The Chosen One Has Been Found

In a month’s time Folkestone & Hythe District Council will welcome into its ranks a new Director of Place. They will receive up to £116,000 with a relocation package if applicable.

Now the interviews are long over and the decision made, we can inform you the residents of Folkestone & Hythe District, Ewan Green (pictured)  currently Corporate Director – Planning & Regeneration Services at Tendring District Council, (main town – Clacton-on-Sea) is the chosen one for the position of Director of Place at Folkestone & Hythe District Council.

According to Tendring District Council’s statement of accounts 2018/19, Ewan’s salary in 2018/19, excluding Pension Contributions was £83,074. So Ewan’s salary will grow by 40% once he moves to the District.

So the interview panel believed that Ewan has the vision, energy, creativity and enthusiasm along with an innovative growth-orientated approach to place-shaping for our district.

Ewan will NOT be taking on the s151 Officer role – the person responsible for the Council’s finance. That job has gone to Charlotte Spendley. Nor will he be taking on Housing & Operations as that has gone to Andy Blaszkowicz, Director of Housing & Operations.

So two out of the three responsibilities set out in the Penna Candidate Briefing Pack  who advertised the role for FHDC – have been chopped from Ewan’s responsibilities meaning he will:

•  Provide clear leadership and strategic direction that are in line with Council ambitions with particular focus on delivering excellent customer service across a range of service delivery areas.

• Lead on the implementation of major initiatives which will improve the District as a place to live, work and visit, including the Otterpool Park garden town and the future regeneration of Folkestone town centre.

• To ensure effective networking and collaborative working with a range of external partners including Creative Folkestone and Kent County Council.

• To ensure the effective delivery of the following services:

• Development Management,

• Building Control,

• Customer Services,

• Case Management (Service Delivery),

• Revenues & Benefits,

• Licensing, o Environmental Health,

• Strategic Housing,

• Waste,

• Economic Development.

So where before we had just two corporate directors under the Head of Paid Service, Dr Susan Priest, we will as of April 2020 have five. These are:

• John “Buy Me A Car” Bunnett – Director for Otterpool Park.

• Tim Madden – Director, Organisational Change.

• Charlotte Spendley Director of Corporate Services & S151 Officer

• Andy Blaszkowicz, Director of Housing & Operations.

• Ewan Green Corporate Director of Place – as of April 2020

So we welcome Ewan before his arrival and ask him to peruse the Shepwayvox website at his leisure so he get up to speed on the colleagues he’ll be working with.

Meanwhile, if there’s anyone out there who knows anything about the chosen one’s time in local government that we ought to know about, do drop us a line at shepwayvox[at]riseup[dot]net.

The Shepwayvox Team

Dissent is NOT a Crime