Jodie Chillery is one of two ward councillors for the newly-formed Fairfield and Arlesey electoral ward. She lives in Arlesey, ran as an Independent councillor in the local elections back in May, and stormed to victory with 895 votes – more than double those cast for either of the previous incumbents running in the same ward. She and our other new ward councillor, Nick Andrews, a Fairfield resident who ran for the Labour Party, represent a change in our local politics – both Fairfield and Arlesey had been returning Conservative candidates for at least the last twenty years prior to this election. FM’s Deborah Kane caught up with Jodie recently to see how she’s settling into her new role. 

This interview has been split into three parts. In Part One, we discussed Jodie’s background and why she stood for election; Part Two focused on what it’s like to be a councillor, how things work within Central Bedfordshire Council and some of the different departments and issues that Jodie has come across; and in Part Three, below, we move on to discuss communication and collaboration – including how to get more residents involved in local politics, and how the relationship between our two ward councillors works.

DK: I’d like to talk a little bit about how we can tap into skills and knowledge from across the community, because we do have some very highly educated and experienced people. And it feels like there are a lot of people who, if they were involved, could do amazing things at CBC or at the parish council… How do you get those people more involved? Because we’ve got two seats vacant on our parish council at the moment, and I think you’ve had one over on Arlesey Town Council, too… 

JC: Yeah, we’ve got one and we’ve got three people interested, actually, which is great, because it could have been a disaster. But it’s a really good question. I think sometimes people don’t want to get involved because they feel, “Well, I could be useful there but I can’t possibly take on the extra work.” Now, I couldn’t possibly take on the extra work either, but you do what you can and you make it work. Sometimes that might be difficult, but you find the area where your skillset is most useful and the areas that you’re most passionate about and focus on those. I was never going to join the audit committee, for example, but there’s other stuff I can do. So I think that probably somehow we need to encourage people… to actually approach people and say, Right, you’ve got a particular skill in this, and we want you to join the council to bring that skill – and while you’re here, you never know, you might find something else that you’re interested in… 

DK: Once they’re in they get hooked and find something else that needs their input? 

JC: And realise that it’s not the drain on their time that they thought it would be – or if it is they can just leave. I went to an open evening at my son’s school recently, and his teacher said they’re trying to encourage everyone to join at least one club either at lunchtime or after school. The idea is that if you go to drama club you might find that you like it and then you might want to choose it as an option for GCSE – or you might decide that you don’t really like it very much, and that’s just as useful because you know that you won’t want to choose it. And I came home and thought, You know, that’s a bit like the council and committees! It’s a bit like, OK, join one thing, see if you like it. If you don’t like it or you’re no good at it, it doesn’t matter. But, you know, there isn’t a teacher wandering around Fairfield saying to all the adults, “Join a club, doesn’t matter which club, just give something a go and see if you like it”… 

DK: That’s quite a nice way of looking at it. Everyone absolutely should get involved in something within their community – that’s a positive thing to do for the community and for yourself. And if we had the mindset that we should all do something, then the argument about not having time falls away. Then it’s just about choosing what to get involved in.

JC: The time thing definitely comes up a lot. Often these things attract older people because they’ve got the time. But I don’t think that’s a valid excuse for working people with families to not do something, because if you’re passionate about something you will find the time. And it’s amazing how once you’ve done a few inductions – and there is a bit of legwork at the beginning to get your head around how the system works and that kind of thing – but once you’ve done that, you can pare back quite a lot and then just contribute what you need to contribute. 

DK: Another reason people sometimes give for not getting involved is that it feels like a closed group that’s difficult to break into. Even though the council and all the other volunteer organisations we have in Fairfield regularly put messages out trying to encourage new volunteers.

JC: That’s interesting. In Arlesey there is a conservation group, who for years have been crying out for more members because their members are older – and they’re all still really passionate and kind of brilliant at the lobbying, but when it comes to the physical work they can’t really do it any more. I’ve been in touch with them for a few years about different things and I went to one of their committee meetings recently, and spoke about how I felt that we can work together to improve things. There are conservation projects that we can get involved in and the council can help, we need to rebuild that relationship… and one of the things that came out of it was a suggestion that we need to ask residents to do really simple things. So like when the footpaths are overgrown, let’s ask residents to report it to the conservation group and the conservation group can report it to the council. Because people don’t like reporting things direct the council, but they do like to have an excuse for a chat with Jimmy down the road, who happens to be a member of the conservation group. So they put this call out and they’ve been inundated with people saying, Yeah, I walk my dog down this footpath every day, yeah, sure, I’ll let you know… 

DK: Of course they have, because you’re talking to a person, rather than just throwing an email into a void. And they’ve asked you to, so what might be considered a moan gets rebranded as something helpful!

JC: Yeah! And now suddenly there’s a bit of community spirit around it. So sometimes, it might not be that people have to join the council, it’s just about identifying one thing that you can help with, and it doesn’t take any time because you’re there anyway. We need more of that! 

DK: It sounds simple when you put it like that, but coming up with the small jobs and then actually connecting with the people who are happy to do them can be quite hard…

JC: Yeah, we need people to come up with the ideas and connect with people. Like, I know there were 700 people who came to the Fairfield Apple Day – and how brilliant is that – and then the team that runs the Apple Day is like three people. You know, they could probably do with more! And they need people who would take on a bit more responsibility but they also need people who will say, actually I don’t want any responsibility but I will man this stall or I will make a poster, or… one job! You give someone something that is almost no extra responsibility, and then they make friends with the person they’re reporting to, and it’s almost a bit social, dare I say! And that’s what a community’s about.

DK: That’s how the whole thing was set up in the first place in Fairfield – it was a group of friends, who thought, Something needs doing, let’s do it. But it’s relatively easy to pull in people you know, it’s much harder to drum up support among strangers. And that’s why a lot of the committees have the same people on them – which is really frowned upon, of course, because it’s not healthy. 

JC: It’s not healthy, and also what you get is you get cliques, and you get people feeling alienated…

DK: Which is another reason why you don’t get many new volunteers! So it’s great that you’ve bucked those stereotypes and put yourself out there – you’re setting a really good example. And you’ve gone straight up to the big one, too…

JC: Yeah I did worry about that. I did think should I have got involved in the town council first, but actually what I’m learning is that the town council and the parish council are responsible for, what, cutting the grass, the community centre…

DK: There’s not too much that actually needs doing. In Fairfield there’s not even much grass cutting – that’s all done by the grounds management companies. It’s more of an opportunity to make improvements rather than a massive set of chores to be doled out.

JC: Exactly. And they get frustrated because they feel like “Nobody at CBC listens to us” or “We don’t know who to go to”… so actually I feel like we as ward councillors can empower the town and parish councillors a bit better by being that communication conduit – I hope. At the moment I’m quite enjoying all of that. I’m feeling quite positive, like we can influence positive change, but I’m definitely not a career politician. The more I see how the politics works, the more I feel that it’s all a big theatre! I must however apologise that I’ve missed a couple of FPC meetings as I’m away a lot with work at the moment, but I do always send my report in to them! 

DK: Oh it so is a big theatre, but you don’t have to buy into it. The less showy politicians can be effective at bringing about change too – if you build the right relationships and understand the system.

JC: Yes, and that’s something I can do. My big mantra has been: Tell people what’s going on, and tell people what the limitations of my capabilities are. I think people like to blame the council as this big faceless entity and I think that’s quite dangerous, because it absolves everybody of any personal responsibility, and actually you can take some things on yourself. People come and say to me, There’s this problem and that problem, what are you going to do about it? And I have to say, Well, I’m not a road builder – or whatever – but here’s the name of the person who is, and you are very welcome to speak to them and get the information direct. And then it’s quite interesting to see which people do then take responsibility and which ones can’t be bothered… Because, well, if you can’t be bothered to look after your own patch…

DK: And sometimes you do need weight of numbers – so as much as you are on the inside and you can help to push things, you do need enough people to report the same problem before anyone’s going to make it a priority.

JC: That’s exactly true. I’ve often said to people, Look, I’ve reported it and I’ve spoken to the officer, but please can you report it too, because then we’ll go up the priority list! And sometimes people will say to me, Oh, I didn’t realise I could. Yeah, of course you can – the council is here to serve you! I think maybe the council could do better at that… making sure that people know how to report things and can get through to the right people. Historically there have been complaints that people will phone up and they don’t get an answer. And that needs to be better – that’s basic, really. So I think there are times when people do know how to report something but they will come to me because it’s easier to get hold of me. 

DK: Do you feel a bit like you’re on call – that people expect a response from you really quickly? 

JC: In the beginning I definitely did. I think now I’m very much like, This isn’t a job. I can’t do this every minute of every day. I’m held accountable by the residents, and I think the least I can do is respond to them perhaps within three days. Sometimes they might have a really urgent situation where I do need to respond quicker, but for my own sanity, and actually to be effective, I’ve had to get rid of that feeling of being on call. 

DK: You can’t be too reactive, can you? You’ve got to be able to sit back and see the bigger picture, and prioritise…

JC: Yes, and you’ve also got to be able to recognise the right response. Like, when there was a traffic light that was stuck on red at 7 o’clock on a Friday night and the traffic was building up and whatever… and somebody actually knocked on my door…

DK: Expecting you to go out and direct traffic?!

JC: I was like, Oh, this is not what I was expecting! So I didn’t rush out and direct traffic, but I went on the CBC website, found the out of hours emergency number and phoned it myself. I didn’t even say it was Councillor Chillery, I just reported it. And they said, Yep, sure, we’ll send someone out, they’ll be there within half an hour. So then I was able to put that on Facebook – I’ve done this. And I also added, You could have all done this too! 

DK: Haha! But it’s that idea of people not knowing how it works. If you put it into another context it’s ridiculous – imagine thinking you had to find a doctor before you could call an ambulance. The whole point is that anyone can do it!

JC: But that’s fine. I don’t mind making a phonecall, and I don’t mind being called on when a resident’s in an emergency situation. But, yeah, if somebody’s writing to me to tell me that their road is in a terrible condition, I don’t need to get back to them immediately on that. It’s better for me to go away and take some time to find out what’s actually going on in that road – is it in the annual highways plan, is there budget for it or are you going to have to wait a bit longer, or has it already been marked up and it’s going to be done? So I can spend two days finding that out and get back to them and I don’t think that’s unreasonable. 

DK: I think two days is incredibly quick, actually. 

JC: There is a rule… I don’t know whether this is a CBC thing or a national thing, but if a councillor asks an officer a question, they’re supposed to get a response within three days. After that it’s considered that they’ve had long enough and you can chase. So I think that’s quite a good rule for me to use with residents too – it feels like that’s long enough to have bothered to try and find out the answer, if there is an answer. Sometimes you can’t respond right away. I’m at work most of the time. And you make a rod for your own back if you always respond immediately because then everyone expects you to respond immediately!

DK: Yeah, you don’t want to be known as the one who always responds within half an hour! Speaking of which, we should just reiterate that you’re not the only ward councillor for Arlesey and Fairfield, we also have Nick Andrews, who lives in Fairfield and has recently resigned as chair of Fairfield Parish Council.

JC: Yes – Nick Andrews and I, almost from day one, like, literally at the count, it was quite funny, we discovered that we’re both Arsenal season ticket holders, so we bonded over that! And we sort of almost immediately had a conversation about trying to work together in the interest of the residents and be collaborative and share information and I think we’ve done really well at that. I’m really pleased at how that’s working out so far. 

DK: It’s quite neat, isn’t it, that the ward is Arlesey and Fairfield and we have one councillor in each, so there’s an obvious division of responsibility but you can also work together and back each other up.

JC: I think that’s really great actually, because he knows – especially because he’s been on the parish council – he knows the detail of the issues, but I can come in with a different perspective and ask questions. And also we’ve got quite different backgrounds. So, for example he didn’t know much about how schools work, and he talked to me about that and what I think about schools – and has now gone round and met all the schools and taken that conversation to them. So we can complement each other, which is nice. And we’re both new, so we’re on our learning journey together… we can take notes for each other and back each other up. 

DK: But also there’s no hierarchy between you because you’re both new. So you didn’t come in under somebody else who’s been there for 20 years and feel like you’ve just got to do what they say. That’s quite healthy as well. 

JC: Yeah and we’ve both tried to attend each other’s parish and town meetings as well. And it’s good for the residents too because they can look at us and think, we’ve got two quite different people here – but they talk to each other!

DK: So you get the benefit of both! It all sounds very positive from where I’m sitting. Good luck going forward, and thank you so much for talking to me today. 

JC: Thank you!

Deborah Kane is a regular contributor to Fairfield Matters.
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