OKEHAMPTON town councillor Julie Yelland was elected as the town’s new mayor at a ceremony held at Okehampton Town Hall on Wednesday last week (May 15).

Cllr Yelland was elected by fellow members of the town council to serve as mayor for the year ahead, having been deputy mayor for the previous 12 months.

Nominating her for the position of mayor, Cllr Marilyn Tucker said that Cllr Yelland had shown ‘huge dedication’ in her community.

As well as being a town councillor, Cllr Yelland is also chairperson of the Okehampton Street Pastors.

Cllr Yelland said she was honoured to be elected to serve as mayor in the town where she has lived since 1981.

She nominated Cllr Dr Michael Ireland to be her deputy, praising his qualities as a councillor.

Outgoing mayor Janet Carpenter said she had ‘very much enjoyed’ her year as mayor.

‘I would like to thank everyone who has helped and supported me this year,’ said Mrs Carpenter.

‘I’ve been invited to some amazing events and functions and I’ve taken part in some very interesting activities.

‘One that touched my heart was being invited to the primary school for lunch. Some of the children kept coming up to my chair and waving at me.’

Among her last duties as mayor was attending Ten Tors weekend which included a helicopter ride and a silver service lunch served by the cadets.

She thanked everyone for their support of her chosen mayor’s charity, Cancer Research UK.

‘As I have lost a brother to cancer and have had cancer myself, although this is in remission, this is a cause close to my heart,’ she said.

She presented a cheque for £1,350 to Brenda Hockridge from the Okehampton Cancer Research UK group, which included money raised from the civic dinner.

Mrs Carpenter also presented mayor’s awards to Les Agar, a longstanding member of the North Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team, Christine Munkenbeck of the Get Changed Theatre Company and David and Estelle Wright.

The new mayor Julie Yelland appointed her mayor’s cadet for the year, air cadet Lily Howes, 14, and chose her mayor’s charity as Okehampton PADS, which is installing public access defibrillators in the town. She said she had decided not to have an official consort, but she thanked her husband for his help and support. She chose the Rev Mike Davies as mayor’s chaplain.

She also thanked outgoing mayor Cllr Carpenter. ‘She has done an amazing job and has been very popular, so I know I have very big shoes to fill,’ she said. ‘Thank you very much [for choosing me as mayor]. It is a real honour to be selected to represent Okehampton as mayor.’

The meeting was the first attended in an official capacity by the four new town councillors Greta Button, Deborah Sanger, Marilyn Tucker and David Penna, who were elected uncontested at the May 2 local elections, replacing four councillors who stood down before the elections.