Minutes:
The Mayor of Tamworth, Councillor G Coates made the following announcement
First let me welcome the new councillors to council, I hope you enjoy your time on the council whatever roles you have over the next few years. To the returning councillors, hello again and I thank you for all the advice and support you gave me in my first 12 months as a councillor. I would like to see the same olive branch that was given to me, also give to the new councillors.
As many previous Mayors have said in the past, it is a great honour and privilege to in this position. So, thank you to the councillors that have elected me as Mayor of Tamworth for the next 12 Months.
I was asked what I would like to do and accomplish in the next 12 months as Mayor, asking for the Assembly room to put Die Hard back on at Christmas time wasn’t the correct answer apparently.
So as there are no local borough elections at the end of my time as Mayor, I would hope and like to see all in this chamber working 100% for the residents of Tamworth, not using local issues to make political statements that only benefit them and not the residents of our town. Let’s show the people of Tamworth that we are listening to them and working for them.
As you can tell I like my food, and I know we have a lot of food festivals in the town, I feel it would be nice if we could hold one in the town centre not on the castle grounds but around the market areas. Encouraging more people to spend time in our town centre.
I also want to promote all the positive things that Tamworth has to offer, from the events, businesses and local charities that do great work in our communities. Tamworth has so much to offer not just to the residents but the rest of the country. Tamworth FC now in the National League, making Tamworth an away day destination to a larger group of football fans. We have the Tamworth Town ale Trail that takes you around many great pubs we have in the town,
I will be promoting other businesses around Tamworth, as a councillor not only should we be sharing the many events that happen in Tamworth but the many and varied businesses that we have here.
Finally, a BIG thank you to my wife Sally, my daughters Alex and Katie, who have supported so much with their help and also the residents of Spital ward who voted for me in 2023, which has now led me today becoming Tamworth’s 143rd Mayor.
The Leader of the Council made the following announcement,
I would like to start by congratulating you - and wishing you and Sally an enjoyable and successful year as Tamworth’s first citizens. I know you will be a fabulous ambassador for our town.
Thank you also to John Harper for the work you have done over the last year. And we wish John and Maureen well in your retirement from civic duties. I hope you will take some time for yourself now John and we look forward to seeing you both around the town.
I would like to express my thanks to the those former Cllrs not here today whether they retired or were unsuccessful on 2 May, it is important to acknowledge the contribution you have all made over what has for some been 20 years’ service. Your experience will be missed.
Also, congratulations to our new Chief Executive, Stephen Gabriel as he attends his first Annual Council meeting. We look forward to working with you as we all move towards improving the town and the quality of services we provide.
So, my next thanks and probably most important go to the people of Tamworth who have put their trust in our local labour party to lead the town through what are, we know, going to be some difficult, challenging times. We are committed to living up to the faith people have shown in us. We feel honoured to be given the opportunity to serve our Town.
We have been listening to local people and they want change. As we lead the Council going forward, we will continue to listen and put the needs and views of the local people at the heart of everything we do, making sure your voices are heard.
The last year has been interesting with its challenges and successes. We had an amazing set of results on 2 May and we now have an opportunity after 20 years to make real different to the lives of local people, here in Tamworth. We take over at a challenging time for the country and our Town. As a result of 14 years of national Tory government, local authorities find themselves with extremely tight budgets.
But whatever the reason for our current situation we need to work together, all the councillors in this room, working hard for all the people of Tamworth. Our residents, businesses and other stakeholders.
And I feel for most of the last year we have worked well together, as I said at the beginning of last year, our group is here to make a difference and we will not oppose things for the sake of it. As we take over control of the council, we still want to work collegiately with everyone, whatever party. We all want what is best for Tamworth, that’s why we’re here.
Because it is going to be really challenging over the next few years, we must remain focused on our job and why we all came into politics. It’s about listening to people of Tamworth and delivering better, more responsive services for them, having ambition for our town and a vision to improve things for everyone. And making sure we bring people with us on that journey. It’s not about our own importance or status as councillors and our own egos.
In order to achieve the change, we want we will need to work with a variety of different partners, whether they be businesses, local community groups, charities and other authorities, BUT, most importantly the people of Tamworth.
We will do things differently and make different choices. We will bring a new collaborative and co-operative politics to Tamworth, for the benefit of everyone. We want to bring our Town together for a fresh start.
We also want to bring change to the way we do politics here in Tamworth. People are not impressed with the Punch and Judy style of party politics that we see at prime minister’s questions.
We all need to be the grown-ups. We need to work as collaboratively and co-operatively with everyone as much as possible, and that includes everyone in this room. So, where we agree with other parties on specific issues, we will work with them for the common good.
This last year has shown most of us want the same outcome. But we have different ways of achieving it and different priorities. Some people will call me naive, but I believe we can work more constructively together and do things differently here in Tamworth, especially if our focus is always putting the town first. So, I want to be positive about the future despite the challenges we face.
And as we go forward our priorities will continue to be the issues the voters elected us on:
- Providing face to face services for local people
- Investing in creating a vibrant, regenerated town centre.
- Cleaning up our streets and cracking down on fly tipping - making sure there
are no forgotten areas or estates.
- Tacking crime and anti-social behaviour
- Supporting people with the costing of living in whatever way we can
We are ambitious for own Town’s future. We can and will deliver the fresh start Tamworth deserves. And we will ensure that wherever possible, everyone is informed and feels included.
I would like to finish on a personal note. In acknowledging the role, I take on today I could not let is pass without paying tribute to my friend and mentor, the late Terry Dix who is the reason I became a councillor back in 2001. Terry always gave me the confidence and support to believe in myself. And I owe this success to him. Thank you, Terry.
Thank you for allowing me to speak Mr Mayor, I look forward to the year ahead. The hard work starts now.