The candidates running in the Hexham Town Council by-election

OpenHexham's Wendy Breach and Tom Pearson, of the Conservative Party, are hoping to fill the seat remaining on Hexham Town Council and represent the Priestpopple ward after Chip Ponsford stepped down at the beginning of the year.

The election will take place on Thursday, March 24.

Hexham Torch Centre and Hexham Trinity Methodist Church Hall will be used as polling stations for those eligible to vote.

Here's a look at the two candidates:

Wendy Breach

Wendy Breach is running as an OpenHexham independent candidate, having stood for election last year.

OpenHexham was created in December 2020 ahead of the 2021 local elections, with the aim of replicating the success seen in other parts of the country by adopting the principles of ‘flatpack democracy’ to try to ensure a group of residents unbound by party politics were elected to Hexham Town Council.

The group of independents performed well, with five OpenHexham candidates voted in at the polls, alongside three Conservatives, two Labour, two other independents and two Lib Dem members.

Ms Breach described the new council as a "breath of fresh air".

"This town council is a really open-minded town council, and I would absolutely love to be working with them," she said.

Ms Breach trained as a speech and language therapist in the 1970's and taught hearing impaired and deaf children.

"I moved around with my husband for his job and it wasn't always possible to get jobs in speech and language with different education systems," she said. "I ended up doing a lot of volunteering."

Volunteering for groups such as an anti-hunger group and a recycling group, Wendy said she "got used to this idea of community groups being able to do things". 

Ms Breach, who moved to Hexham in 2008, is the chair of Hexham's Community-Led Housing group. She also works with Active Travel Tynedale and volunteers with Hexham Space for Nature.

"I've always been passionate about being able to do things on a local level," she said.

Ms Breach said if elected, her priorities include ensuring "everyone benefits from the Town Council's spending".

She said she also wants to see quality affordable and social housing that "Hexham residents deserve". Ms Breach worked on Hexham's Neighbourhood Plan.

Ms Breach added she hopes to make it safer for people, especially school children, who want to walk and cycle in the town, and is passionate about making Hexham a sustainable town.

Tom Pearson

Mr Pearson sat on Hexham Town Council for four years from 2017 until 2021.

He was one of the Conservative councillors who lost their seat following last year's elections, missing out on being elected to represent the Gilesgate ward by two votes.

Mr Pearson, who moved to Hexham 12 years ago, works for Egger and is also a trustee of Hexham Community Centre.

"I'm quite active in the community and I'm keen to do my bit and try and get back on the town council," he said.

He said his main priority is "fighting for a fairer deal for Hexham".

"Most people that I've spoken to are appalled at the unnecessary 28 per cent precept rise," Mr Pearson said.

"It's completely the wrong time to be doing it when inflation is set to rise above 7 per cent and energy costs will rise by over 50 per cent.

"There's no desperate need to increase the precept by that amount."

While he was a town councillor, Mr Pearson sat on the council's community engagement committee.

"During this time, the Conservative-led Town Council won Council of the Year Award 2019 for its performance and helped to secure a £2.4m programme of improvements for Hexham via the High Street Heritage Action Zone," he said.

"I'd like to harness the allocated money to fund more events within Hexham to bring tourism into the town."

Mr Pearson, who has young children who attend local schools, added: "Hexham is a lovely place, and I want to make sure it stays lovely and do my part for our community."