A county councillor has received national recognition for ensuring his constituents are updated online.
Staffordshire County Council cabinet member for adults and wellbeing and member for Lichfield Rural East, Matthew Ellis, was Highly Commended at the Local Government Information Unit awards in London.
Cllr Ellis manages and maintains his website which attracts between 36,000 and 40,000 hits a month. He represents 13,500 people living in a large area and the website gives them an easy means to have their say on local issues.
People have been able to become actively involved in a number of high profile issues through his site. These have included proposals for quarrying expansion in 2008, wind farm applications in 2009 and the proposed high speed rail link in 2010. The website has received praise for being easy to use with relevant links to other sites.
County Councillor Ellis said:
“It’s very important to keep people engaged in local politics as these are issues affecting them on a daily basis. These can be controversial matters and that’s why it’s vital that residents are involved and updated regularly. I aim through my website to demystify local politics and I welcome different views and comments.
“I hope this demonstrates that local politics can be open and informative and I’m pleased to have been recognised by the judges.”
