Town Council Report
Town Council Report
It is a great honour to be asked to serve as Town Mayor and Council Chairman, a position to which I hope I can do justice. My wife and I love Amble and its warm friendly people – to be given the opportunity to represent them is an enormous privilege which I will carry out to the very best of my ability.
I thank Robert Arckless who after only one year has decided not to continue – we can all understand that the pressures of serving on Northumberland County Council, combined with the demands of Mayor and Council Chairman, are a tremendous strain on his health. He has seen many changes in over twenty years as a local Councillor- some good, some questionable, but through it all he stuck to his task when more able bodied people would have walked away. He has always done his very best for the people of Amble and will continue to do so in his Town and County roles. We all admire his determination to be independent and wish him a speedy return to do good health. |
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Councillor Leslie Bilboe |
I would like to thank my fellow Councillors for their work but give special thanks to Councillor Lewis for all the hard work she does not only in committees but also on policies and procedures. Rest assured I will need everyone’s continued help, support and input to fulfil my duties.
Changes are taking place- the most recent to the Arriva bus service and Alnmouth station. It is sad to see a reduced bus service and after spending a lot of money enlarging the station car park, we are to lose some train services- it seems crazy to me when more people are giving up their cars to use buses and trains.
With the new government there will be more changes on how local Councils are run- more cutbacks in the pipeline mean tighter budgets to spend on services. I believe future local councils could revert back to be like the old urban councils with greater responsibility for their own services and affairs; unfortunately cash and land assets are no longer there to help them financially. Thankfully we have a very professional Town Council whose expertise gained over the years will carry us through the very difficult and challenging period ahead.
Councillor Leslie Bilboe
Chairman, Amble Town Council