Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
New man in charge to lead a digital revolution
A months-long power struggle at Canterbury City Council has at last come to an end, bringing with it a new leader. Days after Ben Fitter-harding took on the role, he sat down with reporter Joe Wright to lay out his vision for the future...
Leadership turbulence during a pandemic isn’t exactly what the district’s residents wanted their councillors to be considering and, at times, prioritising in recent months. But with the ruling Conservatives unhappy with the work of the main man at the helm, they decided to ditch their “boringly competent” leader and opt for a new approach they hoped would steer them out of the coronavirus mess.
Step forward technology guru Ben Fitter-harding, who believes his management skills and digital expertise can transform the city council into a trailblazing authority. Taking his new role by the scruff of the neck, the 36-yearold Chestfield representative is already ruffling feathers, having invited all councillors - including those in opposition - to be appraised by him. The Labour group has refused to take part in his assessments, amid claims Cllr Fitter-harding has delusions of grandeur and selfimportance.
Yet the confident dad of two, who is the council’s first gay leader, says he is unafraid of the criticism and is prepared to overhaul the authority’s services and structure.
“I want to get things done and work together with
people,” he said. “If they don’t want to, then they can throw grenades from the sidelines; it’s really up to them.
“I am confident, but not extrovert. I’m confident in my abilities to manage people and I know I can be a strong leader. “The appraisal is a chance for them to set up an action plan for what they want to achieve as a councillor, and also a chance for them to sit down with me as the leader and get to know me.
“I’ve already had one letter on headed paper from one of the other political groups. I’m not going to write one back; I’ll drop you an email or give you a call - that’s how I work.” Having been voted off the council by the Blean Forest electorate in May last year, Cllr Fitter-harding was re-elected just a few months later following the sudden death of fellow Tory Jenny
Samper. Now, a year down the line, he finds himself in the hot seat after a vote of no confidence in former leader Cllr Rob Thomas saw his own party oust him from the role. “It was nothing personal against Rob,” he said. “It simply wasn’t working and there was stagnation. “The majority group should stand together and it definitely wasn’t. There were problems at the end of last year when the party was voting different ways.
“I’d already told him in January that I’d be going against him.
“Rob managed a lot of things himself - it’s not my style and I hope my approach can be successful. I want to use the strengths of the people I’m leading.
“Maybe being boringly competent is how he sees himself. But is that enough?
I think being leader requires much more.
“I think the reason why such a large number of the group rejected his leadership was because of communication - he hadn’t been able to work with them and take them on a journey.” Cllr Thomas labelled the move “staggering” and stressed he was “exceedingly disappointed” by the effort to overpower him.
But despite being his successful challenger, Cllr Fitter-harding says there is no ill feeling between the pair. “To use Rob’s own words, I hope we can continue to use his boringly competent style to our benefit,” he said.
“I like to think I have been a loyal and hard-working councillor for the previous leaders, for John [Gilbey], for Simon [Cook] and Rob - until we decided a change of leadership needed to happen.” Looking ahead to the council he wants to shape, the Dunkirk resident is planning to use his expertise in technology.
For 14 years, he ran a very successful, global text messaging company named Cardboardfish which he sold to US giant Mblox in 2014 for an undisclosed sum.
“It’s really important we get the digital side of things right - and that means being radical,” he said. “I’m fully appreciative of it being scary to some people. But aside from streamlining and making services more efficient, we can also make them much better. “It sounds silly but I get excited about parking and bins - I like to think of ways to make them better. The public sector doesn’t seem to innovate but we can. “Bins in the Dane John are overflowing all of the time. How much better would it be to have sensors which send out alerts when they are twothirds full? We could then send out maintenance guys to sort them before they become a mess.
“ANPR at our car parks can still be developed too. We can look at differential pricing based on how busy they are, or potentially by the emissions of vehicles. We don’t want to be charging people more because they can’t afford a shiny electric car but we should be monitoring air quality, and technology can help us achieve our climate emergency target.
“To clamp down on graffiti, cameras can be trained on walls which regularly get targeted. Sensors could pick up changes and send out alerts when there is graffiti. “These changes will take some forward investment and that is currently difficult. But it’s investment which will save money in the future.”
‘It’s not about cutting services that are vital for residents - it’s about transforming them digitally’
With that future being so uncertain and funding dwindling due to Covid-19, Cllr Fitter-harding says his proposed digitalisation will save money and prevent services being cut. “Almost all our income disappeared, but parking and rents are now coming back,” he said. “It’s very difficult to manage but this is something we will find our way through as we’re very well-run. It’s not about cutting services that are vital for residents - it’s about transforming them digitally. “To save money I want us to do things more efficiently rather than having huge overheads. I don’t see it as a shrinking pool of services, I see it as us becoming more of a technology company.” Originally from Solihull in the West Midlands, Cllr Fitter-harding first came to Canterbury to study technology and design at University of Kent. Having since lived in Chestfield, Tyler Hill and Beltinge, he now resides just over the district’s boundary in Swale with his police officer husband Jon and their two young boys. Alongside his role as leader, he will continue to run creative design studio Dodgems and Floss and the Hugo hotel - both in the city’s high street.
It will be some undertaking for a man said to hold ambitions of one day challenging for the seat of Canterbury MP.
“It’s something I’ve thought of in the past but I have a fulltime job and family,” he said. “I don’t see this as a stepping stone to that.
“We don’t see a lot of Rosie; she’s never been interested in me aside from the few barbs, for which I’ve never understood why. I’ve held a number of positions so I don’t know if she feels threatened by that. It’s not like I’m after her job though.
“I love being at the council. I still find every council meeting completely terrifying and a lot of my colleagues do as well. It’s like going on stage; I get butterflies and anxiety.”
Two long-running sagas which have fuelled the most opposition in recent years and months are the £9.1 million car park at Station Road West and the plan to expand Wincheap park ride onto water meadows. Hopeful the council can move forward from the divisiveness of the car park, Cllr Fitter-harding says: “I appreciate the multi-storey is very controversial. The whole street looks much better and I’d like to think it was the right thing to do - what we’ve had built is very impressive.
“I can imagine having concession stalls set up on that strip, with people able to grab a coffee or newspaper. “With the park and ride, I’ve always been sympathetic with the campaigners. It’s difficult as I want the city to function in the best possible way. “I know it’s green space we’re building on, but it’s green space behind an industrial estate. But it needs completely looking at again. I wouldn’t put anything in stone that has been decided upon regarding park and ride. “It needs a fresh look. I genuinely think the whole provision for park and ride needs considering.”
As for the planned relocation of the council’s headquarters away from the “dilapidated” Military Road site, Cllr FitterHarding believes the proposed £12 million move to Wincheap is off the table. Instead, he is open-minded about where the authority should next be based, whether it be in Canterbury, Herne Bay or Whitstable.
With the termination of East Kent Housing and the bold move to ditch Serco and start up the entirely new Canterbury Environment Company, the council has a big 2021 ahead.
Is Cllr Fitter-harding the right person to lead the authority through it? Only time will tell...