RETIRED teacher, David Pafford, has been elected unopposed as a new Melksham Without parish councillor for the Bowerhill Ward and is excited for the interesting times ahead.
Melksham Without Parish Council announced last week, “The returning officer only received one valid nomination paper for this election and therefore the candidate is elected unopposed. As the number of candidates is equal to, or less than, the number of seats available, they are duly elected without contest. There will not be an election taking place for this town/parish area. The parish council look forward to welcoming cllr David Pafford to the council.”
Cllr Pafford will join five other councillors who represent the Bowerhill ward.
On the news of his election, he said, “I am somewhat surprised about being elected. I was ready to give myself time to adjust to the idea of becoming a councillor before planning my campaign, but as I was run unopposed, there will be no election.
“I am having to quickly take a severe learning curve, as this is the first time I will have been involved in local politics at a councillor level. So I will need to find out exactly what my roles and responsibilities are. But, I look forward to the interesting times ahead.
“I am interested in local issues including Melksham Campus and the closure of Christie Miller. Even though the Campus remains a Melksham Town issue, it will affect the residents of Bowerhill, especially when the Christie Miller facilities are closed. I myself am a user of these facilities and without them we will lose important resources and activities. Although I understand that Wiltshire Council are looking into alternatives.
“I am a standing Labour Party supporter and think it is important to understand the knock-on effects the cuts to central government are having to our local government. We are now unable to do what we need to do in order to achieve positive things for the community. But, we will try to do whatever we can.”
David is an ex-teacher of comprehensive schools and sixth forms across the country and also in Madrid. He focused on teaching English students modern foreign languages and also taught English to Spanish children in Madrid.
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