Election of new Melton Mayor is postponed

Councillor Peter Faulkner, the current Deputy Mayor, was due to take over the borough’s top civic role at the council’s annual meeting last night (Thursday).

But after talks with officials and current Mayor, Councillor Malise Graham, it was agreed that both men would stay in their present roles for now.

Members voted to keep the status quo after chief executive Edd de Coverly told the meeting, which was broadcast on You Tube with councillors joining from their own homes, that the situation had come about because all civic events had been cancelled while social distancing guidelines were in place.

Councillor Graham told the meeting: “It is a great honour to be asked to continue as Mayor.

“Hopefully I will be able to hand the chains of office over to Councillor Faulkner in July if the situation allows.

“I would like to thank everyone in the NHS for their work, our council officials for keeping everything going for residents and our excellent household waste collection teams for continuing to do their jobs through the crisis.

“We owe them a great debt.”

The Mayor, who is 70, decided to self-isolate in March because he falls into the age range deemed vulnerable by the government to contracting the virus.

He added at the meeting: “I was incredibly sad that I was unable to represent the borough at the planned events to celebrate VE Day last week but of course they had to be cancelled.

“Myself and Councillor Faulkner are both hoping we can resume normal service as soon as possible.”

Councillors voted to keep the existing mayoral arrangements in place ‘until such time as current national restrictions in relation to the coronavirus pandemic are lifted or until the expiry of a period of six months, whichever occurs sooner’.

Councillor Elaine Holmes praised the service the Mayor has alread given in the role, telling the meeting: “He has done a fantastic job up to now.

“I was at his civic service and I must say I’ve never been to one like it before - it was quite incredible and brilliant.”

The meeting also elected Councillor Joe Orson as leader for another three years - he was voted into the post last year but that should have formally been agreed then as a four-year term of office.

He was proposed by Councillor Ronan Browne, who praised his colleague’s leadership qualities and the way he had dealt with several challenging issues in the borough over the last 12 months.

Councillor Orson’s election was passed with 22 votes in favour and six abstentions.

He told the meeting he would liaise closely with the newly-elected leader of the opposition group, the Independent Greens, Chris Evans, in a bid to achieve the best outcomes for the borough.

Councillor Orson said he was proud of the way the council had responded to the Covid-19 crisis, by supporting vulnerable residents and paying grants to businesses, and that they would contine to work towards key aims such as establishing a second GP surgery for Melton and ensuring the Melton Mowbray Distributor Road is built on schedule.