ILMINSTER NEWS: New Mayor thanks exiting trio of town councillors

THE first job the new Mayor of Ilminster found herself doing last night (Tuesday, May 17, 2016) was thanking three people – who had just resigned from the town council – for their efforts.

Cllr Val Keitch was unanimously elected as the Mayor during last night’s annual town council meeting following the resignation of Rose Neave.

It was also announced during the meeting that another former Mayor, Carol Goodall, had also resigned her position from the town council and followed-up last week’s decision by Sophie Storey to stand down.

Cllr Keitch, in her first announcements as the new Mayor, thanked all three for their work on the council.

“I’d like to thank Rose for her two years services on this council with the last one as Mayor,” she said.

PHOTO - TOP: The new Mayor of Ilminster, Cllr Val Keitch, with Deputy Mayor, Cllr Tony Walker, following last night's meeting of Ilminster Town Council.

Cllr Keitch said it could not have been easy for Ms Neave to start a new business and get married at the same time as being Mayor.

“We wish her well,” she added.

The new Mayor also thanked Mrs Storey for her three years’ service on the council and who worked “terribly hard for the town” with an abundance of “energy and skills.”

She added that Mrs Goodall had been on the council for “many years” and had put a “great deal of time and effort” into the council and the town.

Earlier Cllr Keitch was voted in unanimously by her town council colleagues to become the new Mayor of Ilminster.

Cllr Roger Swann, himself a former Mayor, proposed her for the job and said she had already “risen to the challenge” of being a councillor and had “done the job very ably.”

Cllr Tony Walker, who had earlier in the meeting thanked the outgoing Mayor for her efforts, was unanimously re-elected to serve as Deputy Mayor for a second year.

News on what the council will do to find three replacements for the departing councillors has yet to be announced.

Tags:
News.