I have had the privilege and fulfilment of being a Tavistock Town Councillor since 2015 and for personal reasons will not be standing for election this May.

If you feel passionately about Tavistock, you should consider nominating yourself and standing in the May ballot. Nominations must be submitted to West Devon Borough Council between March 23 and April 4, so I suggest you do some thinking, and if you are up for an interesting and involving four-year term to find about getting nominated contact Tavistock Town Council Offices.

During the 2019-2023 term your council has been well led by Mayors Cllr Johnson (two-terms), Cllr Hutton, and the present Mayor Cllr Ward through an extraordinarily challenging period.

Your council officers and staff have been resilient and outstanding in their roles of managing the finances, amenities and the property portfolio that endows Tavistock as a special town. Collectively your town council has achieved much to sustain, maintain, and evolve our town with work to produce a Neighbourhood Development Plan ongoing.

In 2019 I stood for election as an ‘Independent for Community and Business’. This followed a time as a non-elected co-opted member in the 2015 cohort for Tavistock SE. I also had the privilege to be your council’s nominee director for Tavistock Business Improvement District (BID) which has supported business recovery after the lockdowns; is now engaged in ‘Stopping the Meters’ and continues its work to sustain our town centre for the benefit of our community and visitors.

If you think you would like to stand for election and make a difference serving your community as a town councillor, I would say to you that, if elected, it would be a worthwhile and fulfilling use of your time.

When your council focuses on what really matters on our community, rather than ‘politics’ in the broader sense, it does outstanding work to serve our collective best interests.

Please consider standing for election. Contact Tavistock Council Offices, Drake Road. Tel: 01822 613529.

Cllr Paul Williamson

Member for Tavistock North

2019-2023