Every Town Mayor says the Mayoral year passes quickly but I am still surprised to find myself already near the end of my term. The role of Mayor is a funny one; people wrongly think that you have great powers but other than signing a few documents and convening town council meetings as chair of council, the rest of the role is honorary granted to some towns during the 1973 local government reorganisation to reflect the history of councils that had far more responsibilities in the past.
The “job” involves as much or as little work as the holder is prepared to take on. There are lots of invitations from clubs, schools, businesses, other councils and civic bodies to attend meetings, open buildings, start events, award prizes and just to find out more about what they do. I have found this most interesting and learnt a huge amount more about Westbury, other towns and the efforts so many people make to make this town a better place. Just getting to all the right events at the right time and date is complicated enough and I’m hugely indebted to Mrs Sarah Barker at the town council who has had the unenviable task of trying to organise me.
This year has been one of many events including a fabulous summer fair in the town centre and the best ever Christmas light switch on event which packed the marketplace. As Mayor, I got to play a central role in both these events, but I must pass on thanks to the hard-working staff and my fellow councillors who did so much to make these successful. Our viral Christmas in Westbury video put Westbury on the map both locally and nationally. [I understand that the outtakes of Mayor & Abraham Laverton are still being held for possible future “use” and worry what actually happened to a film of the Mayor dancing “enthusiastically” in robes to the Will Blake band that briefly appeared in social media.]
2018 was also a special year for the town and the whole country with the conclusion of the centenary Great War commemorations. In addition to a remembrance service at the town’s memorial that was so well attended that we struggled to accommodate everyone, the town also took part in the National Battle’s Over event by lighting our beacon and running a small memorial event – again this took a lot of effort by staff and councillors. I am particularly grateful to our town caretaker, Andrew Thomas, for coming up with a lighting mechanism which resulted in no fire damage to the Lord Lieutenant and safety planning that meant no losses of other VIPs on a dark November night on top of the White Horse.
Another highlight of the year was the grants evening, in which the town council makes small awards to a number of groups in the town. It is inspiring to see the volunteer-led work that goes on throughout the year to make Westbury a better place for so many. The uplifting evening was organised deftly by Mrs Julie Dyer and her colleagues.
A huge amount of other stuff has been achieved by the town council this year and I hope to say more about some of this at the Annual Town meeting, to which all residents are invited and have the opportunity to ask questions and raise issues. This will be held at the Laverton on Monday 29th April 2019 from 19.00.
I would like to thank all those who have invited me to share in their events as a representative of the town and I apologise to those few that I have had to miss through recent health issues. I would also like to thank my fellow councillors for affording me the privilege of being town Mayor.
The year is not over yet: I am looking forward to our civic reception and our civic awards which honour some of those who contribute to the town and there is still a full calendar of events.
But above all, I would like to thank the town council’s staff led by our Clerk, Mrs Deborah Urch, for all the help and support they have given me during this year and thank Westbury for the honour of being your Mayor.
Ian Cunningham, Town Mayor
