ARDENT campaigner Holly Greenberry-Pullen will be using all her experience and skills to get a better deal for the people of West Devon after being elected to the borough council.

The businesswoman and single mother of two from Princetown says it’s an “absolute privilege” to be voted in as the new Lib Dem councillor for Tavistock North on West Devon Borough Council, joining Independents Cllr Ursula Mann and Cllr Jeff Moody.

She won 28 per cent of the votes at the by-election last Thursday, followed in second place by the Conservatives (25 per cent), then the Greens (21 per cent) and finally Labour (14 per cent).

Cllr Greenberry-Pullen replaces Lib Dem Peter Squire who resigned from the council in March.

The council is controlled by a coalition called the West Devon Alliance made up of Independent, Liberal Democrat, Green and Labour councillors. They now have 20 members and the Conservatives make up the rest of the council with 11 members.

The newest councillor is an award-winning activist for LGBT and celebrated human rights campaigner having been recognised in the Amnesty International Suffragette Spirit Map’s top 100.

She has a degree and background in environmental services and has fought hard for more funding for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Devon.

In West Devon she will be trying to get better access to healthcare and hopes to  improve waterways by holding South West Water to account through the planning process.

She says the sewage infrastructure should be ungraded when permission is given for new estates so there is less likelihood of more pollution from storm overflows.

She said listening to people on the doorstep it was clear that the cost of living crisis was still having a massive impact and people wanted potholes fixing, which was something she would be lobbying Devon County Council for.

Cllr Greenberry-Pullen, who is standing as a Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport in the general election, also wants everyone to have a decent home to live in.

She said the quality of social housing needed to improve: “Everyone deserves to be given a good quality home that meets their basic needs, which is dry and free from damp.

“There need to  be more affordable housing which is sustainable and environmentally friendly. Many countries in Europe are able to deliver this, there needs to be a massive redress in this country.”

The councillor wants traders to pay less in rent and rates so they can keep their goods at a price people can afford.

“People are struggling, the businesses and the customers. Disposable income is not a thing anymore, people are just surviving.”

The poll results for Tavistock North were as follows: Holly Greenbury-Pullen, Liberal Democrats, 387 votes (elected); Judy Ann Hughes, Local Conservatives, 348 votes; Sara Louise Wood, Green Party, 289 votes; Uwem Eno Udo, Labour Party, 195 votes; Michael Fife Cook, Independent, 160 votes. Turnout was 33.78 per cent.

By Alison Stephenson