Source: https://www.witley-pc.gov.uk/who-are-we/the-councillors
Read: 2026-11-04
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The Councillors | Witley & Milford Parish Council
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Councillors
Witley & Milford Parish Council is currently comprised of 15 councillors, with one vacancy. 11 councillors were were elected by the parishioners in the 2023 local elections, two have since been co-opted onto the Council. They serve for a term of four years, until 2027.
Cllr Marie Barnwell
Milford
Cllr Maxine Gale
Witley East
Vacancy
Milford
Cllr Francis Groves
Milford
Cllr Graham Hewett
Milford
Cllr Barbara Kinnes
Witley East
Cllr David Latimer
Milford
Cllr Robin Lucas
Milford
Cllr Louise Mills
Witley West
Cllr Scott Pepe
Witley East
Cllr Jim Pettitt
Witley East
Cllr Liz Simmons
Milford
Cllr Tony Sollars
Witley East
Councillor Marie Barnwell
Read Councillor's Declaration of Interest
Marie and her family moved to Godalming in 1986 and her son attended local schools and Godalming College. Marie took an active role in the local National Childbirth Trust and was Chair of three Parent/Teacher Associations. She has been living in Milford since 2013 and knows the areas surrounding Milford and Witley well.
Having initially worked for IBM, Marie followed a career in information technology, involving the project management and introduction of office automation within large commercial business. Having taken a career break to have her son, she returned to work on a part-time basis, taking contracts with the NHS to develop new services and create new patient care pathways within hospital and dental settings. From there she moved into senior management roles with the Department of Health, managing regional teams who had responsibility for assessing and making improvements for the delivery of services within Public Health, across the NHS and local Councils.
Upon retirement Marie undertook a full-time course in Floristry at Merrist Wood and as a result of that training, has decorated many churches and venues within the area for weddings and special occasions. Her volunteer roles include working at G-Live, the National Trust and for Surrey Care Trust, mentoring young children through difficult times within the secondary school environment.
Marie’s hobbies include cycling, walking, gardening, flower arranging, reading and travelling.
Email
:
Role
: Councillor, Witley Charitable Trust Council Trustee (Council appointed)
Ward
: Milford
Committees/Groups
: Planning & Highways, Staffing
Councillor Maxine Gale
Maxine’s family moved to Witley in 1921 and she was born in her grandparents’ house just off Culmer Lane. She attended Milford Infants, Milford Juniors and Rodborough School. Maxine lived in Milford from aged 2 to 10 and has lived in the same house in Witley ever since. Maxine owns and runs two companies based in Witley with her husband and a small staff of local residents.
Maxine became a Parish Councillor in 1999 after representing her neighbourhood over some minor issues with a piece of Parish Council land. One Councillor at the time said she was “Poacher” turned “Game Keeper”, but she became so interested in how Councils work she decided to join, to help the villages of Milford and Witley where she could, rising to the heady height of Chairman for a number of years.
Maxine became the Independent Waverley Borough Councillor for Milford Ward in 2020 working very closely with her colleagues at the Parish Council to bring Witley, Milford, Brook and the surrounding hamlets to the fore in discussions at Borough level, especially on planning and highways topics.
Email
:
Role
: Councillor, Chair of the Council, Council representative for Burton Pavilion, Surrey Association of Local Councils, Waverley Joint Towns & Parishes
Ward
: Witley East
Committees/Groups
: Amenities & Environment, Planning & Highways
Read Councillor's Declaration of Interest
Councillor Julie Grist
Read Councillor's Declaration of Interest
Julie has lived in Witley for 28 years and has been a Parish Councillor for 19. She has been the Chair of Witley Charitable Trust and is currently the Chair of the Witley and Milford Patient Participation Group, so she is never bored. Julie is a librarian and took early retirement in 2000 from Westminster Libraries where she ran the Home Library Service for 30 years. She feels very lucky to have found her niche quite by chance.
Julie’s late husband had two sons and she now has five step granddaughters and five step great grandchildren – a lot of people to keep track of. Her hobbies are gardening, jigsaws, reading and last but not least, holidays.
Email
:
Role
: Councillor, Chair of Staffing, Lead Member for Witley and Allotments
Ward
: Milford
Committees/Groups
: Amenities & Environment, Finance & General Purposes, Staffing
Councillor Francis Groves
Francis has lived in Milford since 1998. Most of his working life was in business to business customer service for news media and professional publishers, including the Financial Times and Reuters. Subsequently, he spent 12 years researching and writing on financial topics.
Francis is a member of the United Church in Godalming and enjoys walking and archaeology. He became a parish councillor in 2019.
Email
:
Role
: Councillor, Vice-Chair of Amenities & Environment, Lead Member for Jubilee Field and Amberley Road Play Area
Ward
: Milford
Committees/Groups
: Amenities & Environment, Finance & General Purposes
Read Councillor's Declaration of Interest
Councillor Graham Hewett
Graham has lived with his family in Milford for more than forty years and has been a parish councillor for over ten of those. The first half of his career was spent as a senior civil servant in charge of various nationalised industries and the transport aspects of local planning. Subsequently, he became the Director of Strategic Planning for British Railways and more recently a consultant advising European governments and banks on privatisation and the financing of transport projects. In retirement, he has continued his interests in architecture, music and foreign travel.
Email
:
Role
: Councillor, Chair of Finance & General Purposes, Lead Member for Milford, Moushill Green and Cherry Trees
Ward
: Milford
Committees/Groups
: Amenities & Environment, Finance & General Purposes, Planning & Highways, Staffing
Read Councillor's Declaration of Interest
Councillor Barbara Kinnes
Barbara moved to Witley in 2003 after 30 years living in Guildford where she taught in various secondary schools and was for a time Chairman of Governors at Guildford County School. She has been a councillor for over 10 years and has served on various committees.
Barbara has three children and seven grandchildren, all of whom live in the Surrey area. She does part-time work as an examiner, is a keen cook and gardener and enjoys walking with her dog and reading.
Email
:
Role
: Councillor, Lead Member for The Pleck, Footpaths and Walks on the Web
Ward
: Witley East
Committees/Groups
: Amenities & Environment, Finance & General Purposes, Planning & Highways.
Read Councillor's Declaration of Interest
Councillor David Latimer
Bio coming soon….
Email
:
Role
: Councillor
Ward
: Milford
Committees/Groups
: Amenities & Environment, Finance & General Purposes.
Read Councillor's Declaration of Interest
Councillor Robin Lucas
Robin has lived in the Godalming area for over 40 years. He is married to Clare, and has two children and six grandchildren. Robin is a retired Lloyds Broker although he still has a few non-executive directorships to keep him busy.
Robin’s interests are flying, shooting, scuba diving and golf (West Surrey), and of course family.
Email
:
Role
: Councillor, Vice Chair of Planning & Highways,
Council representative for Milford Village Hall
Ward
: Milford
Committees/Groups
: Finance & General Purposes, Planning & Highways
Read Councillor's Declaration of Interest
Councillor Louise Mills
Louise is married with one child and moved to Witley from London in 2006. Taking an interest in the local area she became a parish councillor in 2011. Louise started her career in fashion having taken a course at the London College of Fashion and The Royal Academy of Art. Taking a break to start a family abroad she then returned to work and entered the world of PR which included 8 years of Government research. Her last posting was working with a Venture Capital company until she retired. Her interests since retiring are art, foreign travel, and socialising.
Email
:
Role
: Councillor, Lead Member for Brook, Sandhills and Wormley
Ward
: Witley West
Committees/Groups
: Amenities & Environment, Planning & Highways
Read Councillor's Declaration of Interest
Councillor Scott Pepe
Scott lives in Witley and has lived in the area for almost his entire life. He attended Milford, Chandler and Rodborough Schools and Godalming College. He attends Witley Church and is a member of the Witley Parochial Church Council. He is also a local poppy seller for the Royal British Legion.
Scott’s hobbies include cricket, walking, cooking, aviation and enjoying our area’s fantastic pubs. He has a particular interest in food, farming and the environment.
Email
:
Role
: Councillor, Lead Member for Enton, Robertson’s Green & the Community Rail Partnership
Ward
: Witley East
Committees/Groups
: Amenities & Environment, Planning & Highways
Read Councillor's Declaration of Interest
Councillor Jim Pettitt
Jim and his wife, Angela, moved to Witley from Shalford in recent years; his family including three grandchildren also live in the area. Jim is a Chartered Civil Engineer by profession and retired from a career in local government where he headed up a Highways and Engineering department before spending semi-retirement as the Highways Officer in a local authority planning department. Jim has previously been involved with other voluntary work including Chair of Governors for a comprehensive school in Guildford and the Guildford Forum for the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
His interests include music, family history, travel and exploring the variety of footpaths and open space that are available from our doorstep.
Email
:
Role
: Councillor, Chair of Planning & Highways, Lead Member for Highways, Sunnyhill Play Area and Land at Chichester Close
Ward
: Witley East
Committees/Groups
: Planning & Highways, Staffing
Read Councillor's Declaration of Interest
Councillor Liz Simmons
Read Councillor's Declaration of Interest
Liz has lived in Milford with her family for 28 years. She has three children who have all attended local schools from Milford Infants to Godalming and Guildford Colleges. She has worked in school business management in Surrey for the last 22 years with experience in children’s centres, infant, primary and secondary education, latterly as Business Director and Chief Financial Officer of a larger school trust before recently retiring. Her roles included a wide range of business practice including HR, premises management, finance, risk, governance and health and safety.
Liz has previously been active in the local girl guiding community as a senior section leader, Hambledon District and Haslemere Division Commissioner. She has also been a governor of St Dominic’s School and the larger Surrey hub of schools within the Orchard Hill College Academy Trust.
Liz enjoys gardening in her spare time and has an allotment at Redgate Farm in Milford. She has three dogs that she walks in the local countryside and is an active member of a range of local groups including U3A and Milford Horticultural Society.
Email
:
Role
: Councillor, Vice-Chair of Finance & General Purposes
Ward
: Milford
Committees/Groups
: Finance & General Purposes, Staffing
Councillor Tony Sollars
Read Councillor's Declaration of Interest
Tony has lived in Witley since 1999 after growing up in a similar small Surrey village. He has been working in IT doing consultancy/software development for 30 years across a number of sectors, and is currently working for a Travel firm.
Tony is involved in running a roller hockey club based in Farnham, and is a season ticket holder at AFC Wimbledon. He can often be found walking his dog on the many beautiful commons we have locally.
Email:
Role:
Councillor, Vice-Chair of the Council, Chair of Amenities & Environment, Lead Member for Witley Recreation Ground, representative for Chichester Hall
Ward:
Witley East
Committees/Groups:
Amenities & Environment, Finance & General Purposes
Read Councillor's Declaration of Interest
Councillor Registers of Interest
To view a councillor's register of interest, please click on the relevant file below:
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