Monmouth Town Council held its AGM on Monday night and saw Deputy Mayor David Evans successfully appointed Mayor of Monmouth for the next 12 months.

Standing down, Cllr Tom Kirton paid tribute to the councillors and council officers for their support for his tenure.

He said it has been an “absolute pleasure” to have been the mayor for the last 12 months and speaking to the councillors present and online he said they had made the role a “joy”.

Receiving just one nomination for next year’s mayor, Cllr Evans was unanimously elected to serve as mayor of Monmouth for the next 12 months.

Taking the office, he said he felt ”honoured and very privileged to have been elected mayor of Monmouth.

“I thank my fellow councillors for their support and to Fiona my wife in agreeing to become mayor's consort. I wish to pay tribute to all of the hard work undertaken by our former mayor councillor Tom Kirton much of which goes unseen and unknown.”

“As we emerged from the restrictions of covid we've have had to rethink the way we work the way we hold meetings and how we have communicated with each other it has presented Caitlin our town clerk and her team, Natasha, Catherine and our new edition of the team Genevieve, some challenges to overcome but overcome them they have.

Without Caitlin’s dedication and the dedication of her team I think as a council we may have found delivering or even maintaining services almost impossible so I very much would like to place on record my thanks, and I hope the thanks of the whole council, for their efforts .

“Monmouth is a great town to live in. There are many facets to life here but for this mayoral year I would like to focus attention on those who serve our community whether paid or as volunteers.

“A simple thank you will never be enough but I am extremely proud of our town and its community, the people within it and the care that has been shown by them.”

He explained that it had been a difficult time for his wife, who had lost both her parents within a few weeks.

“They both lived with Alzheimer’s and as their full-time carers, so did we.

“For that reason I am picking the Alzheimer’s Society as one of my charities. 

“We received a lot of support from the befriending volunteers at Bridges and my in-laws enjoyed the tea dances there.

“Bridges celebrate the 40th anniversary of their opening this year and I have picked them as the second Mayor's charity.

“The third charity I have selected is the Monmouth Charity which gives small grants to Monmouth residents - many of the requests for grants come from Citizens' Advice and there has been an increasing request due to the cost of living artists. 

“I will finish by giving you all an assurance that with the support of my fellow councillors and officers I will do my best in representing and promoting Monmouth to its best and in a way that it has for many years”.”

Councillor Jackie Atkins was appointed Deputy Mayor.

A surprise that evening was revealed by Cllr David Evans who had commissioned a badge for the office of deputy mayor’s consort. 

“It has the town motto on the rear,” he explained.

He spoke to one of the enamellists at The Boat House Gallery in the Oldway Centre who did the surround, and the lanyard was done by one of the other ladies who bought the gold and blue material from the town.

They asked in return, he give a donation to the Alzheimer's Charity which he was only too pleased to do so.

Cllr Atkins thanked him and said she hadn’t decided on a consort yet, but thought the role could be offered on rotation to members of the Youth Council and other members of the community so they could get exposure and experience from the role.