Update on the position of Chair of the Council

Each May the Town Council holds its statutory Annual Meeting, where committee memberships are chosen, policies are reviewed, and the chair of the council, also known as the mayor, is selected for the year ahead. This year, however, the Council was unable to agree on a mayor for 2023/24. Cllr Stuart Anderton stepped in until a longer term solution is found at next month’s meeting, and was unanimously elected as chair.

The role of town mayor is predominantly ceremonial; largely restricted to chairing of the monthly main council meeting and representing the council at external meetings and council events. The mayor has no more power or authority than any other councillor, aside from being able to call additional council meetings and use a casting vote.

The outgoing mayor, Cllr Ewan Jones, whose term expired last month, had held the position since 2019.  In the last four years the town council has overseen some significant changes and projects, not least the declaration of a Climate Emergency with the subsequent foundation of One Planet Bruton and the Bruton & Cary Retrofit project, improvements to Station Road car park, construction of the Abbey Ponds path, and the streamlining of the way the Council operates. Ewan has played an active role together with other council members in all of these projects.

Councillors wish to thank Ewan for four years of hard work as mayor representing our town, especially during the difficulties of Covid and the creation of the new Somerset Council.

At the next meeting on June 27th the Council will discuss and decide how it wishes to handle the chairmanship for the rest of the council year.

Here are the draft minutes of the meeting last week.