Saturday Surgery

It has become the tradition in recent years for the newly elected Mayor to attend the first Saturday Surgery after Mayor Making, so that is what I did today!

Since the inception of Newbury Town Council in May 1997, Councillors have taken it in turns to hold a surgery on the Town Hall steps from 10am till 12 noon on Saturdays. It is an opportunity for townspeople to bring up issues and discuss them with Councillors - typically things like litter, potholes, overgrown bushes, but also planning applications and suggestions for improvements. Over the years a number of Town Council initiatives have arisen from surgery suggestions. One of the best being the suggestion for Art on the Park, (which is on tomorrow) which was picked up by Councillor Sue Farrant a number of years ago, and is now a successful stand alone event.

Today I was on the steps with fellow Victoria Ward Councillor Paul Walter, who has to be one of our keenest case workers - see his list of activity on www.walter.org.uk.

It was good to see a number of familiar faces this morning, - and some complete strangers who came up to congratulate me and shake my hand. An ex US serviceman from Indianapolis came by - he'd been stationed at Greenham in the early 1980s, and had attended church services in the Town Hall chamber, so Paul took him upstairs to have a look around.

Of course you can get a live view of the town hall on the webcam of www.newburytoday.co.uk now, so you can see who is on duty on Saturdays!