MALVERN councillor Cynthia Palmer is looking forward to her second year as the town’s Mayor after being re-elected in the role earlier this week.
The Priory ward representative, who took over from Julian I’Anson in 2016, was formally elected for another term at Malvern Town Council’s annual meeting on Tuesday.
Coun Palmer expressed her thanks to fellow town councillors for their support and told the Observer it was an ‘honour’ and ‘pleasure’ to be Mayor once again.
“I loved my last year in the role and I met some wonderful people,” she said.
“I achieved some amazing things and my thanks goes to my fellow councillors who have been so supportive of me.
“I’m now looking forward to my second term and I’m hoping to meet more people from the town as well as supporting them.”
In her first Mayoral year, Coun Palmer raised more than £6,800 for Acorns Children’s Hospice by taking part in regular fund-raising events including her hugely successful Rent-the-Mayor scheme.
Acorns provide specialist palliative care and support to life-limited and life-threatened children and their families.
A total of £5,604 was raised from the scheme which saw Coun Palmer help make coffee in Costa, serve lunch in DELIcious, serve books at the Co-op Bookstore, pack shopping at Waitrose as well as providing customer service at Barnard’s Green Post Office and Santander.
This time around Coun Palmer is aiming to raise money for Avenue Road-based charity ARCOS (Association for Rehabilitation of Communication and Oral Skills) who work to improve life for children and adults who have communication, eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties.
“I visited ARCOS a couple of times last year and I was very impressed with what they did with helping children with special needs,” she said.
“My aim is to raise £5,000 but hopefully I can surpass that target but I may have to do something different than another Rent-the-Mayor scheme to do so.”
Coun Palmer also hopes to progress the town’s Neighbourhood Plan in her second year as Mayor as well as trying to prevent the move of the town’s tourist information centre from Church Street to a new £950,000 community centre on Avenue Road.
She also hopes to work closely with developers Gleeson Developments Ltd and Welbeck Strategic Land LLP who hope to build 800 homes in Newland.
“We are not against the Newland development at all but we want to make sure it is best for the people who will be living there and the rest of Malvern,” Coun Palmer added.
A deputy Mayor will be elected at a full council meeting on Wednesday, June 14.
