By Audrey Miller

Councillor Richard Bickford, was elected as Saltash Mayor for the second year in succession with his wife Sarah as the  mayoress. 

The Mayor Making ceremony was held at Saltash Guildhall on Wednesday, May 24.

Julia Peggs was re-elected as deputy mayor for the second year with her husband Geoff Peggs as her consort.   The mayor will be supporting as his charities Community Kitchen, Saltash Foodbank, and Christians Against Poverty (CAP) during 2023/24.

The civic party entered the Guildhall led by the two town maces carried by Steve Down (town sergeant) and Darren Standlick.  

Saltash has had two maces for many years both carried at civic ceremonies.  Prayers were said by the mayor’s chaplain, minister Tim Parkman followed by the National Anthem. 

The mayor and deputy mayor were elected at the annual meeting of the town council on May 4 ( as required by the Local Government Act).

The town clerk, Sinead Burrows, welcomed everyone and the mayor.

He began his speech saying it was with great sadness he was mentioning the passing of Joe Ellison, former mayor of Saltash who died last week. 

Joe was elected  mayor in 2006 and served for a year. He had achieved many great things for Saltash, and he had passed on the town council’s condolences to Clare (Joe’s wife) and a minute’s silence would be held at the next full meeting of the council.

Cllr Bickford said it had been an honour and a privilege to have gained the support of fellow councillors to have two consecutive years as mayor. Thanking them he said “Please remember to tell me when I am not doing a good job, not that any of you will need reminding!”

Continuing, the mayor said he would not be able to do the job without the support and encouragement of deputy mayor Cllr Julia Peggs, and the enjoyable working relationship with the town clerk.

He added: “We also have a clear vision of how we move the council forward..  Julia continues to chair our services committee and has been instrumental in forming the Friends of Victoria Gardens group that will transform the gardens in the months ahead. Geoff,  Julia’s husband has been a supportive consort to her over the past year and will in the future, and he often brings a unique wit to many civic occasions.”  

Reviewing the past year the mayor said it had been tumultuous with the Platinum Jubilee celebrations to the sombre funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, and the Coronation of King Charles III.   

“During this eventful year, Sarah, and I have been entertained and welcomed all around our wonderful town by many organisations at many diverse and varied events. It is not until you are Mayor that you fully realise how many groups and organisations thee are in Saltash. We have enjoyed representing Saltash around Cornwall, and occasionally crossing the Tamar to England. We look forward to working more closely with neighbouring Councils and strengthening those partnerships.” 

 Speaking about the Saltash Town Council the mayor said: “I believe we have made progress, Sinead has been Town Clerk for a year and we have now recruited an Assistant Town Clerk , and recently a Finance Officer.” 

The town council has agreed to abide by the Civility and Respect Pledge, adding an extra layer to the Code of Conduct and he hoped that councillors and staff would feel more able ‘call out’ any situations where necessary.  

“My goals, hopefully our goals, are to see through the planning projects we have in progress The Waterside Coastal Communities Team have started consultation work (a project started by Joe Ellison), and in June the Town Team will be consulting on plans for the Town Centre.  Linking these two areas will form a core part of our successful Community Levelling up Bid, which we were successful last month.

“Seeing these projects through this phase, and into the next of actual delivery is important to Saltash, we do not want a report to grow dusty on a shelf.

“All these projects are underpinned by the Neighbourhood Development Plan, which is really our Business Plan that has achieved Community Buy –in through referendum.  We also want to strengthen our project planning and prioritisation through our Town Vision Sub Committee as well as starting the conversation on how we update the Neighbourhood Plan itself.”

After the investiture of Sarah as mayoress, and councillor Julia as deputy mayor, and Geoff as her consort, pennies were thrown by the mayor and mayoress from the Guildhall window to a few children waiting below following the town’s ancient tradition, but a change this year with the fruit being given to the children not thrown from the window.   At the same time the bells of St Nicholas and St Faith Church (next door to the Guildhall), rang out to welcome the new mayor.

Donations were presented by the mayor of £1,000 each from his last year’s charity fund, to Sho Frank for the Saltash Environmental Action Group, and to  James Mills for the Saltash Sailing Club Cadet section.  

The ceremony ended with the singing of “Trelawny” and the civic party and guests moved to Isambard House, Saltash Railway Station for light refreshments .  

Guests attending included Deputy Lord Mayor of Plymouth, Cllr Kathy Watkin , the Portreeve and mayor of Callington,  Cllr Sue Tolman, the mayor of Torpoint Gary Davis, and deputy mayor of Liskeard, Cllr Christina Whitty.