Fleur de Rhé-Philipe

Fleur de Rhé-Philipe (born 1940) is a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom. Before 2009, she was a member of Wiltshire County Council representing first the Upper Wylye division and later Westbury Laverton and was the Cabinet member for Environment, Transport & Economic Development.[1] Since June 2009 she has been a member of the new Wiltshire Council representing Warminster Without and is again a cabinet member.

Background

Born in Surrey, Fleur de Rhé-Philipe is one of the two daughters of Major-General Arthur Terence de Rhé-Philipe CB OBE (1905–1971), late Royal Engineers,[2] She has lived at Upton Scudamore since the 1960s and was the founding chairman of the Warminster and District Riding Club, which went on to become the South Wiltshire Riding Club.[3]

Career

Wiltshire County Council's banner

With an administrative career in civil engineering and urban regeneration, from 1992 to 2007 de Rhé-Philipe was the Company Secretary of the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust, during which time she gained a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £25M for the canal.[3][4][5]

She was first elected to Wiltshire County Council in 1997, representing the Upper Wylye county division until 2005. In that year, her area was divided by an electoral review between two new divisions, and in May 2005 de Rhé-Philipe was elected for the new Westbury Laverton and Shearwater.[6] Since the 2009 election to Wiltshire Council, her new Warminster Without division includes the parishes of Brixton Deverill, Chapmanslade, Corsley, Horningsham, Kingston Deverill, Longbridge Deverill, Maiden Bradley, Sutton Veny and Upton Scudamore.[7]

In 1998, the Conservatives gained control of Wiltshire after several years of administrations under a Liberal Democrat-Labour coalition, and de Rhé-Philipe entered office as a chairman of committees and later, when the Leader and Cabinet form of administration was chosen by the county council, as a member of the new Cabinet.

In March 2004, she formally opened what was claimed to be the first navigable aqueduct built in the South West of England for some two hundred years, carrying the Kennet and Avon Canal over the A350 at Semington, part of the village's new bypass scheme, with de Rhe Philipe commenting:[8]

“ It really is an incredible feat of engineering. We have used the very latest technology and the most up-to-date construction methods to build a structure for an historic method of transport. ”

In May 2004, at Shalbourne near Marlborough, she led conservationists in a mass planting of Horseshoe Vetch, designed to attract the Chalkhill Blue butterfly to the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.[9]

In December 2007, she signed an agreement to launch the £90 million Waterside development of land by the River Biss in Trowbridge, commenting that the contract was a significant step forward.[10]

In February 2008, in stating her support for the controversial Westbury Bypass road scheme, she said:[11]

“ No road helps the countryside, but I know that piece of countryside very well, having fallen off my horse on nearly every inch of it. It's in a valley and won't be seen much or heard much. There are already measures to mitigate any damage the bypass may cause and a lot of the money has been spent to ensure this. ”

In March 2008, as Wiltshire cabinet member for Environment and Transport, de Rhé-Philipe submitted a memorandum to the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee stating support for "the restoration and economic regeneration of canal corridors".[4]

She is Chairman of SWERCOTS Ltd, a company delivering a regional local government project called Consumer Direct South West, and also a member of the Swindon Sub Regional Steering Group and the Salisbury Transportation Plan Joint Committee.[1]

In June 2009 she was elected to the new Wiltshire Council, as a Conservative member for Warminster Without,[12] and was re-elected in May 2013.

References

  1. 1 2 Miss Fleur de Rhe-Philipe at wiltshire.gov.uk
  2. ↑ de RHÉ-PHILIPE, Maj.-Gen. Arthur Terence, in Who Was Who (London, A. & C. Black, 1920–2007; online edition by Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 de RHÉ-PHILIPE, Maj.-Gen. Arthur Terence, accessed 17 September 2008
  3. 1 2 Wiltshire Conservatives, Fleur de Rhé-Philipe, the Local Choice for Warminster Without, 2009, at wiltshireconservatives.com
  4. 1 2 British Waterways: Follow-up; Eighth Report of Session 2007–08, Ev 110, House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (The Stationery Office, 2008)
  5. ↑ Battle to save canal amenity at swindonadvertiser.co.uk dated 21 June 2002
  6. ↑ Returning Officer's returns, Wiltshire County Council, 1997, 2001, 2005.
  7. ↑ Wiltshire Boundary Review at Electoral Commission website
  8. ↑ Aqueduct opens for canal traffic at news.bbc.co.uk, dated 3 March 2004
  9. ↑ Bid to boost butterfly numbers at swindonadvertiser.co.uk dated 20 May 2004
  10. ↑ Wiltshire Times Reporter, £90m plan takes big step forward dated 17 December 2008 at wiltshiretimes.co.uk
  11. ↑ Bypass Inquiry Postponed at wiltshiretimes.co.uk
  12. ↑ Warminster Without election result 2009

See also

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