Published: 22 January 2025
New Year is a time of change and that is certainly the case at Gnosall Parish Council this year. We were aware at the end of 2024 that three of our councillors were suffering serious ill-health. But we closed for Christmas ready to rest and refresh for the forthcoming Council year.
Over the holiday, our wonderful and much-admired Chief Officer, Jayne Cooper, after serving the council for over 16 years, with great sadness decided she must resign from her post for family reasons and with even greater sadness that Council accepted her resignation. Jayne has been nationally recognised as one of the best clerks in the country by the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), a Star Clerk. Fortunately, she will be in post for a further three months to help us transition to a new stage in our development and we’re very grateful for that.
It is often the case that the resignation of a key figure in an organisation prompts a flurry of other resignations as others face things that they too have struggled with and accept that they too must make a change. This has happened to our Council. Our three colleagues suffering serious ill-health have now resigned and three others have also decided that they can no longer meet the demands of the role. There is no one single reason for these resignations. It is just a combination of unfortunate circumstances.
We ended 2024 knowing that we had a councillor vacancy as the position of Councillor representing Moreton has yet to be filled, despite our best efforts. We also knew that our super Handyman was retiring and that it would not be easy to replace him.
So 2025 has begun with quite a bang!
Gail Gregory, formerly Vice Chair, has been appointed Chair until the Annual Meeting in May and will now lead Council through a period of rebuilding as we fill our vacancies and get back to full strength. Inevitably, change can be scary and it will certainly mean that the Council will need to cut back its activities in the interim and we ask for your understanding and support in what will be a challenging period. But change can also be refreshing and give an opportunity to refocus, to bring in new skills and qualities and to strengthen the team. This we hope to do as quickly as possible. Bear with us and watch this space!
The Council will be looking to recruit another excellent Chief Officer in the near future and loyal, long-serving Councillors to replace those we have lost as well as another Handyperson. If anyone is interested in any of these positions, please view the attached notice and contact the Chair at gail.gregory@gnosallparishcouncil.org.uk
