The new mayor of Sudbury has told of her pride in taking on the role and outlined what she thinks are the key issues facing the town.
Ellen Murphy, 73, originally from Charleville, County Cork, Ireland, said it is an "honour" to take on the role, even though it wasn't her initial plan to get into local politics following her move to the town.
Mrs Murphy said: “I’ve lived in Sudbury for coming up to 11 years, before that I lived in Loughton in Essex. I’ve lived all over London as well.
“When I retired, I looked around so many different areas, and I just got a train out to Sudbury, and it was Christmas time and it reminded me of my hometown because the market was on. And I thought what a lovely town.
“I was a town councillor in Loughton for four years and before that I was always involved in trying to help and do something for the community.
“I believe that if you live in a community, you should help that community because it's yours."
Fresh into office, the mother-of-two is ready to tackle what she believes to be the key issues in Sudbury.
“I am concerned about quite a few things in Sudbury. It’s an ancient market town and I’m concerned that we might lose that.
“It’s important to keep what brings tourists in the town and what keeps people here.
“My bugbear at the moment is Belle Vue Park. I do feel that if the flats do go up there it’s something that we will lose. We will lose that beautiful entrance that could have formed part of the town centre.
“The other thing that concerns me is that because we are a quiet area I am worried that we have increasing crime.
“I feel strongly that we should have ANPR cameras. Essex will have 100 in the coming months.
“If it’s more difficult to commit crimes in Essex, then of course they are going to move to our lovely town or the surrounding areas."
Asked what she wanted to achieve over the next year, Mrs Murphy said she wants to "encourage more people to visit Sudbury. To understand that it is a beautiful market town and to listen to the people of Sudbury, to listen to what they want."
With the Queen's Platinum Jubilee on the horizon Mrs Murphy believes that there is no time like the present to showcase the town.
“It’s bringing people together, I think if people are on their own this is the ideal place to come, they can sit and meet up with old friends and have a chat, discuss the last jubilee, I think it’ll be fantastic."
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