A MAYORESS has been appointed to accompany Okehampton Town Mayor Christine Marsh on civic duties over the next year.
Cllr Marsh's husband Ken has done a sterling job as Mayor's Consort over the past three years but he will be succeeded by Cllr Gill Lower, who has been a town councillor for over 10 years.
The Mayoress' chain has been sitting in mothballs for three years and Cllr Marsh was keen to bring it out in the open.
'It is such a pretty chain and deserves to be worn by someone like Gill who has put in a lot of hard work over the years,' she said.
'Ken will still be supporting me in the background but I think it is good to give the role of the Mayor's consort or mayoress to another councillor.'
Cllr Lower said she considered it an honour to be chosen and it was nice to be able to support Cllr Marsh in all that she was doing.
Meanwhile Cllr Tony Leech will take over from Cllr Frances Luxton as Deputy Mayor for the year 2002/2003.
The councillor, who is a building surveyor for English Heritage, has been on the town council for three years.
Part of the working group who put together the council's first ever Performance Plan, which sets out its aims over the next five years, Cllr Leech said he believed the authority was moving in the right direction.
'There is much more input from the electorate now — we would like that to increase even more but that is up to the people of the town,' he said.
'When we ask for ideas and views people must respond because we cannot be chastised for doing something after the event.'