New deputy mayor elect Paul Heaphy says he cannot wait to become mayor of Wootton Bassett in 2011, despite only being a councillor for a year.

Coun Heaphy has lived in Wootton Bassett since he was a child and has enjoyed helping the community through his role as a councillor.

He said: “I am a true believer that you get out of life what you put in.”

Coun Heaphy, a financial planning consultant, was elected to the town council last year.

At a council meeting on February 11, he was nominated by Coun Mike Leighfield to become deputy mayor when Coun Mary Champion replaces Steve Bucknell as mayor later in the year.

Coun Heaphy will then become mayor the following year.

He said: “I was very honoured as I am very new to the whole process.

“I was very taken aback but I am looking forward to it.”

Coun Heaphy went to Noremarsh Junior School when his parents moved to Wootton Bassett in the 1970s.

He said: “Steve Bucknell has a great team around him and I’m sure they will support me through it.

“I’ve got a huge amount of experience from business and that helps.

“Also my four children aged from four to nine are deeply entrenched in the schools and clubs of the town, which means I know what life is really like here.

“There are over 100 groups within Wootton Bassett so I smile when I hear that there is nothing going on in the town.”

Coun Heaphy and his wife Kerry have Sam, nine, Anya, seven, Rowan, six and Finley, four.