Marianne Sullivan
Councillor
My name is Marianne Sullivan and I was born and brought up in Bembridge; in fact my current home was built by my grandfather, whilst the house at the bottom of the garden was built for my parents and I was born in the front bedroom!
I was schooled in the village under Headmaster Mr Lewis, I went on to Sandown and from there on to University in Nottingham. I returned to start teaching at Somerton Middle School and taught for forty three years: nineteen in Cowes; followed by twenty four years at Sandown High. I raised identical twin sons and served on Brading Town Council for twenty nine years before standing down in May 2013, when my son was killed in a cycling accident in Singapore.
I joined the PC in 2017, where I hoped that I would be able to bring my experience to serve the Community I was surprised to be elected to the Chair which I did for 8 months only standing down after I was involved in an unfortunate accident during which I fractured my spine. Thanks to support and help from fellow Councillors I was able to continue as Chair of Planning and volunteer at Friendship Circle, Village Partnership, Green Town Meetings, Litter Picks and all the other wonderful things that have gone on, and still go on, in the Village.
More recently I’ve been busy planting and potting so that my plants can be seen throughout the Village and of course I’m doing all I can to make it clear to the Isle of Wight Council and Central Government, that without really significant infrastructure upgrades, further large scale Housing developments in Bembridge are entirely unacceptable and unsustainable.
I have always cared about the Environment and Conservation, and teaching Young People about these vital issues has been my life’s work.
The Parish Council is always more than happy to help anyone wishing to have their say and make a difference.
