The Mayor
The Council is headed by the Worshipful the Mayor of the Borough of
Crewe and
Nantwich and the Leader of the Council, both of whom are elected
annually by their fellow councillors.
Councillor Brian Silvester is the Mayor, following the
annual Council meeting held on 14th May
2008.
The Mayor’s Acceptance Speech
Honorary Freemen, Honorary Aldermen,
Councillors, Distinguished guests, Ladies and
Gentelmen. I would like to thank the Council for bestowing on me
the great honour of being the ‘last first
citizen’ of the Borough.
To become Mayor of the Borough you were born
in, you went to school in, you have lived in and
worked in, all your life, is something very special indeed. I was
born in the house next door to Churches Mansion in
Nantwich. I might be the last Mayor of the
Borough but I am the first Dabber to be Mayor.
I started school at Manor Road Primary School,
as my father had before me. However my first day at
school was not a complete success. I decided that school
wasn’t for me, and part way through the day I eyed my chance,
grabbed my coat and ran home through the Crofts. From
then on the teacher ensured I wasn’t seated by the door.
Clearly I was displaying my rebellious nature at a young
age. I moved on from the Manor Road School to the
Nantwich and Acton Grammer School, now Malbank School in
Welsh Row.
I was a Member of the Nantwich Young Farmers,
representing them in Debating and Public Speaking Competitions and
at football. I joined the Nantwich Young Conservatives and in 1976
at the age of 24 I was elected to the Shavington cum Gresty Ward of
the Borough Council and the Shavington cum Gresty Parish
Council.
I would like to put on record my thanks to the
residents of Shavington and Rope and since 1999, the residents of
Willaston Ward for giving me the honour of representing
them. Their support has allowed me to lead this Council and
has now enabled me to become Mayor.I would also like to thank the
Conservative Party in Rope, Shavington, Willaston and Wistaston for
selecting me to be their candidate over the years. I am
particularly pleased that following the first elections to the new
Cheshire East Council that I am back representing Shavington and
Rope as well as Willaston and Wistaston.
I am sure that my late parents would have been proud of the honour
that has been conferred on me today. My mother never new her
parents, she was raised by an Aunt and began working as a maid in
service at the age of 14 in Spurstow. Having left school at such a
young age she always ensured that her three sons availed themselves
of the educational opportunities that were denied her.
My father was a well known figure in Nantwich,
running his butchers shop in Welsh Row for many years. Even
now when I canvas in Nantwich I often meet members of the older
generation who knew Albert. My father also farmed, first at
Nantwich and later at Shavington, and was a respected figure in the
farming community. I also remember at this time my late
sister, Catherine, who died as a baby.
I am delighted my partner Sheila is to be my
Mayoress. Sheila has come relatively recently to this strange
world of local politics and I must say she has adapted to it very
well. She is one of these rare people who brightens up any
room she is in.
I am also very pleased that my long
standing colleague, Rachel Bailey has agreed to be my Deputy
Mayor. I have become used to Rachel bossing me around in our
group on the Council, she will now be able to boss me around as
Mayor! I am sure that Rachel and Steve will be an able
support team to Sheila and myself.
As the Mayoral Team we will serve the Borough
and do our best to justify the trust that has been placed in us
today.
The Mayoral Theme for the year will be
Lifelong Learning. It is something that I strongly believe
in. I have always taken opportunities to enhance my education
during my life. After every Council meeting for example I go home
and say, “ well that has taught me a lesson!!”
Since leaving school I have attended the South
Cheshire College and qualified to teach in further and adult
education. In 1993 I qualified as a lay school inspector and
went on to inspect over 250 schools of all types all around the
country. When I lost my Council seat in 1995 I took the
opportunity of taking an honours degree in politics and business
studies.
We are fortunate to have many good learning
opportunities within the Borough and are delighted with the
positive relationships we have developed as a Council with
Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), the South Cheshire
College and the Reaseheath College.
The well established Lifelong Learning Partnership works hard to
improve access and opportunities for learning for all our
residents. I will be working with the Partnership on several
projects during my Mayoral year, including:
A fun “learning day” at one of the Children’s
Centres during Adult Learners Week.
Recognising and celebrating the achievements of local learners at
the Borough Forum on 21st May where I will be pleased to
present the awards. There are many more worthwhile projects
taking place over the coming months, including:
We will have six Learning Champions – six
local people who will work with communities to help residents to
gain the confidence to access learning·
Widening Participation Courses are courses which improve access to
learning by encouraging local people to access fun informal
learning – which can then be built on. For example, local mums
taking part in cookery classes – then moving on to GCSE English and
Maths·
Community Capacity Building Courses which bring residents,
Councillors and organisations together to empower people to get
things done in their local area, influence local decisions and
improve community involvement.
Learning is something that we all can embrace
and it really does make a difference to people’s lives and
aspirations. – I want to do everything I can to help and encourage
this.
This might be this Council’s last year but you
can be assured that progress will be made in many areas and on a
large number of projects. The £6m restoration of Queen’s Park, the
re-development plans for both our town centres and the continuation
of community safety schemes like Alley Gating are just some
examples.
Before I close I would like to thank you Cllr
Jones for your kind comments and welcome to me this
afternoon. It is good that the former Mayor, a Willaston
resident, is handing over to the new Mayor, a Willaston
Councillor. Clearly Willaston is the centre of the
Universe.
I would like to congratulate you Cllr Jones
and your Civic Team for your hard work on behalf the
Borough. Forgive the pun, but you took the setback of your
knee operation in your stride and hardly missed an engagement, but
when you did the Deputy Mayor stepped in with aplomb.
In conclusion it is obviously sad that this
the final year of the Borough Council.Two tier local government in
Crewe and Nantwich is fading into the mists of history. It is
without doubt that during the course of the demise of the council,
tears of a different kind will be shed. But the tears will not
disguise that fact that we are a dynamic Borough and we are the
fastest growing Borough in Cheshire. This Borough Council has
a proud record of taking this Borough forward. I thank all our
staff and members, and those who have gone before us, for those
achievements. Although the Borough Council is being abolished,
I am sure that the Borough will go from strength to
strength. We must look upon the new Cheshire East Council as
the next stage of our evolution and welcome the opportunities that
will now open up to us.