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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Tewkesbury Abbey

Contact: Democratic Services Tel: 01684 272021  Email:  democraticservices@tewkesbury.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

1.1             Apologies for absence were received from Councillors P A Godwin, E J MacTiernan, G C Madle, C E Mills, J P Mills and J K Smith. 

2.

Election of Mayor

To elect a Mayor for the Borough for the ensuing year.    

Minutes:

2.1             With the retiring Mayor, John Murphy, in the Chair, it was proposed by Councillor Mary Jordan and seconded by Councillor Richard Stanley, that Councillor Ian Yates be, and is hereby elected, Mayor of the Borough of Tewkesbury for the ensuing Municipal Year.

2.2             On the Motion being put to the meeting it was declared to be carried, whereupon the Mayor took the Chair, signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office and took the Oath of Allegiance to His Majesty the King.  

2.3             In thanking Members for the privilege of being elected Mayor of the Borough of Tewkesbury, Councillor Yates stated that he was profoundly honoured by the trust placed in him and promised to do all he could to live up to that trust. Councillor Yates thanked the Democratic Services Team for their hard work since the election and all officers for making the first few days of the new Council easier than they might otherwise have been. He advised that he had not chosen a Chaplain; being a Methodist Minister himself, he regarded all Ministers as brothers and sisters and during his year in Office he intended to invite several colleagues to assist him. His chosen charity for the year would be the food banks across the Borough – he was profoundly saddened by anyone having to be hungry but especially children. Finally, the Mayor announced that his wife, Christine, would be his Mayoress for the year. For the past 50 years she had been his constant companion and any good things he had done/good ideas he had had were due to her input. He was delighted to name her as his Mayoress and looked forward to attending engagements with her.

3.

Retiring Mayor - John Murphy

Minutes:

3.1             Councillor Jim Mason expressed the Council’s thanks to John Murphy for his service to the Borough. He explained that 12 months ago he had the privilege to propose John for the position of Mayor as he knew he would be excellent in the role. He felt John had been a fantastic Ambassador for the Borough and, together with his Mayoress Anne, he had attended over 60 functions and events despite having to take time out for a couple of months due to a nasty accident. At Council meetings, he had been a fair and impartial Chair who managed meetings expertly and with a quiet authority ensuring a smooth transaction of business. Councillor Mason expressed his sadness at John having lost his seat in the recent local elections and felt he would be missed, especially in his role as Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. He indicated that John had conducted his Mayoral Year with great dignity and decorum, had been very popular out in the community and was spoken of with great affection and warmth – he had great support from Anne and together they had worked tirelessly with compassion and commitment making everyone feel comfortable with their relaxed way. It had been a very successful Mayoral year full of great memories for the community as well as for John and Anne.

3.2             John Murphy thanked Councillor Jim Mason for his words of thanks and expressed what a privilege it had been to be Mayor; he had been thinking about his experiences over the past year and, setting aside Council meetings, he had been to many civic events with the Chain Gang and had attended too numerous engagements to count; however, there were some highlights he had to mention including commemorating the death of Her Majesty the Queen and subsequent Proclamation of the ascent of King Charles III – the Proclamation was a page of A4 with one full stop making it quite difficult to deliver. However, the main message of the year was how much really good work the citizens of Tewkesbury Borough did. John Murphy referred to Tom Cat which was a firm to which he had the privilege of awarding its second Queens Award for Industry – they produced tricycles for severely disabled children and customised them so they grew with them as they got older – they had even developed the business as they saw an opportunity for older people in Florida. In addition, the Butterfly Garden was run by an amazing person who had built up a charity to help people with learning difficulties/disabilities to do art, plays, look after plants etc. Both organisations had shown him what joy people were bringing to the Borough.

3.3             The Worshipful the Mayor, Councillor Yates, presented John Murphy with a Past Mayor’s Badge; Mrs Murphy presented the new Mayoress with the Mayoress’ Badge of Office; and the new Mayoress presented Mrs Murphy with a Past Mayoress’ Badge. Flowers were presented to the new Mayoress and to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

Appointment of Deputy Mayor

To appoint a Deputy Mayor for the Borough for the ensuing year.   

Minutes:

4.1             It was proposed, seconded and

RESOLVED          That the appointment of Deputy Mayor be adjourned until the June meeting of the Council.

5.

Adjournment

Minutes:

5.1             Upon the Motion of the Mayor, the meeting of the Council stood adjourned until Tuesday 17 May 2023 at 6.00pm.    

6.

Resumption

Minutes:

6.1             The meeting then resumed in the Severn Room of the Tewkesbury Borough Council Offices, Gloucester Road, Tewkesbury on Tuesday 17 May 2023, when the attendance was as follows: