I commenced
this Municipal year having been honoured by becoming the Mayor of Kirklees, I
was extremely proud for my family, my friends and Dewsbury the place, I was
born and lived for 58 years. I want to thank my Colleagues for this opportunity
to represent the Council as the First Citizen.
We have met
many people and volunteers through this last 2 years , it has been a joy to be
involved in the great work that they do to support the diverse communities in
Kirklees. I want to thank them on behalf of the Council and the people of
Kirklees, for all the work they do, in the areas where we live and the
communities we serve.It is usual to reflect on the twelve months that we have served but given that we did so much last year as Deputy Mayor I feel, we have served enough time, to truly enforce the status of Mayor, we have seen so much, done so much and met so many lovely people, that I can comment on 2 years of utter wonderfulness.
I hope the profile of the Mayor has been raised with the assistance of the people we have met and who, invited us to their events, they should be proud of themselves.
When we went into schools, we iterate the fact that we live in such a large geographical area, in the most wonderful part of a wonderful country and live among some lovely people; this is something I truly believe.
We have done
so many things and met so many characters, in this time; it has been an
absolute pleasure. Someone said to me before I started that “you will never be
the same person” this is quite true.
The honour
of representing the council and the esteem shown to us will live with us for
the rest of our lives.
Participation at Full Council and
Committees:
Although
Deputy Mayor last year I don’t think anything prepares you for being in charge
of the full council, we had some very emotional debates on various issues and
in most parts other Councillors were well behaved, it does still take a strong
character to keep colleagues in order.
Due to the
amount of events we carried out as Mayor I found many of these conflicted with
some committees, I would like to thank my ward colleagues and other members for
their understanding. That being said I did still mange to attend a large amount
of meetings and have dealt with many ward and area issues.
I continue
to attend many Tenants and residents groups, listening to local issues,
anti-social behaviour problems waste and rubbish management and investment
needs. This I feel is extremely important.
As a member
of Dewsbury District Committee I have been successful in gaining financial
support for many groups in my Ward and seeing some much needed inward
investment.
I supported
many local individuals and groups through the fantastic “its up to you” funding
which secures the existence of many groups with a small amount of money.
Participation on Outside Bodies:
I continue
to be a member of Dewsbury Endowed Trust, Greenwood Homes Trust.
Ward Work:
I have dealt
with many individual cases in my role as Councillor but can say that it has been
a very hard year as it was my Election year too.
I have
managed to secure much needed investment for highways improvements across the
whole ward this year.
Achievements during the year:
I have to
say that the biggest achievement is to be re-elected as Councillor for Dewsbury
East this year, we all worked very hard to secure this victory, starting work
on the election straight after Christmas.
I want to take
this opportunity to thank my team and the people of Dewsbury East
Members Surgeries:
We continue
to hold surgeries at Dewsbury Town Hall the first Wednesday in the month,
street surgeries are also carried out.
We also
ensure the residents of Dewsbury East are informed of many major changes within
the Council to ensure they are aware of Government savings and cuts.
We provide
correspondence to ward members on various issues, consultation, investment,
service changes, throughout the year
We also
attend many action and pressure group committees.
Training:
I have to
admit that I have done very little training due to other commitments this year
but will do so this year.
