Town councillors step down after fifty years of service
Over half a century of service has been clocked up by three town councillors who have now retired.
l-r: Kate Morrison, Craig Weir and Helen Lewis have now retired
Helen Lewis, Craig Weir and Kate Morrison are stepping down from Amble Town Council, but before they left, they met with The Ambler to reflect on the changes they’ve seen over the years.
“I’ve been on the council for 23 years,” said Helen, “but I’m not the longest serving councillor.” [Ian Hinson served on the town council for over 40 years, Eric Alcock for 40 and Robert Arckless for 34].
We asked if it’s good to have people on the council for so long, and how do they encourage new people to come on – and, importantly, to stay on.
Helen: “I think it’s good, as long as the person is open to new ideas and thoughts. They’ve got to be flexible. And also, as long as people aren’t coming on the council just to stop something happening.”
Craig has been a town councillor for 14 years, serving as mayor for twelve of those. “Good councillors have to deal with the whole community,” he said. “I think a lot of people don’t know what a councillor does. Some people join for fixed reasons, but they soon learn we have a set of rules and protocols and we have to stick to that.”
Kate joined the council just after Craig, “When we moved here, all you saw in the Gazette was bad stuff about Amble. There’s not so many people coming forward [for the council] now, but they should know they can make a difference.”
Helen, who served as mayor for two years, added, “You have to realise you’ll never please everybody. What has been decided might not be what you want, but it’s a democratic process.”
The councillors were proud of what Amble Town Council had achieved over the last couple of decades.
“When I moved here, I was told by my family not to go,” said Craig. “Since we’ve been here, people are now proud of being from Amble. I think we’ve helped give a sense of pride in the community and boosted community spirit.”
Highlights have also included working together with other groups to bring about change and developing links with local organisations. The council has worked to encourage existing or fledgling groups to develop, and they’ve made big changes to the Paddlers, the Memorial Gardens, the cemeteries, and the allotments.
Service Level Agreements with Northumberland County Council means the town council no longer have to employ people directly – which would include costly ongoing training and equipment.
“This hasn’t been cheap, but with all the rules and regulations on the type of equipment, training etc, it was beyond what the town council could provide” said Helen.
If there are regrets, then lack of self publicity is probably one of them, with a feeling that there’s a lot of hard work done behind the scenes and people tend only to see the end result – or lack of it.
“One thing I’m sorry about is the town doesn’t have better recreational facilities,” said Helen. “A while ago we offered to pay for a part time youth worker to work out what was needed. We worked on that plan for about 18 months but it fell because NCC told us they couldn’t find anyone to fill the post. And Amble lacks a wet weather recreational facility. Again, that is not for the want of trying.”
There’s obviously a lot of work to do as a town councillor, which might explain why it attracts some older and/or retired people, but it doesn’t preclude younger people with jobs or busy lives from joining. Some meetings with NCC are between 9-5pm, but as Helen says, there are ways to manage that. “Come to a council meeting, see what we do. You have to be aware you’re making a commitment, but the rewards can be worthwhile.”
After so many years giving up their free time, the trio are looking forward to other pursuits. For Craig, he’ll be concentrating on his Veterans support and Submarine Association projects. Kate will continue her work with the Northumberland Theatre Company, and Helen and her husband are still keen to pursue their cemetery research on WW1 and WW2 memorials.
Said Helen: “We’ll all miss being part of Amble Town Council. We’ve been so involved for so long. And sometimes our memories might be useful, so we’re here to offer advice if the new members need it.”
Anna Williams
