It is with great sadness that one of my first duties as Mayor will be to attend the repatriation of  Corporal Brent McCarthy, from RAF Brize Norton and Lance Corporal Lee Davies, from the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards. Cpl McCarthy and Lance Cpl Davies will be deeply missed by their families, friends and colleagues, but they will never be forgotten”.

Cpl McCarthy being stationed at Brize Norton brings home the reality of the dangers faced, and whilst this repatriation is just as tragic as all repatriations, it is perhaps even more poignant for Brize based servicemen and their families”.

The Mayor of Carterton is elected annually at the May meeting of the full council from among the elected Town Councillors. The term of office is one year, but he/she is eligible for re-election. The Mayor facilitates the appointment of a deputy to act during illness or absence, and such deputy must also be a councillor.

The office of mayor is generally regarded as an honour conferred for local distinction, long service on the Council, or for past services. The mayor is expected to devote much of his (or her) time to civic, ceremonial, and representational functions, and to preside over meetings for the advancement of the public welfare. His or her administrative duties include acting as chairman of the meetings of the full council.

The mayor of a town council is officially known as “town mayor” (although in popular phrasing, the word “town” is often dropped). Female mayors are also known as “Mayor”; the wife of a mayor is known as the “Mayoress” whereas the husband of a female mayor is commonly referred to as the “Mayor’s Consort”.

Mayors are not appointed to District Councils which do not have borough status. Their place is taken by the Chairman of the Council, who undertakes exactly the same functions and is, like a Mayor, the civic head of the district concerned.

In May 2010 Cllr Norman MacRae was elected as Mayor of Carterton and I was duly appointed as his deputy. Both Cllr MacRae and myself were re-elected unopposed in May 2011.

The election of Mayor and appointment of Deputy Mayor took place this evening in Carterton Town Hall and having been nominated, seconded and unanimously voted in; I signed the acceptance of office and I have now assumed the role of Mayor of the town of Carterton for the coming year.

I am deeply heartened that my fellow councillors have chosen me to be Mayor for the coming year. Indeed I would like to thank all of my fellow councillors for putting their trust in me.

The role of Town Mayor of Carterton is one that has been fulfilled by some formidable characters over the years. Rather than to focus on the impossible task of filling the shoes of those who have gone before me; I intend to do 3 very simple things during my tenure:

1. To represent and speak up for Carterton.
2. To promote the concept of a bigger and more proactive community.
3.  To see that Carterton gets a fair deal for the future & tax payers get value for money.

Something needed to change and for real change to happen people needed to be inspired and empowered. In order to revitalise our community and help it to thrive we’ve got to accept that Central Government is not going to do everything for us, not anymore. We need to keep asking ‘what can we do together, as a united community where we look out for each other?’

We have already begun to see a shift in political philosophy, from the idea that the role of central Government is to dictate & direct communities to the idea that the role of the Government is to support communities.

Changing our political philosophy of course does not mean that we need to change our core values and beliefs. I still believe in responsibility, enterprise, fairness, aspiration, equality and trust in people.

Many communities have been devastated by crime and a lack of any sort of a sense of community, but in Carterton we are fortunate that crime is low, anti-social behaviour is low and the outstanding sense of community ethos is without equal.

In Carterton when we join together, when we act decisively, and move forward with optimism, we see the opportunity in every challenge; we can make great things happen. We trust in our people for ideas and innovation, encouraging social responsibility, whether tackling unacceptable behaviour on our streets or supporting social enterprises.

When Oxfordshire County Council announced that it could no longer afford to keep our Youth Centre open; did we stamp our feet and demand that government fixes our problems for us? No. We took action as a community, we drew on the experience, creativity and indomitable spirit of our people and we found an innovative community led solution – we (Carterton Town Council) bought the building through the Big Society grant funding scheme and we worked with the private sector to figure out how best to operate the building so that it not only pays for itself, but it generates a modest surplus.

I have had the pleasure of serving as a School Governor at one of our Primary Schools in Carterton and I now serve as a Community Governor at Carterton Community College and I have seen our schools continuing to raise standards and restore discipline.

I sense in Carterton that we know that if we don’t stand up and speak out for our town then nobody is going to do it for us. We have fought for everything that we have achieved, and we will continue to fight for a fair deal for Carterton and value for money for our tax-payers.

I want to take this opportunity to ask for your views on a number of subjects. Please use the contact form if you have questions, comments or ideas on matters such as:

Housing
Town Centre Development
Education & Provision for Young People
Sports Facilities (including outdoor pitches and indoor facilities)
Allotments
Public Spaces
Events & Activities
Highways & Traffic
Community Safety & Policing
Public engagement/consultation

They lost their lives in a mortar attack in Afghanistan on Friday and were both repatriated to RAF Brize Norton yesterday. Family, friends and regiment colleagues were joined by more than 800 people from the local community and indeed people from far and wide, to pay tribute to these fallen soldiers at the purpose built memorial garden in Norton Way.

Every repatriation has been different, sometimes in the most subtle ways, the community turnout, the families, the uniformed colleagues, the veterans, the weather and indeed the sense of a collective display of respect and sorrow; all contribute to making these solemn occasions something that will stay with me forever.

Pte Silibaravi was born in Fiji and the Fijian community sang hymns as the cortege came to a rest in front of the families. I thought it was very fitting that the cortege was held at the Memorial Garden a little longer than usual to allow those singing hymns to do so in their own unique display of utter respect for those brave men.

In terms of the family, friends and colleagues of those repatriated; you can’t help but wonder whether the reality of the situation has yet properly sunk in, and how each individual grieving relative is coping with what is such a devastating and life changing incident.

The families of both servicemen repatriated yesterday were looked after by members of the Royal British Legion, as they do at each and every repatriation ceremony. The feedback that these wonderful volunteers receive from the families of the fallen must be what keeps them going and seems to have enhanced an ingrained sense of duty that is truly admirable.

I am deeply thankful to all those who have been moved to pay their respects to fallen military personnel, whether they do so in their own homes, at some place along the route, at the Memorial Garden or anywhere else. I am also extremely proud of all those who volunteer their time in support of repatriations; the Carterton Lions who steward the car parks, the ladies from the U3A who provide refreshments at the pavilion, the RBL Families Liaison Team, the standard bearers, the people who cut the grass/pick the litter/sweep the road and to those representing various organisations such as local councils, Thames Valley Police and The Oxfordshire Lieutenancy – thank you.

Each time the crowds disperse, the cortege having made its way toward the hospital, we hope never to need to use the Memorial Garden again, but in reality we know that it will unfortunately be required. In June a Repatriation Memorial Bell will be installed opposite the Memorial Garden where it will toll to signal the arrival of a repatriation cortege, I will provide further details about this nearer to the time of unveiling.

• New parents will be able to swap leave of absence from work thus allowing fathers to spend more time with their new children.
• A flat-rate pension of £140 a week will be introduced; this constitutes the biggest pension reform since the advent of state pensions.
• Tighter censorship and regulation of media such as music videos & computer games.
• Excessive boardroom pay in the City is to be tackled.
• Banks will be broken up; High Street retail operations will be separated from the higher risk investments.
• If William & Kate have a daughter; new Royal reform would mean that she would become Queen.
• A significant Immigration crackdown – relatives who are denied short-term visas will no longer have the right to appeal.
• House of Lords reform, although as we have heard from Cameron, Clegg and Osbourne in recent weeks; dealing with the deficit and rebalancing the economy remains the number one priority.

This is being cited as Mr Cameron’s and indeed Mr Clegg’s fight-back following heavy losses in last week’s local government elections.

There is likely to be a huge political row as the Government announces that it is pressing on with the House of Lords reform despite stiff opposition from some Conservative MPs. Mr Cameron has perhaps been rather coerced into the reform by the Liberal Democrat’s, as part of their coalition agreement, Mr Clegg may therefore be a more influential partner than most had anticipated.

Mr Cameron referred again today to a ‘list of things’ that he wants to do but that he just can’t at the moment, those things will undoubtedly form the basis of his Conservative manifesto.

The coalition committed to legislating for gay marriage by the end of this parliament; however, there was no mention of gay marriage anywhere in the Queen’s speech today.

In a most unwelcome return to the punch & Judy politics that we are all so sick of now;  Mr Miliband criticised the PM for referring to ‘austerity cuts’ as ‘efficiency savings’, he said ‘In two years, you have gone from David Cameron to David Brent’. Back to the old routine then!