THE Liberal Democrat leader of Trowbridge Town Council has been elected as the town’s deputy mayor for the forthcoming civic year.

Cllr Stewart Palmen will provide support for the current Trowbridge mayor Cllr Stephen Cooper who has been elected to serve for a second term.

The new mayor said: "It has truly been an honour and a privilege to serve as mayor of our amazing town.

"As mayor, I've tried to both represent the residents' wishes and aspirations and promote the town's economy and investment potential wherever and whenever the opportunity arose."

The mayor-making took place at Tuesday’s annual council meeting at Trowbridge Civic Centre.

Cllr Palmen said: “It was one of the smoothest annual meetings I have ever attended as we had no disruptive motions to deal with.”

Trowbridge Town Council also approved significant management and operational changes following a recent policy and resources meeting. 

The move follows the decision of the council’s chief executive and town clerk, Lance Allan, to retire next year as soon as a successor can be appointed.

The changes included a new staffing structure and an updated committee framework, aimed at enhancing local governance and community services.

These changes were implemented at the beginning of the financial year in April 2024, are set to streamline operations and foster greater community engagement.

The council said: “The new management structure is a step towards optimising the council's efficiency.

“This revised structure has been meticulously designed to better align with the council's strategic goals and to ensure that resources are utilised more effectively.”

A detailed illustration of this new framework has been shared with all council members and can be viewed on the town council’s website.

In addition to the staffing changes, a proposal to restructure the council's committees was also approved at the annual council meeting.

Under the proposed changes, the Leisure & Information Services Committee and the Civic Board will be replaced by two new committees: the Leisure Services Committee and the Events & Community Engagement Committee.

This adjustment introduces one additional standing committee compared to the current structure, thereby enhancing the focus on community and event-related initiatives.

A pro forma of the proposed committee structure has been circulated to councillors, enabling them to nominate committee membership places for the 2024/25 civic year.

Cllr Cooper has nominated his mayoral charities from last year - Trowbridge Future and the Stepping Stones pre-school nursery for children with special needs - as his mayoral charities for this year.  They each received cheques for £1,673.76 from funds raised this year.