Mayor steps down

Llanfyllin has a new Mayor after Simon Baynes announced that he has stepped down as a town councillor.

Mr Baynes made the decision so that he can focus on the next general election where he will run as a Conservative competing for the Clwyd South seat.

“I was recently selected to contest the neighbouring parliamentary seat of Clwyd South and therefore felt, sadly, that I had to tender my resignation as Mayor of Llanfyllin and as a Town Councillor,” he said. “I am delighted to say that Peter Lewis was unanimously voted by the Town Councillors as my successor as Mayor.

“It has been an honour and a great pleasure to be Mayor over the last 18 months and I want to thank our Deputy Mayor, Tracey Windsor, all the other Town Councillors and our Town Clerk Jonathan Bellingham for their support and hard work on behalf of our community. I will be cheering them on from the side-lines.

“Together we have achieved so much over the last 18 months including re-opening the public toilets and doubling the street cleaning budget so our town now looks neat and tidy (special thanks to Jay Bailey and Clive Heaton). We have supported Cae Bodfach and the Wetlands and taken the allotments back under Town control thereby enabling over 10 new families to have an allotment.

“We have preserved our Library, supported Y Dolydd and St Myllin’s Church, started the Farmers Market and have plans for a Llanfyllin Arts Weekend (8-10 May 2020).

“Above all we have shown that by judicious Town Council investment and fantastic community spirit, helped by a welcome willingness on the part of the local media to report on our activities, you can regenerate a rural town and enable it to flourish and realise its full potential.”

PICTURE: Mr Baynes in one of his last public appointments as Mayor.