AN appeal in the Times for Tavistock Town Council members led to the successful co-option of four new eager councillors last week.

After the recent election, with retirements and two resignations, the town council was left with only ten serving councillors in its 17 strong councillor membership.

The front page story in the Times, June 4, called for residents to come forward who have a passion and a drive to be involved in the running of the town — which resulted in eight people applying for co-option.

At the town's full council meeting last Tuesday (June 23) the applicants gave a two minute presentation to members of the council and answered questions in a bid to become a member.

After a lengthy discussion by the standing members, Allen Lewis, Paul Williamson, Philip Palfrey and Dr Paul Ward were chosen as the newest members of the council to fill four available seats — one for the north ward, two for south east and one for south west.

Cllr Lewis, who moved to Tavistock in 1989, said in his presentation: 'I am a passionate person and I am here to help and I love the town. For me it's important that we have strong local people working together.'

Cllr Williamson said he works as a director of a local business and believed he could contribute to services in and around the community.

Cllr Palfrey, who is involved in local charities including Tavistock Area Support Services (TASS), said: 'It's important that residents are part of the decision making. My desire as a resident is for Tavistock to thrive. I want to be here for Tavistock not just for my street.'

Cllr Ward, who moved to the town three years ago, said: 'We love Tavistock and we can say that we feel happy here. When I saw the article I saw this as an opportunity to contribute and offer my services.'

After the meeting, Tavistock mayor Sue Bailey said of the co-options: 'We do have a lot of work to be done in the next few years with many challenges and it will be nice for all councillors to work together to achieve the goals. We now have a nice cross section of people which I hope will be good for the future.'

• The total number of councillors now stands at 15, after a co-option on June 2 saw Alick Venning become a member. An election will be held on August 20 to elect the final two members.