THE mayor of Neyland swapped chains with his deputy on Monday night (May 18), at the council’s annual mayor-making ceremony.

Six-time mayor Cllr Simon Hancock handed over to reins to Cllr Margaret Brace, but won’t have long to wait until he is back in the seat, as he takes over as her deputy for 2015-16.

Looking back on the last 12 months, Cllr Hancock said he had seen the council make ‘probably its most important decision for many years’ in agreeing to join up with Neyland Community Interest Company (CIC) in the development of a new community facility at the Athletic Club.

“Neyland Town Council will be making a financial contribution towards not only brand new council offices and meeting rooms but also sport and leisure facilities that will be second to none in Pembrokeshire and which will benefit the majority of the residents of Neyland and the surrounding area,” said Cllr Hancock.

He also praised the council’s recent decision to spend more than £11,000 on a new CCTV system to combat the ‘long-standing and on-going problem of anti-social behaviour by young people and their vehicles at Brunel Quay’.

“The residents of that area of Neyland have for too long had their lives blighted by this problem which has caused considerable distress and annoyance for over 10 years,” he said.

Other highlights included the completion of a new housing development at St Clement’s Road, the resurfacing of John Street in anticipation of the new development at the Athletic Club, and the return of the summer carnival.

He lamented ‘major changes’ at the town’s pupil referral unit (PRU) but welcomed the re-homing of the youth club in the former PRIDE building, which he said had ‘resulted in much better facilities for them’.

“I wish to thank you all for your support and confidence in electing me as Mayor for the past year and I wish Cllr Mrs Margaret Brace a wonderful year in office.”

Accepting the mayoral chains for the third time, Cllr Margaret Brace thanked fellow councillors for their ‘faith and trust’ in electing her, and nominated her husband Terry as consort.

She said the council must continue to put the interests of local people first, in order to ‘provide the town with what it richly deserves’.

The council’s priorities, she added, should be to enter the second phase of improvements to the play park, addressing elderly housing needs and maintaining the town’s twinning with Sanguinet, in France.