New mayor and deputy mayor for seaside town

Peter Ratcliffe has taken over from Madeleine Ashcroft as mayor of Sheringham Town Council (STC), while Sue Brisbane has taken over as deputy mayor from Liz Withington.

Mr Ratcliffe, who previously served 37 years in the offshore gas industry, thanked Ms Ashcroft and Ms Withington for the initiatives they worked on, their service to the town and also for leading its coronavirus response.

He said his vision was to make the council "gold standard" by listening to residents and implementing a plan for the town focused on resources which would provide value to rate payers.

The new mayor said he believed the council should not "lack ambition" in what it looks to achieve.

Mr Ratcliffe said: "It is right that we look to advance, by example, our youth strategy, improve our council-owned assets and improve revenue streams where we can.

“I believe we should look for the opportunities to update ourselves about the view of the community on what it sees as the important issues facing Sheringham now and that information is an important component used by us to craft our agenda for this council going forward.”

In taking over as deputy mayor Ms Brisbane, who previously worked as a senior manager in the education industry, said she wanted to focus on tackling the climate emergency, supporting community partnerships and working in partnership with town residents.

Sue Brisbane is the new deputy mayor at Sheringham Town Council. (Image: Sheringham Town Council)

She said: "Sheringham is a unique and special place in which people have supported each other in amazing ways during the pandemic.

"I know that we all want to see STC be the best support and resource for the community that it can be.

"As a former senior manager in education, I am keen to see all aspects of the town council operating in the most professional and effective way possible to provide the best service to the town and I want to play my part in achieving this."