James Rixon for Histon and Impington

James Rixon

Liberal Democrat candidate for Histon and Impington ward, South Cambridgeshire District Council by-election to be held on 24th October

Fighting for local causes

James lives with his wife and two children in Histon and he has thrown himself into village life.

James is passionate about improving the built environment. He runs an architectural consultancy in Cambridge that works with local charities and other organisations on decarbonisation and retrofit strategies.

He is a founding co-director of the community not-for-profit Cambridge Retrofit Hub, tasked with decarbonising homes in Cambridgeshire to make them warmer, healthier and cheaper to run. You can often find James on a Saturday morning at the Histon farmers market on the HI Sustainability stall.

James got involved in local politics whilst working to resolve issues of flooding experienced by himself and other Histon residents caused by the building of the new primary school. The impact of the flooding on neighbours appalled him, and the council wasn't taking the necessary measures to fix the problem. James coordinated the residents and worked with the council and got them to concede that the construction of the school was impacting the residents of Garden Walk and to take steps to rectify the problem.

A keen runner, James recognises the importance of green spaces on our health and wellbeing. James understands the challenges of development and delivering the facilities that our vibrant communities need, and how properly thought out planning is essential to improve the environment we live in, while providing access to nature and maximising biodiversity.

As a councillor James will build on Pippa Heylings’ strong legacy and work to advance policies that meet the needs of residents while enabling our communities to be green and sustainable. His understanding of residents’ needs and his experience of planning law and regulations and working with councils will be invaluable.

James will stand up for local residents and will be a strong local champion for our area.

Championing green and sustainable communities

Running through James’ core is a belief that we should all be able to live in homes that are cheap to run, that provide healthy living conditions and which are environmentally friendly.

The communities where our homes’ lie also need to adapt to a changing world; with thriving local high streets and businesses, local sport, nature and recreational facilities and a public transport system fit for the 21st century which gives everyone access to the world-class employment opportunities of the Greater Cambridge area.

Green and sustainable communities mean energy efficient homes, clean electricity, low carbon transport, proximity to local jobs, good public transport and accessible social connections and networks.

It is this ambitious but deliverable vision James will bring to the District Council. James will work with our local MPs to campaign nationally for a framework to deliver low energy homes.

Working for better GP and dentist services

Like many other families, James has been unable to access NHS dentists. He says “it is wrong that new towns are being built without essential NHS services. It puts unacceptable strain on services in neighbouring communities”.

Working with local MPs James is calling on the government to change its approach to how it manages NHS service in areas of growth. Every new town needs an NHS dentist right from the start and GP surgeries must be funded to meet demand as the population grows. An NHS dentist in neighbouring Darwin Green would open up access to residents across Histon, Impington and Orchard Park.

Improving our recreation facilities

Histon, Impington and Orchard Park all struggle to provide recreation spaces for older children. Once you're too old for a playground there are very few public spaces available for young people.

James recognises the challenge of finding the right space for new facilities. He will work with local landowners and community groups to deliver new facilities and improve spaces. Visiting the celebration to open the transformed Topper Street community space, James commented “although change can be difficult, by redesigning this space it has become far more versatile, with areas which can be used in different ways by different people simultaneously”.