Thursday 24th March 2011
Cllr Ray Russell, Leader of Chesterfield Borough Council is a quietly spoken man, but one who is very vocal about Chesterfield and what he believes it should be.
 He began life a councillor in 1987 as a back bencher after 'retiring' from his previous job as Headteacher.
Leader of the Council since 2003, he says it's a humbling position and a title of which he is very proud.
Originally from down south he came to Chesterfield 40 years ago, only intending to stay a short while. Jokingly he adds, "I'm still here!"
His council role is important to him and one he relishes as, "I love Chesterfield and want to do things for the town and the local area. I was interested in local issues, and this way I can influence things in the town. It's also a challenging job and one I have to be elected for. I never take that for granted."
He told us why he's proud of what he does, "In 2003, our vision was that Chesterfield had a lot of potential that wasn’t being realised - lots of facilities but many in poor condition and needing investment, parts of the infrastructure needed investment. For instance, the coach station was dilapidated and there were lots of derelict areas around.
"The previous council had done lots of good works, but there were things that weren't getting done. We had inherited a budget that had solid capital reserves but the yearly budget was out of kilter, so we had to make it work as a priority."
His philosophy is simple, "Town is not the councils, it's a big player in the town but so are lots of other groups, so we all need to work together as much as possible and that's a good way of making progress. I have tried to forge links and relationships between businesses and other partners and find money to improve facilities and services, along with reducing the amount that residents have to pay."
We asked Ray what were his proudest achievements. He didn't think twice before answering, "Over the last 8 years, we've built a new coach station, the new healthy living centre and we've tried to improve the cleanliness in the town. Protecting the Market has also been a priority, it's very important in the town. It's about finding the balance between tourists and the people who live here.
"Regeneration is a huge issue for us and another source of pride. It's not been an easy ride though. We've had to work hard, there were 61 derelict areas in the town. We've been fortunate to attract grants to get old buildings restored - 15 buildings so far have now been given grants to restore themselves to the old style. There is still lots to do though.
"We've seen a new football stadium and a rugby one being built now, the CASA hotel too. When the private sector developers have confidence in the council they put money in.
"There are some huge developments coming up - The Waterside is a huge asset to town, it's been slowred down by the recession, but we're hopeful that the bid for £12m from the Regional Development Fund will be successful and that will mean the next stage can get going, the linking of the canal basin to the first block, shops and offices. Chatsworth Road is a huge success story too; it's fast becoming the buzz place to go."
With the elections looming, Ray has taken time to think about what needs to come next in the town, Green issues are personally important to him. After hearing the council described as a 'flagship' by Minister Chris Huhne, he is keen to continue to drive the environmental agenda further.
He explains, "We have set a good example in our own buildings and that's now transferring to private sector. We now need to get public to do their bit so we have a greener town. We have a good reputation for being a council for setting the pace on this. Developers like Barratts have come on board. Their development on Derby Road was the first in the country to have solar panels.
"We require developers to generate a degree of energy by renewable means, we can now point to other developers and say, 'they've done it, how about you?'
"The big thing to focus on is getting the budget to balance. We've taken some big hits, the £3.2m concessionary fares debacle, and we needed to find savings every year for the last 8 years. We have to balance it and find investment which means looking at new ways of delivering services.
"We also need to modernise service delivery, work with the private sector, and make savings; the practice of including the private sector in waste collection service saved us £200,000 a year, the golf course was losing around £100,000 a year, working with the private sector has meant that tax payers now get paid £130,000 from it.
"Private Public Partnership is a new thing for us too. We've teamed up with Kier and Avata to save 200 jobs and get £400,000 for the taxpayer. Jobs will stay in Chesterfield."
Ray is also emphatic that retail and cultural development is important to the town and has firm ideas on how that could develop, "We need to attract shops like Debenhams to the town, we've had research done and we know that shops like that will come if the conditions are right. They'll come with the development of Holywell Cross and the Northern Gateway Development.
"We want to encourage independent shops too. Many of the facilities in the town need an upgrade, The Queens Park Leisure Centre, Pomegranate and Winding Wheel are all in need of massive subsidies.
"We're trying to get a company interested in managing Queen's Park to offer expertise and invest money to give it buying power. However the centre will stay in council ownership, just be leased out for 10 years to be invested in. Ratepayers currently subsidise this by £1m a year - we need to reduce that."
Other facilities are safe too, "The Musuem is in council ownership, but investment through arts council grants will facilitate phase 2 developments. We want to continue to manage the Pomegranate and Winding Wheel ourselves.
Although the political climate is uncertain Ray is hopeful for the future. "Elections are so important because it's a chance for different visions of how town should be debated, we want to get on with it. It's really important to vote, people need to express the view and go for the choice. It's equally important that people vote on local issues, look what's happened to the town in the last 8 years, if you think we're going the wrong way, then tell us.
"However support us if you look at what we've done and think it's right. Express your view. If you don't, you may not get what you want."
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