Councillor Julie Matthews welcomes the new look County Voice

As we launch the new look e-newsletter for residents, County Voice had a chat with Cllr Julie Matthews, Deputy Leader of the Council and and Lead member for Corporate Strategy, Policy, Equalities and Strategic Assets

What are your responsibilities as Cabinet Lead Member?

My role is all about the overall performance and running of the Council. I suppose that a lot of the corporate side is what people don’t see, for example HR, health and safety, legal and democratic services, procurement, ICT, communications and asset management. But without all of these services, in reality, the Council itself wouldn’t be able to operate.

As well as these internal council services, I’m also responsible for the wellbeing and future generations act, equality and diversity, training and development for Council members and I’m the Armed Services Champion.

One of the things I’m most passionate about is equality and diversity as this is my professional background. I used to work for a gender equality charity before I became a Councillor, so this is particularly important to me. The charity was all about development opportunities for women to ensure they could get into leadership roles and giving them confidence in themselves to achieve.

Prior to that, I worked at the benefits agency in Rhyl and became a Union representative. As part of that role, I used to train staff which subsequently led me into the field of adult education. I ended up being a programme manager in a college in Solihull looking after management, professional and trade union studies.

What made you become a Councillor?

Like lots of people, during Covid we experienced quite a difficult time. I became a carer for my mum after we lost my younger brother who had been living with her. As a result, we needed a lot of extra support, but this was at a time when it proved challenging to secure.

Having had first-hand experience of council services made me think about how important it is that public services are not only high quality but also accessible and serve the needs of the community.

Looking back, it was a very frustrating time and from our experience, it could have been better. At least my mum had us, but it made me think about what happens to people who don’t have that level of support.

And that’s why I decided to become a Councillor. I could have just sat back, but it was important to do something to try to make a difference and give everyone a chance to live the best life they can.

It’s a difficult role, and you can become quite defensive when you see negative things in the press because you come into this role to make a difference and to try help as many people as possible.

I do think it would be a great experience for anyone. As a councillor, clearly, we’re responsible for holding people to account, but what we also see is the work that staff do and how much they care about what they do – it is an eye opener.

What do you love about Denbighshire?

Sometimes you don’t realise how much you like a place until you move. And that’s what happened to me when I went to Solihull. Luckily, with a teaching job, I could come back to stay frequently with my mum and I kept in touch with all my friends.

I think the people in Denbighshire are great and as a location, it’s so much calmer and quieter than the city. We’re so fortunate – we have fabulous beaches but we can also be in the middle of the countryside within half an hour. We’ve got this amazing scenery on our doorstep – which is something we can sometimes take for granted.

When I was made redundant in Solihull, I know I could have found another job there, but I didn’t even think about staying – I wanted to come home.

What’s coming up in the Council that you’re looking forward to?

I’m really looking forward to the opening of Queen’s Market in Rhyl – it’s been a long time coming, but I’m certain it’s going to be worth the wait. We had a tour recently and it’s looking great. Hopefully this will be the catalyst for further investment in Rhyl – which has always been a driver for the regeneration work the Council has been doing.

Elsewhere in the County we’ve seen the completion of a lot of successful projects. It was great to attend an event last year in Corwen to celebrate the completion of a range of regeneration projects. Also in Corwen, the Nature for Health Clawdd Poncen pump track was opened and has proved immensly popular with young people in the area while other improvements include a community growing space, a path around the field, new benches and goalposts which make it easier for residents to enjoy the space.

Meanwhile in Llangollen, the Four Great Highways project was completed last year with a range of works to improve the resident and visitor experience and encourage people to spend more time there.

In Ruthin the first all-inclusive accessibility playground of its kind in North Wales was opened in Cae Ddol with environmentally friendly equipment designed with children of all abilities in mind. Additionally, the project also included the installation of an additional junior play area next to the skate park. Also in Ruthin the Clock Tower restoration was completed in December.

While the Council can do a lot, it can’t do everything and inward investment is what’s needed - we need to get businesses throughout the county behind initiatives like Transforming Towns – there’s money there to help them to develop and improve our town centres.

 Tell us about the new-look County Voice

The very first edition of County Voice was distributed as a hard copy over 20 years ago in the summer of 2002 and it’s been our resident newsletter ever since. The digital version was launched in 2015 so it seems fitting that 10 years later, we’re having a refresh.

The aim of the new e-newsletter is to provide up to date daily news from the Council. You can subscribe to receive a monthly newsletter but you can also dip in and out on a daily basis to find out the latest news. As well as information about what’s going on, we’ll have feature articles shining a spotlight on different areas of work as well as video clips and interviews with staff and Members.

I’m really looking forward to hearing people’s feedback and we hope that you’ll find it informative. Remember - if you want the latest and most reliable information about what’s going on in the Council you can subscribe via the website.