Not long after being elected, I really wanted to make sure that I was connecting with community groups across all North East Lincolnshire. Not all of the wards are Conservative, so people can maybe be a bit suspicious of having a Conservative MP and whether or not I’m going to be able to help them. At the moment, East Marsh has all liberal councillors, but there are community groups who are trying to achieve things and the reason I wanted to be elected as an MP was to make positive, substantial changes.
We all know that East Marsh is probably the most deprived area in Great Grimsby, so I wanted to meet with East Marsh United to see what I could do to help. I met with Jonathan Goolden from the Enrolled Freemen of Grimsby and Billy Dasein from East Marsh United to talk about what their issues and aims were and what I can do to assist them as the MP for the area.
What they’re trying to do is regenerate East Marsh. Naturally, regeneration can mean all sorts of different things to different people, so what we’re beginning to do is to create a survey to ask the residents of East Marsh what they want to see improved in the area. We’ll be looking at how we can have properly sustainable regeneration for East Marsh, because regeneration is more than making a few buildings look nice. It’s got to be about changing people’s lives for better.
This early meeting has now progressed into a long-term project and from here we’re moving on positively with it.
