Minutes:
The Leader of the Council Councillor J Oates made the following announcement.
Thank you Madam Mayor I would like to welcome to the new Councillors Sarah Daniels, Samuel Smith, Paul Turner, and Janice Wadrup, look forward to working with you and this is where it starts. All the work we have done on the door steps over the last few weeks its time to leave a lot of that at the door. When it comes to committees particularly with Scrutiny the responsibility sits on your shoulders to challenge and to drive and push the Borough Council the same way it does everybody else in this room. It’s going to be a tough learning curve and by September you are going to be frustrated and annoyed but by December you will be clear again and actually it all drops into place and I look forward to working with you all.
I would also like to welcome back Richard Kingstone, a Councillor for eight years then a year off and back again. I look forward to working with you Richard you always bought common sense into discussions and its odd that this is our first meeting back in the Town Hall after the pandemic and the last meeting we had in this room Richard stood and told us the whole world was about to change and we rushed through the agenda and went t the pub and two days later we weren’t allowed to go to the pub anymore. So it’s an appropriate time that you are back for our first meeting at the Town Hall.
I would also like to, play tribute to John Chesworth who did two terms of service to this council. He was mayor and a Cabinet member prior to him finishing in May and he followed in his father who was also mayor and served this town a few years ago.
Steve Pritchard decided it was time to hang up his gloves. I’m not sure if the Labour group noticed that he was our political grenade thrower. If we wanted the debate spicing up you only had to nudge Steve and he’d lob a grenade in and sit back and watch it all explode. I will miss Steve on the council and wish him well in his retirement.
Mr Michael Oates who is sate at the back he as done 4 terms on this council two terms then a break then and then another two terms. He started standing for Council in the 1980’s and as stood in all of the then 8 out of 9 wards. In fact I do recall him referring to councillors as low down the political hierarchy. In 2002 he stood as a paper candidate and in 2003 he decided he was going to join me on the Council and stood in a bye-election when Derrek Jones resigned. The reason I am spending so much time on my dad is not just because he’s my dad but actually we are standing on the shoulder of giants and the stuff we are doing now is only possible because f the work my dad and others have done in past 43 years. So its going to be a big change for him being out of politics and he bought some changes in when he was Chair of Licensing and its going to be difficult for him no longer being on the Council and no longer being politically active. I would like to put on record now that I would like to thank him for the political leadership he as given to the Council and the conservative party and the town in the last 43 years and I would also like to thank Steve Pritchard and John Chesworth for their contribution and at the last meeting we thanked Simon Peaple and Ken Norchi. So, it’s going to be a shift change for Tamworth Borough Council they have done some wonderful things and I’m looking forward to working with the new Councillors going forward.
Councillor Sheree Peaple requested to speak.
Thank you Madam mayor, I would like to say thank you to Michael Oates for his hard work as Mayor and his service on the Council on behalf of the Labour and Co-operative party and the opposition and also yourself Madam Mayor congratulations and I hope you have a wonderful year ahead. Councillor Cook well you took up the challenge, when my husband stood as Mayor in1997 our children were six and four, I think you will find it an interesting experience, but all the very best And I hope you enjoy your year.