there will also be plenty of door-knocking and conversations with residents before County Hall returns to its usual rhythm in September.
Hopefully, somewhere among it all, there’ll be time for that bus to Bridlington with his granddaughter.
With Mr Blue Sky playing, naturally.