Every year I read the articles that people write for "The Bridge" magazine and I think how interesting they are. Panic! This year I have been asked to contribute to it. What do I write to interest everybody? Well here goes!!

I have been asked to explain what attracted me to the position of Mayor? To want to be Mayor is not a role that you are attracted to, it's more of a role that you want to do because of your sense of commitment and concerns about Godmanchester, and the people that live here. Hopefully, rightly or wrongly people take more time to listen to what you say when you are Mayor, especially when you are complaining about things not being attended to (mainly the District Council), and I must say it does work, sometimes.

The motivation behind being Mayor is the sense of belonging to Godmanchester, and wanting to help the people to improve their environment and amenities in the Town.

This is a very long process, and sometimes you think it will never happen, but it usually does in the end. You just have to be patient, and that is something that I have learned to be over the last year. For example, if I can just mention our new Town Office at the Town Hall. Over the last seven years since I joined the Town Council, the Mayor of the time has asked the Senior Citizens for use of an office in the Town Hall. This was never acceded, until October 1998 when the Council was granted use of the room. So patience has prevailed, and I would like to thank The Senior Citizens on behalf of the Town's residents.

The Town can go forward into the millennium with a new start, and the use of new technology. This was my main achievement for my first year.

For the future year: I would like to see our roads in the town made safer from speeding traffic, and I will put all I can into this. Hopefully my remark earlier about being listened to as Mayor will come into play, as I have tried over many years to slow down the speeding traffic. Also I would like the police presence to be greater than it is, and the Neighbourhood Watch scheme to continue to grow.

Well, it's done, I have over run my allocation of words, and I could have gone on for longer. Hopefully you will find this item interesting.

Carol Godley
Godmanchester Town Mayor

© 1999 Godmanchester Community Association

Carol is now a District Councillor