A voice for the young at Calne (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

A voice for the young at Calne

4:00pm Friday 3rd February 2012 in Calne By Tom Mooney

Phil Redmond, who recently became Calne’s youngest ever town councillor, said he hopes to give the town’s youth a voice.

Coun Redmond beat former Chippenham mayor Ross Henning in a by-election for the vacant Marden seat earlier this month. At just 19 years old he is the youngest to fill the role in Calne Town Council history.

The estate agent, who represents the Conservatives, was surprised when he heard he had won the seat, triumphing over Liberal Dem-ocrat Mr Henning with 57 per cent of the vote.

Coun Redmond, of George Close, said: “I was quite overwhelmed that the public of Calne had the belief in me, taking into account my age. I was shocked but I appreciate it and I hope I can show them that young people can make a difference.

“I still haven’t been to my first full council meeting and I am still finding my feet and learning. But I am looking forward to learning all about it and progressing and there has never been a better time than now to get involved in the community.”

A former John Bentley School pupil, Coun Redmond said his focus will be on giving a voice to young people in the town, who he believes have been under-represented.

He said: “I am a big supporter of the youth in the town. When I was younger there were no facilities for young people in Calne.

“That is slowly improving and I would like to see more for young people to do. We need to make sure we get the right facilities which will be used and will attract people of a certain age.

“I accept that there are some things we cannot have in Calne because of the small population but there must be more we can have.”

Coun Redmond is also a keen supporter of the town centre and wants to help businesses flourish.

He said: “I would certainly like to see a better range of shops in the town centre. I think having M&Co coming in last year has made a big difference and I think they are doing quite well.

“But there is more we can do and more shops would be welcomed, rather than seeing all of the empty shops we have got at the moment.

“I think all of the public would agree we need better shops.”