Cllr Lewis Herbert wins Lifetime Achievement Award and Cllr Peter McDonald is honoured for Resilience and Recovery at 2022 Cllr Awards

paul.brackley@iliffemedia.co.uk

Published: 07:45, 24 October 2022

Cllr Lewis Herbert and Cllr Peter McDonald have both won at the national Cllr Awards.

Cllr Herbert (Lab, Coleridge), a Labour city councillor and former leader of the council, earned the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his 24 years serving the community.

Cllr McDonald (Lib Dem, Duxford), a South Cambridgeshire district councillor, was recognised with the Resilience and Recovery Award for his commercial approach to helping communities, including aiding the fightback from Covid.

Cllr Lewis Herbert receives his Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2022 Cllr Awards

The Cllr Awards for England and Wales, organised by the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) and supported by the specialist fund manager CCLA, were held in Bath last Thursday night.

The audience heard how Cllr Herbert has had a 42-year career with local authorities, including 16 years working for them.

He began by leading on recycling in 1980, when he became the youngster ever councillor on the GLC (Greater London Council). Having introduced some of the first British recycling centres, he went on to work in New Zealand for four years on reorganising local government.

He became Cambridgeshire County Council’s first recycling officer in 1990, expanding recycling in partnership with district councils until 2003, from near zero to close to 50 per cent.

He became a Cambridge city councillor in 2004 and led the Labour group on the city council for 15 years until the end of 2021. He was the longest-serving leader of Cambridge city council, having led for seven and a half years.

Cllr Herbert said: “I’m really chuffed to receive this award after four decades rewarding work for Cambridge and other councils.

“Thanks to my wonderful colleagues on the city council for their nomination, and a special thanks to the many council staff and people locally I’ve had the pleasure to work with.

“Our and my work to make Cambridge an even better place continues, particularly for those who need help or housing in the challenging winter ahead, as does my work as a Cambridge and Coleridge councillor.”

Also winning a Lifetime Achievement Award was Cllr Hilda Rhodes, of Telford and Wrekin Council.

Cllr Peter McDonald receives his award at the 2022 Cllr Awards

Cllr McDonald was recognised for initiatives aiding the recovery of communities, such as his oversight of business grant funding, which supported 102 local businesses.

Judges said they were also impressed by the part this played in the rapid rollout of electric vehicle and charging point technology.

Cllr McDonald said: "It’s been great to share the South Cambs work with this wide audience. There were many nominations in this category which shows the high standard of work of the team at South Cambridgeshire District Council.”

The awards, now in their 13th year, received more than 400 nominations.

Jonathan Carr-West, chief executive of LGIU, said: “On such a momentous day - we are incredibly proud to unveil the winners of these 13th annual Cllr Awards. Doing this at a time of immense turmoil and as national politics continues to unravel, underlines (even more) the importance of what we’ve done here tonight - showcasing the vital work of councillors, making a real difference to the lives of local people.”

Cllr Awards 2022 - the winners in full