The Mayor and Mayoress of Great Aycliffe, Ken and Elaine Robson, were thrilled to be invited to the Methodist Ladies Group this week to present a short talk on the workings of being Mayor and Mayoress of our wonderful town.
We had a fantastic welcome at the Neville Parade church hall by the ladies and, as you would expect, were treated to a lovely cup of tea and cake. The Mayor delivered a humorous look into the civic side of the role and related a few stories followed by a probing question and answer session from the ladies who were surprisingly well versed in local affairs.
Amongst queries expressed by the group were:
Are we getting public toilets in our town centre as part of the proposed revamp?
Are the council considering the removal of the senior citizens trips?
I also received a complaint about the cleanliness of the town centre bus stand, the loss of our market, which is deeply missed, and the lack of diversity of our retail offer.
This is one of the best parts of the job with an opportunity to talk to the public about their concerns and high upon the priority list of this group was the adjacent church roof which is in desperate need of repair.
I would like to express my thanks to Margaret Willis and the members of this group for inviting us to join them, it was a great privilege.
Cllr Ken & Elaine Robson, Mayor and Mayoress of Great Aycliffe