Council rejects bid to honour Westbury’s first female mayor

Westbury’s first female mayor will not be formally recognised at The Laverton, despite calls from her family to honour her extensive community work.

Councillors revisited a motion to rename the Community Room at The Laverton as The Phyllis Cundick Room at a Full Council meeting on Monday 7th September.

Phyllis Florence Cundick MBE, widely known locally as ‘Mrs Westbury’, was elected to Westbury Urban District Council in 1954 and was the first chair of the newly formed Westbury Town Council in 1974.

Her family said a proposal to rename the Community Room at The Laverton would be a fitting tribute to her long record of civic work and community involvement.

Cllr Phillip Harcourt put forward a motion to revisit the naming of the room and the purchase of a plaque costing up to £200, after a previous motion was not passed in January this year.

He said, “Phyllis Cundick is somebody who over the years gave a huge amount of service to the town of Westbury.”

He claimed that if any councillors were to be recognised, it should be her.

He also reminded members that in 2007, Westbury Town Council had supported the idea of naming a street in her honour, but the proposal did not go ahead at the time.

At the meeting, councillors raised concerns that passing the motion would set a precedent and lead to an influx of requests to name things after other Westbury residents.

Cllr Jane Russ pointed out that other notable female councillors, such as Jane Pinniger, Winifred MacDonald, and Dora Argent, also have a reason to be recognised in the same way as Phyllis.

She said, “Once you start saying ‘we ought to make this for Phyllis Cundick’, how about Dora Louise Argent? She worked for a very long time and served as a councillor on the Wiltshire Council till her death.

“So, I think that actually, my mind has been changed once I start to do some digging about this. I had thought, when I supported this notion as I did last time, that she was the only person who had done that and I have subsequently found out that that is not the case.”

Cllr Matthew Dean said, “I just feel that this sets a precedent that is unhelpful.

“I’m sure that Phyllis didn’t do this public service because she wanted to be recognised. I’m sure she did it because she was a good and a kind person who had the capacity to serve her community.”

Councillors voted against the naming of the room following extensive debate.