Cllr Dawn Campbell - Newark Town Council (Beacon) Leader

Due to Newark’s great rail links to visit friends and family, its beautiful river and historical buildings, I moved to Newark in early 2021 and have been enjoying access to so many amenities, without the use of a car. I have been struck by what a unique and special town Newark is.

I enjoy buying locally and rarely find the need to leave the town to shop. I thoroughly enjoy the strong community feeling about the place and have become involved in several local groups and activities here through chance. It was wonderful meeting like-minded people during the campaign to save the Library Garden from becoming a car park that prompted me to stand as an independent councillor, to improve our local councils.

After spending several years working in bilingual administrative roles in Germany, I came back to the UK to teach Modern Languages in comprehensive schools here. I particularly enjoyed leading cultural and language exchange programmes during this time and when I later returned to Germany, I set up a motorcycle touring company and continued to teach English and German to speakers of other languages. 

Since living in Newark, I have again become involved with various cross-cultural groups and I feel we have a lot to learn by seeing how other places do and achieve great things. For example, our twin town of Emmendingen in Germany is responding to climate change by enlisting tree buddies to volunteer to water a particular tree in their area during very dry periods.  It is a simple solution to a new problem and involves collaboration between the local council and the community. I'd love to help foster more of this in Newark. 

We have thriving arts and culture communities in Newark and it would be wonderful to increase international connections. As a councillor, I am working hard to raise the profile of our lovely historic market town and create opportunities for people in Newark to experience life in similar towns in other countries and vice-versa.  

Just over 10 years ago, I began working in domiciliary care and subsequently worked in the further education sector as an assessor and verifier of care qualifications. At the same time, I planned and built an extension for my mother to live in and gained first-hand insight into building methods and materials, which sparked an interest in the built environment and in how we can adapt our older buildings to benefit future generations and build new homes that are resilient enough to adapt to our changing climate.

ONE YEAR ON….

This year has been an enjoyable one, despite the steep learning curve. I've been Chair of the Climate Change Working Group and together with members of IfND, political parties and other independents, we have made substantial decisions which I'm looking forward to seeing come to fruition. Within the wider town council, cooperation has meant we have reached numerous good resolutions for the future of Newark. I'm hoping in the coming year we can engage even more with residents and gauge public opinion in Beacon Ward to guide our decision-making.