Marlborough Town Council
Meet the Team
contact us
In writing: please address your envelope to MANP, 5 High Street, Marlborough, SN8 1AA
Phone: call us on 01672 512487
By email (address your email to enquiries@marlborough-tc.gov.uk with MANP in the subject line)
Neighbourhood plan steering group
The Steering Group is made up of volunteers - click here to see the Terms of Reference
COUNCILLOR MERVYN HALL - CHAIRMAN
Originally from Leicester, Mervyn has lived in Marlborough since 2003 having previously lived in Surrey, Berkshire and Essex. He has been married to Cath since 1976 and has three grown up sons and seven grandchildren, all of whom live locally in Marlborough, Swindon and Highworth.
Mervyn’s principal qualifications are Chartered Engineer with a degree in Electronic Engineering and a postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies. He has worked in a variety of posts for Philips, Mars, Siemens, British Aerospace and QinetiQ and is now retired. His interests include History (Secretary of Marlborough History Society and Trustee of The Merchant’s House), Bridge (Secretary of Marlborough Duplicate Bridge Club) and he enjoys playing tennis and badminton.
Mervyn has been a Marlborough Town Councillor since 2013 and held the posts of Deputy Mayor for 2016/17, Town Mayor for 2017/18, Deputy Mayor for 2018/19 and Town Mayor for 2019/20.
RICHARD SPENCER-WILLIAMS - SECRETARY
Richard is Marlborough’s Town Clerk and heads up a small, busy team at the Town Council. Work includes the management of assets such as the Town Hall and commercial and residential properties, running events (the Christmas Lights Switch-on, Remembrance Parades, Civil War Re-enactment, Royal visits, etc.), looking after open spaces, playgrounds, cemeteries and gardens, the day to day running of the Council offices and, most importantly, helping visitors and residents.
As Secretary, Richard doesn't vote on Steering Group decisions.
COUNCILLOR NOEL BARRETT-MORTON
Noel is from Ulster and was elected to Marlborough Town Council in October 2011. He was Marlborough's Town Mayor in 2016/17 and his civic duties took him to all parts of Wiltshire during his Mayoral Year.
Noel has had a long and successful career firstly in stockbroking in the City of London and then in Civil Aviation as a pilot with British Eagle and then British Airways. He also owned a Financial Services Company Eden Financial and was Chairman of a property development company. He is now mainly retired and lives in the centre of the Town.
STEWART DOBSON
Stewart was born in Marlborough and educated at the Grammar School. He was the owner and Managing Director of a Ford Dealership, later in a specialist capacity for Audi Motor Company, and a non-executive Director of a Housing Association.
He was first elected to Marlborough Borough Council in 1971 and continued to represent Marlborough without a break at different tiers of local Government until May 2021. He was Mayor of Marlborough in 1986/87 and again in 1999/00. As a Wiltshire Unitary Councillor he sat as Chairman of the Area Board. He has been a Governor of all the schools in Marlborough, a Trustee of the Merchants House, and Chairman of Kennet Community Transport. After representing Marlborough as a Wiltshire Councillor for many years, Stewart stepped down from his councillor roles in 2021.
Married with four children and three step children, he currently has eleven grandchildren.
SUSANNE HARRIS
Susanne was born in Savernake Hospital, spent her school days in Marlborough and was employed in further education as a special needs lecturer. She has lived most of her life in Marlborough apart from a few years when first married as, yes; there was no affordable housing in Marlborough for first time buyers.
Susanne is a member of the Marlborough and District Dyslexia Association, a local charity, and a committee member and the helpline officer. She brings to the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group her local knowledge, experience, great love of Marlborough and its surrounding area and her skills in researching. She is particularly interested in developing a balanced housing policy with affordable housing for local people and also maintaining and improving, where possible, the built and natural environment.
GUY SINGLETON
Guy grew up in Chepstow before moving to Salisbury when he was 19, he went to what is now the Royal Agricultural University (then a College) and after graduating moved to Cadley in 1982 and worked for many years managing The Crown Estates' Wiltshire Holdings, working for Carter Jonas, in 2011 left to become a self employed Land Agent and Planning Consultant. He is married to Suzie and they both have a strong interest in Classic Cars.
Guy became a Savernake Parish Councillor in 2014 and is currently the Chairman of the Parish Council.
CAROLINE THOMAS
Caroline became a Marlborough Town Councillor in May 2021 and is also a Wiltshire Councillor for the Marlborough East ward.
Caroline lives in Marlborough. Whilst out of scope for the Neighbourhood Plan, she is very aware that traffic and road safety issues remain a high priority. She is also very committed to improving the lot of young people, particularly considering the impact Covid lock downs had on mental health and social skills.
SIR NIGEL THOMPSON, KCMG, CBE
Sir Nigel Thompson KCMG, CBE, is former Chairman of Mildenhall Parish Council and has lived at Stitchcombe since 1972.
He is a retired Civil and Structural Engineer, having being Deputy Chairman of Arup, where he was responsible for the design and construction of many buildings and civil engineering projects throughout the world. He led a British Government/Private Sector Task Force for the Reconstruction of Kosovo following the war in the Balkans in 1999. Between 2003 and 2008 he was the National Chairman of CPRE and is a former President of Action for the River Kennet.
Nigel is married to Nicky and they have three children. The youngest, Phoebe, lives and works in Marlborough.
DEIRDRE WATSON
Deirdre moved to Wiltshire from Essex in 2014, having previously worked as a civil servant, in-house lawyer and company secretary.
Her work gave her experience in the public, private and not for profit sectors, in locations including Oxfordshire, Washington DC, Essex and London.
She lives in Mildenhall, and is involved in various local community organisations.
OUR THANKS TO PAST MEMBERS:
COUNCILLOR JUSTIN COOK - VICE CHAIR
Justin was Vice Chair with Mervyn Hall right at the start of the process, and was actively involved until he left the Town Council and handed over the reigns to Peter Cairns.
In addition to his work on the Neighbourhood Plan, Justin was passionate about providing opportunities for young people and worked closely with Councillor and Mayor Lisa Farrell to ensure the Town Council did all it could to provide youth and sporting facilities for the town's young people.
COUNCILLOR PETER CAIRNS - VICE CHAIR
Peter stepped down from the Town Council and the Steering Group in May 2021 but his contributions are greatly appreciated for getting the plan from conception to a draft plan on paper - thank you Peter.
Peter was born on 14 January 1956 in Newcastle upon Tyne. A love of Engineering and Astronomy led him to study Astrophysics at the University of Leicester. He has spent most of his working career practicing the dark arts of Radio Frequency engineering, either on aircraft, spacecraft or mobile phones. He started his career in Filton, Bristol, before venturing to various engineering sites around Europe in Toulouse, Antwerp & Friedrichshafen.
He moved to Marlborough in 1996 to work on mobile phone technology in Basingstoke & Swindon before spending 3 years in New Zealand studying for a Geophysics MSc at Victoria University in Wellington, they even gave him his own volcano to play with! Peter then returned to the UK in 2006 to continue his previous career in spacecraft engineering in Portsmouth. After leaving Portsmouth in 2014 Peter returned to Marlborough, deciding to find out more about local affairs, and becoming an independent councillor for the West Ward in 2017.
He's still trying to establish a telescope in the back garden, but, unfortunately travels & the garden are winning.
SHELLEY PARKER
Shelley was Town Clerk until March 2021, and a hard working secretary to the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group from its inception. No voting rights were associated with Shelley's role.
WILLIAM ROE
William Roe CEng FICE MAPM is the Director of Estates at Marlborough College and lives in Marlborough with his wife Stephanie with their three grown up children the youngest of which starts Sixth Form next year.
William is a Chartered Civil Engineer and qualified Project Manager with over 30 years’ experience working in the Building, Construction and Historic Building sectors and is responsible for the upkeep, repair and maintenance of Marlborough College’s extensive property portfolio, sports facilities, grounds and gardens.
DEBORAH SCHOFIELD
Deborah moved to Marlborough in 2017 and represents Transition Marlborough on the committee, and also co-ordinates Marlborough Permaculture Group. Transition Marlborough campaigns for sustainability in terms of how we live and interact with the environment, and is part of the Transition Towns movement. Transition Towns are about communities coming together to address the challenges they face and reimagine and rebuild our world.
Deborah did all sorts of jobs until running a homeless project proved a gamechanger and since then she has worked for charities such as Citizens Advice and Women's Aid, and managed support and accommodation services for vulnerable people. She has a post graduate diploma in Housing and Sustainable Communities and is particularly interested in good quality housing for all, and green spaces for both people and wildlife.
Peter Morgan and Sam Page