The following statement was delivered at the Annual Town Council meeting held on 19th May 2015 at Ruskin Community High School.
It is an honour and a privilege to have been elected Leader of the Council by my fellow Town Councillors. I hope that I will be able to deliver the leadership of the Town Council that this confidence requires.
My congratulations to our new Mayor and to all the Town Councillors recently elected – we all now have a unique responsibility to work for the benefit of the people of Crewe.
I would like to thank the Town Councillors who retired at the last Election for their efforts in establishing our Town Council in Crewe and ask that this Town Council agree a Vote of Thanks.
The Town Council has established itself as a Voice for Crewe not least because of the leadership given by Cllr. Kevin Hickson over the last 2 years. Thank you Kevin for such a great contribution to the life and energy of the Town.
This newly elected Town Council has received a strong mandate from the people of Crewe to deliver the Manifesto on which the Labour Party candidates stood and which focussed on 3 strategic priorities of creating communities, civic pride and economic development. In addition the Town Council has a mandate to implement the Community Plan which was initiated by the previous Town Council under the leadership of Cllr. Damian Bailey. We have a clear duty to deliver on all these commitments.
During the last Town Council it was painfully clear that the relationship with Cheshire East Council was a very difficult one as a result of the differing political approaches of the 2 majority Groups.
Cllr. Michael Jones and the majority Conservative Party Group on Cheshire East Council have themselves received a mandate. Although it has to be said that this has not been given by the people of Crewe who have once again placed their confidence in only Labour Party Councillors in all the Crewe electoral Wards at both Borough and Town level.
Both Cheshire East and this Town Council will be in place for the next 4 years and their political composition will not change during that time. It is essential therefore that the reality of the need to work together in a more effective and mature way is accepted by both sides. I want to join with Cllr. Jones in creating a new relationship and to that end hope to meet with him as soon as possible to discuss how the 2 Councils can work more collaboratively and how the Town Council can be consulted with so that as the Voice for Crewe we can assist Cheshire East in delivering the changes and developments in Crewe which are so desperately needed.
The result of the General Election is clearly not one that Town Councillors were hoping for, nevertheless this is the will of the people if not that of the people of Crewe. The Town Council has few delegated powers and functions and therefore we must redouble our efforts to act as the Voice of Crewe and to find ways and means of supporting our Town residents in the face of what is to come.
It is our duty, as elected representatives to contribute fully and effectively to the work of the Town Council and so congratulations on your election and I look forward to us all working hard in the interests of the people of Crewe.
Cllr Simon Yates
Leader
Crewe Town Council
