sharon coe

Sharon Coe

Sharon has links with the village for over 50 years, living here for nearly 30 years.

Sharon has extensive knowledge of Local Government, having worked as Deputy Clerk in the WPC offices for nine and a half years. She was also a Blaby Parish Councillor for a number of years holding various positions. She is proud to have attained the CiLCA qualification which is acknowledged as the industry standard. She is also a fully qualified mortgage and pension advisor having the CeMAP qualification and latterly attaining the Leadership and Management qualification for the Local Government Association. (MinstLM)

Sharon has clerked her own councils at Wymondham & Edmondthorpe and is currently Town Clerk at the prestigious town of Uppingham.

Sharon was a District Councillor at Blaby District Council representing Whetstone North until retiring earlier this year in December for personal reasons. During Sharon’s time at Blaby she was Audit Chairman, a member of the Planning and Scrutiny committees and a member of the Chief Executive appointment committee. Sharon was appointed to the Cabinet in 2019, and held the Portfolio for Health, Wellbeing, Business Development and Community Support, an extensive and wide ranging remit.

Sharon was honoured to have been elected by her piers to hold the office of Chairman of the District in 2018/19 and was able to highlight her beloved village of Whetstone at many levels during her ceremonial year of office.

“I am passionate about enhancing Whetstone and its communities to be the very best they can be. All levels of democracy have a part to play, this is a level where the real residents of Whetstone can be heard, any issues can be escalated to the appropriate authorities to be solved for the betterment of our lovely village that we are privileged to call home. I am extremely proud to be a Duckpaddler.”

Sharon is a member of the Finance Committee and Vice Chairman of Council.

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Jon Riley

I am Leicester through and through and have lived in or around Whetstone since 1995 and am married with a daughter and three stepchildren.

Whetstone has grown a lot since moving here and I first joined the Parish Council during the planning process for the Hunter Road and Meteor Way estate.

I work full-time but also have a number of hobbies and interests. I help keep the village tidy by “wombling” and can often be seen in my hi vis picking litter, please do stop for a chat if you see me. Am an enthusiastic ornithologist and love being outdoors surrounded by nature and am keen to maintain the village green open spaces. I have also been a Season Ticket holder at Leicester Tigers since 1978.

This is my first year as Chairman of the Parish Council and will do my utmost to work for the benefit and enhancement of Whetstone.

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Mike Bounds

Mike has lived in Whetstone since 1981 having moved to the village from nearby Glen Parva and is employed by part of the Babcock International Group  at their offices in Leicester after their relocation from Cambridge Road..

Since being elected to Whetstone Parish Council in 1995, he has served two terms as chairman, most recently in 2015-2016, and sits on the Planning Committee and Public Open Spaces Working Party.  He also spent a year as Chair of the now defunct Whetstone Crime and Disorder Group, which involved members of local government, the police and the general public as a whole.

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Peter Cox

I have lived in Whetstone for 39 years, where our family have been farmers in the Parish for nearly 100 years. I am a Qualified Accountant running my own accountancy practice.  I have been on Whetstone Parish Council for over 13 years, including time as chairman in 2014/15.

I currently audit the books for 1st Whetstone Scouts, Cubs and Beavers, St Peters Church, Whetstone Memorial Hall and the Parish Centre.

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John Culshaw

I moved to Whetstone in 1984 as a teenager after my father completed his 22 years’ service in the Army and choose to settle down in Whetstone, as it provided and continues to provide excellent job opportunities.  However, I left Whetstone in 1988 to join the RAF returning “home” in 2017 after almost 29 years service in the RAF.

I originally attended several meetings of the Whetstone Parish Council to request improvements to the open spaces of concern to me, and later when my mother who relied on a mobility scooter in her last few months to ask for improvements to the footpaths around the village.

Elected onto the Whetstone Parish Council in 2019, I am keen to build on the previous work completed by the Parish Council and seek to make further improvements in all areas for friends and residents alike, whilst sitting on the Public Open Spaces Working Party, building on previous successes.

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Pat Kenney

I moved to Whetstone 50 years ago and for 20 years worked at St Peters School in the kitchens.  I’ve always been involved in the community and life of the village. I’m a member of Whetstone Baptist Church and run the King Street Ducklings Parent and Child Group.

I’ve been a parish councillor at Whetstone for the last six years and I currently sit on planning, public open spaces.

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Lisa Pendery-Hunt

Leicestershire born and bred, I moved to Whetstone in 2015, and was co-opted onto the Parish Council in 2019 after attending several meetings as a parishioner. I believe that it is important to take a pro-active approach to matters that arise within the village, and would like to see an even more widespread ‘community feeling’ within the village. Among my varied interests, I enjoy running and walking, and would like to see more use of the community spaces and walking routes in the area, not just for the physical benefits, but also for the mental and emotional well-being of our residents.

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Les Phillimore

Married with two grown up children, Les lives with his wife Jackie; a Specialist Nursery Nurse and their adult youngest son, in Whetstone, South Leicestershire. Les’s passion for bench-setting; organizational strategy and business vision has seen him introduce numerous initiatives throughout his career to leave a trail of bench-setting metrics, innovations to established doctrines and first-to-market practices across multiple disciplines. A skilled strategist with a thirst for knowledge, Les achieved two postgraduate diplomas followed by his MBA in his spare time and is particularly interested in ancient history and culture. He is a long-standing Parish Councillor and a member of the Cabinet at Blaby District Council. As Policy Lead for the Leicester and Leicestershire area of Federation of Small Businesses, Les represents the FSB at numerous events and agencies such as UK T&I, Bank of England and political engagement forums.

A Co-Director of a boutique Business Consultancy, Les’ recent projects have seen him working on product design, commercialization and funding for global reach technology, design a new service model for the repurposing of Empty Homes, design a business incubation and acceleration model and imminent launch projects with midlands universities on bio-renewable innovation and new SME business engagement strategies. Les is known for his passion for business success, employee development and a Micro-S / SME led economic recovery and has served as a Business Mentor for PRIME.org.uk and a Student Mentor for the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy.

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Richard Simmons

I am a retired engineering manager and have lived in Whetstone for 27 years. I have been a member of the parish council for approximately 6 years. I joined because I wanted to be involved and serve the local community and feel that the parish council enables me to have an input in to local affairs.

My aim is for Whetstone to continue be a pleasant and peaceful village to live in and hope that my contribution through the parish council will have a benefit for all. I am also a member of one of the local churches which enabled me to keep in touch with local people’s needs and concerns.

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Sue Tomlinson

Born and bred in urban Nottingham. I moved to Leicestershire in 1991 and to Whetstone in 1996 (shortly after the birth of my youngest daughter) I had worked for 19 years with British Gas and was part of immense changes from Nationalisation to Privatisation.  I had, then, 3 wonderful rewarding years as a Mum and a Housewife enjoying the facilities of Whetstone.

In 1999 I was asked if I would help out, answering phones and manning the office for a couple of hours a day whilst the Deputy Clerk of the Parish Council went on Maternity Leave. I said yes, was subsequently asked to stay on, part time to assist with clerical duties – 13 years later and having worked for three different clerks I retired. I knew, however, that if the opportunity arose I would apply to be a Parish Councillor to give back some of my free time and experience and commitment to the Community and residents of Whetstone.

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