Hello and goodbye at Branscombe!

BRANSCOMBE Parish Council said goodbye to its clerk of 20 years and welcomed a new member last week. Linda Hughes officially stepped down from her role at the Annual General Meeting last Thursday night to an enthusiastic round of applause by parish counc

BRANSCOMBE Parish Council said goodbye to its clerk of 20 years and welcomed a new member last week.

Linda Hughes officially stepped down from her role at the Annual General Meeting last Thursday night to an enthusiastic round of applause by parish councillors and members of the public.

Speaking at the meeting Linda said: "I feel a bit sad but I've got one grandchild and another one on the way so I'm going to be kept very busy.

"It has been a pleasure to be clerk. It's been extremely interesting over 20 years as you can imagine and I've seen quite a number of things develop.

"One of the main interesting scenes was the low cost homes which I'm now living on."

Linda said she hoped more affordable housing would be built in the near future in order to encourage young people to the village.

She added: "We do need to keep the youth of the village here."

Chetna Jones, a Branscombe resident, has now taken over as Branscombe's parish clerk.

The mother of three along with her husband, Glyn, owns gift shop Driftwood in Sidmouth and she said she is looking forward to taking on the role.

Chairman John Bass expressed his thanks to Linda and welcomed Chetna to the fold.

At the parish AGM, which followed the meeting, John Bass was re-elected chairman.

In his acceptance speech he said he would only be taking on the position for one more year.

He said: "I have expressed my wish that I will be standing down at the next elections but as we are having a new clerk, in trust of keeping things on an even keel I will carry on for one more year but it will be my last."

Councillors also voted for vice-chairman White to retain this role.