Elections are held every four years to choose Members of the Parish Council. This takes place at the same time as the election for Members of Leeds City Council as there is a single electoral roll. There are two members elected by residents in Harewood Village (and the surrounding area) plus a further seven Members elected by residents in the Wigton Moor section of the parish. These numbers reflect the size of the electoral roll in the two parts of the Parish. In the period immediately following an election, elected members of the Council are empowered to fill them through co-option. The positions of any councillors resigning may also be filled similarly through co-option of local residents who are interested in Council work and who wish to make a contribution to their community. There are currently three vacant seats on the Council.
The Chair is chosen by elected Council Members.
Membership of the Parish Council following elections held in May 2023
Dr Kate Hill (Chair) – chair@harewoodparishcouncil.gov.uk
Kate has lived in Harewood village with her husband Bob since 1996. She has been a Parish Councillor for the Harewood Ward since 2014 and was elected as Chair of Harewood Parish Council in 2018. Kate has taken an active interest in the local community since moving to Harewood, serving as a Governor at Harewood Primary School for eleven years from 2000 to 2011.
By profession, Kate is a Senior Research Fellow in Applied Health at the University of Leeds. In addition to pursuing her own research interests, she works part-time as an advisor for the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Research Design Service supporting academic and clinical colleagues to develop research and fellowship grant applications. As a health scientist she is interested in improving health and wellbeing in our community. After successfully applying for a grant from the Emmerdale Fund, Kate led the Parish Council’s project to create the new Harewood Recreation area and playground. The aim was to provide an easily accessible facility for young and old alike to enjoy.
Kate’s community interests extend beyond Harewood. She is a trustee and vice-chair of the Pudsey Wellbeing Charity. Kate was a member of the original working group that developed plans for the Pudsey Wellbeing Centre in 2011, and is a founder trustee (and former chair) of the charity. Kate is also a trustee and director of the June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund. She leads the charity’s research and public engagement activities. Kate works closely with the European Lung Foundation (ELF) and is a former chair of the ELF Patient Advisory committee and co-developer of the European Patient Ambassador Programme.
When she has spare time she enjoys walking, cycling and the countryside. She also likes cooking, reading and the theatre.
Mr Doug Masterton (Vice-Chair) – 0113 2886444 vicechair@harewoodparishcouncil.gov.uk
Doug is Treasurer of St Oswald’s Church, Collingham with Harewood, an enthusiast for the French language and a keen motor cyclist.
Doug Masterton representing Harewood
Councillor Mike Pawson
cllr.mpawson@harewoodparishcouncil.gov.uk
Prior to his wedding in 1968 Mike, and his then fiancée, lived a few doors apart with their parents in Gledhow and following the wedding moved into their new home in Wigton Moor, where they still live today.
He worked in the printing industry with two well-known companies, E. J.Arnold (older residents will remember their school exercise books) and John Waddington. His time working at the former was interrupted by two years National Service in the R.A.F. Mike then joined Leeds City Council’s Architects Department in 1975 until a reorganisation when he joined the Finance Department. Following early retirement from the council he spent over ten years as a postman at the Moortown Delivery Office.
In his teens and twenties, Mike was. a keen but hardly successful athlete (recalling less than a dozen placings in the first three in hundreds of races) with the former Harehills Harriers on track, road and over the country. The highlight of his athletic career was having one dance with GB’s golden girl of the track and Olympic silver medallist Dorothy Hyman!
In his thirties he turned to football and recently turned 50 years of administrative service to local football, being a life member of both the Leeds Sunday Football League and the Leeds and District Football Association, serving local clubs Roundhay Rangers and Shadwell United several decades ago.
For several years he was the Site Manager of The Leeds Show when it was held on the Soldiers Field, was a Voluntary Countryside Ranger with the West Yorkshire County Council and recently resigned from SSAFA the Armed Forces Charity after 15 years service.
Mike was a Deputy Warden at Leeds Minster until the eight posts were abolished and the Deputy Wardens became Sidespeople. Then came the pandemic and he stood down as his wife was categorised as clinically extremely vulnerable and they were unable to attend church. He is now a member of the Parochial Church Council.
Mike was co-opted to the Council in June 2022 and elected in 2023. He brings a wide range of business, leisure and charity experience to the Parish Council, plus a familiarity of Wigton Moor, which he hopes will be of benefit to the residents.
Councillor Howard Foreman
cllr.hforeman@harewoodparishcouncil.gov.uk
Howard has lived all his life in Leeds 17, He was educated at Allerton Grange School and qualified as a teacher before returning to Allerton Grange as a Deputy Head of Department in 1976. Howard went on to own a travel and tour company and has had the privilege of travelling to many parts of the world. Before retirement he was a Regional Director for an international charity specialising in Educational programmes and projects both in the U.K. and Middle East.
After retirement he was appointed a Trustee of Moor Allerton Elderly Care (MAECare) and is currently Chair of Trustees. His experience in community engagement, especially in North Leeds is wide and varied. He has two children who both live in North Leeds.
His hobbies include watching football, rugby and cricket and travelling. He and his wife enjoy visiting Harewood House with or without their grandchildren. He has recently taken up walking football, an activity using one’s legs but without the physicality of tackling. It is not only exercise but is also a social event.
Councillor Ross Bystryakov (Co-opted member)
Councillor Angela Lawson (Co-opted member)
Born in Gipton, Angela grew up in Seacroft and attended both Braim Wood and Roundhay Schools before training as a teacher in Kingston Upon Hull. She returned to Leeds where, for almost forty years, she taught in three challenging inner city primary schools. For over twenty of those years she was Deputy Head and served on the Governing Body of the school.
Angela has lived at Slaid Hill since 1982 and was an active member of the Friends of Wigton Moor School, which her son attended at the time.
After retirement in 2015 Angela was able to devote time to her new grandchildren, to support her elderly parents and to volunteer with the Slaid Hill In Bloom group, recently in the capacity of Chair of the Committee. The ‘Bloomers’ work to provide and maintain an uplifting amenity which is much appreciated by the community. As a member of the Parish Council Angela hopes to contribute to the further improvement of other amenities in the area.
Vacancies
There are currently three council vacancies. No contests were triggered at the 2023 election.
Mr Ken Sedman (Parish Clerk) 07587 202613 E-mail: contact@harewoodparishcouncil.gov.uk
Mr P Stephenson (Cemetery Clerk) 07407 711187
