MAYOR'S ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMARKS
To include Mayor’s
Outgoing speech
Minutes:
The outgoing Mayor, Councillor Chandler, referred to
(a) taking on the role as Mayor with pride and
reported on the enjoyable year she had experienced;
(b) the centenaries of the RAF, the Defence
Animal Training Regiment here in Melton, the Armistice, the National Farmers’
Union opening in Melton and the celebration marking 70 years since the Polish
Community first arrived at Ashby Folville before
settling on Sandy Lane. All were
celebrated by occasions that would last in the memory, as would the enjoyable
visits to local schools, clubs and associations all run by an army of
volunteers, who in many cases did not receive the recognition they
deserved. She was determined that her
Mayoral awards should reflect the part these people played in the community;
(c) being taken back by the number of
organisations who valued the role of the Mayor, and requested her presence at
their functions. The withdrawal of the
Civic Officer would most certainly change the way the Mayoral diary was
administered with far more responsibility being placed on the Mayor in
accepting and carrying out engagements in addition to the customary thank you
letters afterwards;
(d) many were aware of her concerns that the
Council undersold both Melton and the surrounding Borough. She felt the Council had to make this one of its priorities as the
lost revenue from tourism would certainly boost the local economy. A couple of weeks previously the Melton Town
Centre was the finish of the International Classic Cycle Road Race. Teams from 8 different countries took part,
an American winning the 198.5 km course out of 180 or so other riders. She added that there was nothing going on in
the town centre to attract families and she had heard other towns made more
effort for this event. The ladies race
was scheduled for June, when again top international riders would be competing,
nothing appeared to be planned at this stage to promote that event. Credit had to go to Matthew O’ Callaghan who
brought people into the area with his organisation of both the Pie Festival
& Cheese Fair;
(e) also promoting the Bottesford area. She had been invited to address the Melton in
Bloom AGM and answered questions which again related to why the Council did not promote itself
better. She felt the Council had to do
more to promote the Borough as well as such organisations as Melton in Bloom
who worked tirelessly tending to the area around Parkside in addition to
several other prominent areas around the Town Centre and also referred to some
recent vandalism of the Heritage Area immediately adjacent to Parkside;
(f)
being
invited to witness Councillor Pam Posnett MBE invested as Chairman of
Leicestershire County Council and that this was an honour for both Pam and
Melton;
(g) her appreciation of her Deputy, Tom Greenow, and that of his wife and that due to personal commitments was not able to attend the meeting. She added that she had sent flowers to him and his ... view the full minutes text for item 3
MAYOR'S ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMARKS
To include Mayor’s
Outgoing speech.
Minutes:
At the start of the meeting, the outgoing Mayor, Councillor Bains, thanked the Reverend Ashby for his support as his Chaplain during his year of office.
Councillor Bains then:
· prefaced his announcements by asking the Council to observe a moment of silence for Mr Peter Waller Marsh, a local Solicitor, who has recently died suddenly. Councillor Bains paid tribute to the late Mr Marsh as being a mentor and support to him professionally;
· expressed his amazement at how his year had gone in a blink of an eye and referred to the unique set of challenges that being the Mayor whilst working in a full time profession had presented. However, he considered it had been both an honour and a privilege;
· referred to some of the highlights of his year which had included being the Returning Officer and announcing the election results from the snap General Election in 2017 and the opportunity his role had afforded to meet the young people of the Borough. Being the youngest ever Mayor and from an Asian background, he hoped that this had inspired some of the young citizens of tomorrow. At all times when representing the Borough, he had tried to be inclusive;
· thanked the following people who had supported him during the year:
~ his mother, the Mayoress who had shared many experiences with him. Councillor Bains also acknowledged the support his father had given;
~ Mrs Lena Shuttlewood, Democracy & Involvement Officer for her consistent support and ensuring the smooth running of his diary and arranging all the civic events;
~ his Deputy, Councillor Chandler for attending a number of events on his behalf
~ the Chief Executive, Mr de Coverly for his support and guidance;
~ his new wife, Navpreet, whom he had met whilst on Mayoral duties, which he considered one of the biggest blessings of his year. Councillor Bains presented his wife with flowers;
~ the people of the Borough of Melton for their support, kind words, and hospitality. He undertook to continue to serve their interests as an elected Member on returning to the ‘back benches’.