New faces to join Oakham Town Council

A town council which has seen a number of departures in recent months will vote on a number of new members next week at an extraordinary meeting.

The seven town councillors on Oakham Town Council will have the final say on who joins them to fill the four vacancies that have cropped up due to departures over the summer.

Usually an election would have been held, but in the absence of any member of the public requesting an election, there will not be a contested ballot.

Residents who have put themselves forward are retired science teacher Barry Buxton, Oakham blogger Martin Brookes, photographer and former Tory county councillor Alan Walters and Anna Douthwaite, who volunteers with the Rutland Osprey project.

They will make a presentation to the town council at its meeting at ROL House in Long Row on Wednesday (November 6) at 6pm.

Coun Paul Ainsley is the new chairperson, taking charge earlier this month after Coun Adam Lowe stood down due to work commitments.

Coun Ainsley said he was looking forward to the council, which is a voluntary organisation, getting up to full strength. With just seven members the council had run the risk of not being able to make decisions - as any less than four councillors in attendance and meetings cannot take place.

He said with two of its current members, Coun Christopher Clark and Coun Linda Chatfield standing in the county council by-election, there may be further vacancies if they decided to stand down if elected.

He said: “We really need to get a grip and bring people onto the council, otherwise we could find ourselves in the same situation as Uppingham.”

Uppingham Town Council had a mass resignation in the summer.

Councillors quit over concerns about a conflict of interest between the council and the company Uppingham First.