This is an important week in the Town Council’s calendar, being the beginning of a new civic year. It starts with the Annual Meeting of the Council or as many know it, “Mayor Making” where the new Mayor is elected and sworn into office.
This year’s Mayor will be Councillor Peter Corbett who has been a town councillor since 2015 and which follows his year of being Deputy Mayor. The new Mayor will be supporting a number of charities including Dorothy House Hospice, Julia’s House and the Caenhill Countryside Centre as well as being out and about town, meeting members of the community and learning more about how various groups and societies support Devizes to be a great place to live.
The Mayor also has a formal role to play in the Council, being its leader and helping steer the Council through some difficult decisions at times, so as to support the Mayor the Council also elects a Deputy Mayor who this year is Councillor John Stevens CBE.
Away from the side of that Council, we have applied for and been granted a licence to plant trees along the highway, so later in the year, we plan to start planting a selection of flowering trees along Windsor Drive, that will not only be a way of increasing carbon capture in future years, but will also be a welcome addition to the street scene.
Over the last few days our open spaces team have been fitting new bike stands in the Market Place, so that is one less excuse for us all to leave our bikes at home!! The new cycle racks form part of a wider plan to make the town more cycle-friendly.
Hopefully, over the last couple of weeks, you will have seen our new street sweeper out and about. Thank you to those who have contacted us to say what a difference it is making, especial in areas like London Road, but don’t worry if it has not got to you yet as it will be out and about over the next few weeks sweeping all the streets in the town.
On Thursday night our venues team, worked closely with the Alzheimer’s Society for what was a very successful funding raising fashion show event. It was great to see events like this taking place in the Corn Exchange and people feeling confident to turn out for an enjoyable evening.
Our open spaces team are also preparing to put out the hanging baskets over the next few weeks and then it will feel like summer has truly arrived. We work with our colleagues at Bournemouth City Council, who have a great nursery department and I will try to get some photographs taken to share on our social media channels of their depot, as it is truly stunning.
Turning to our winter planning, I have been working with Councillors and our Community Engagement Manager on Christmas decorations for 2022. Our current contract has come to an end, so the team met over several hot days to talk all things Christmas to ensure that we are ready to light up the town at the end of November.
Town Clerk, Simon Fisher