A RETIRED chartered accountant has been appointed the new mayor of Woodbridge.Nigel Barratt, 59, of the Thoroughfare, has experience in representing the town on the county and district councils after moving to Woodbridge 10 years ago.

By Richard Smith

A RETIRED chartered accountant has been appointed the new mayor of Woodbridge.

Nigel Barratt, 59, of the Thoroughfare, has experience in representing the town on the county and district councils after moving to Woodbridge 10 years ago.

He has taken over from James Bidwell as mayor and his deputy will be Ben Redsell who is also Woodbridge's county councillor.

Mr Barratt, married to Anne for nearly 30 years and a town councillor for eight years, said: “I think the main contribution I have made to Woodbridge is in helping to get £750,000 of the Market Town Initiative money spent in Woodbridge and in various improvements which resulted in the formation of the town trust.

“Now I want to try and get the various community groups and the community of Woodbridge working together a bit more than I think they do at the moment. I think the town council is slightly divorced from many of the community groups and I think we need to build a bridge with them.

“I hope we can finalise negotiations with the district and county councils concerning the transfer of assets and development of responsibilities which will bring a lot of local services under the more direct control of the town council. These include grounds maintenance, cemeteries and the administration of burials.”

Mr Barratt, a director and vice chairman of the Suffolk Development Agency Ltd, added: “What I like about Woodbridge is that it is an attractive, slightly old-fashioned market town in a glorious position on the edge of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and on the river. It is a very pleasant environment.”