Honiton welcomes in its new Town Mayor and looks forward to the year ahead

This evening marked the town's Mayor Making ceremony, which saw Councillor John Zarczynski inaugurated as Town Mayor for 2019/20. This will be his second term in the position, which he occupied the year before last in 2017.

The ceremony opened with an address delivered by Deputy Town Mayor, Councillor Duncan Sheridan-Shaw. He spoke of a renewed sense of consolidation amongst town council members, who are all looking forward to positive change in the year ahead.

This includes a move onto the social media platform, Facebook, which he believes will increase engagement and transparency within the local community.

Nub News spoke to the newly appointed Town Mayor, Zarczynski, who said: "I've been on the council since 2010 and the council obviously went through a difficult time. There was historic business, which I'm happy to say is now resolved.

"We are looking forward to a very good year this year. We've got a lot of additional funding, I do believe in the region of £300,000 in 106 monies, so we will be able to do a lot more for the community.

"We're looking to split the money into various different groups, such as health, sports, youth etc. We've managed to secure allotments and we're looking to develop further green recreational spaces around the town."

Another highlight of the evening was the welcoming speech delivered by sixth form student, Ian Taylor. His eloquent delivery regarding youth culture in the town and being a student at Honiton Community College was both inspiring and uplifting.

Overall, the evening provided a real sense of promise for what is in store for Honiton in the coming year, with the town council now in a good position to deliver on the goals they have set out.

The council is keen to hear from you about any community projects you would like to see funded.

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