South Hams District Council elects new chairman

South Hams District Council has announced its new chairman for the next 12 months at this year’s Annual Council meeting on 23 May.

Cllr Bernard Taylor, ward member for Charterlands, will be the chairman for the coming year. Cllr Taylor accepted the chain of office from the outgoing chairman, Cllr Guy Pannell. Cllr Pannell, ward member for South Brent, was appointed as vice-chairman of the council.

SHDC's new chair Cllr Bernard Taylor - Charterlands 

Cllr Taylor said: “I would like to thank our leader Julian Brazil and all of our members for having faith in me to represent the council for the next 12 months. I hope that I can do this honorary role justice on behalf of the council.

“We have some work to do as a team. Most important of all is to build affordable housing, which I believe should be top of our spending list. Not forgetting climate change and biodiversity of course, which is very important.

“Cllr Pannell has been an excellent chairman, and it has been a pleasure to work alongside him. I hope that I can have a year as chairman as successful as his.”

New SHDC Vice chair Cllr Pannell and Chair Cllr Bernard Taylor

The following committee positions were also confirmed during the Council meeting.

Executive

Cllr Julian Brazil – Leader
Cllr Dan Thomas – Deputy Leader
Cllr John McKay
Cllr John Birch
Cllr Denise O’Callaghan
Cllr Victor Abbott
Cllr Jacqui Hodgson
Cllr Nicky Hopwood
Cllr Nadine Dommett

Audit and Governance Committee

Cllr Lee Bonham – Chairman
Cllr Alison Nix – Vice Chairman

Development Management Committee

Cllr Mark Long – Chairman
Cllr Bernard Taylor – Vice Chairman

Licensing Committee

Cllr Simon Rake – Chairman
Cllr Sam Penfold – Vice Chairman

Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Cllr Jonathan Hawkins – Chairman
Cllr Ben Cooper – Vice Chairman

Council Tax Setting Committee

Cllr Julian Brazil - Chairman

To watch the Annual Council as it happened and to see all the appointments made during this meeting, go to the South Hams District Council's YouTube page.