Midsomer Norton gets new mayor - Paul Myers promises "down-to-earth" approach

Midsomer Norton has a new mayor - it is the chairman of the newly elected town council Paul Myers.

At the first meeting of the new Midsomer Norton Town Council today, Mr Myers was voted in as chairman and then as Mayor.

He promised that he would be a "down-to-earth mayor" who will not spend all his time on official duties.

Mr Myers told the meeting: "I do not feel comfortable with the idea of robes, funny hats and maces. I would not be happy getting mixed up in all that. 

"We could start a new tradition, a down-to-earth mayor who you could meet in the street and talk to. That's a vision I could go with."

At the meeting Paul Myers was first elected as chairman, and then as mayor.

Of the 11 newly elected Midsomer Norton town councillors, nine voted in favour of making the chairman  of the council also the town mayor.

Councillor Michael Evans said: "I am in support of the idea. We do not have a lot of money or power, what we can hope to have is some influence."

The chains for the mayor will be provided for free by Midsomer Norton Society, according to its chairman Roy Harvey, who was once of six members of the public who addressed the new council at the start of the meeting.

Councillor Linda Dunford was elected deputy mayor in a secret ballot.

About 40 people turned up at the first meeting of Midsomer Norton Town Council. 

The 11 councillors elected last week are: Paul Myers, Linda Dunford, Steve Plumley, Simon Wellington, Michael Evans, Pete Mocock, Jane Lewis, Lynda Robertson, Brian Lawrence, Richard Robertson, and John Slade.

Three members of the new council, Michael Evans, John Slade and Pete Mocock, sat on the former Norton Radstock Town Council before it was abolished at the end of March.

A three-way split of Norton Radstock Town Council was approved in 2010 following a Community Governance Review. This gave the green light for a change in parish level governance for the first time in more than 75 years.

Three separate town councils for Midsomer Norton, Westfield and Radstock now cover the area previously governed by Norton Radstock Town Council.