St Just Town Council Elect New Mayor and Deputy

St Just Town Council elected a new Mayor and Deputy Mayor at their AGM on Monday 13 May 2019.

At last Monday’s Annual Meeting, Councillor Brian Clemens was thanked for his service as Mayor of St Just for the past two years. Councillors went on to elect Councillor Marna Blundy as Mayor for the coming year, with Councillor Sue James as her Deputy. Marna had been deputy to Brian Clemens for the last 2 years.

The new mayor has lived in Botallack for over forty years, and raised her five children there. She is active in the local community, with particular interests in community engagement, support for vulnerable groups, healthcare, public transport, and local church life. Councillor Blundy’s background in music led her to initiate both the Walking Nativity in 2017 and the St Piran’s Parade in St Just this year, two new annual events for the St Just calendar. Her deputy served as the local mayor in 2012/13 before being elected as the area’s Cornwall Councillor in 2013. From 2017 until May 2019, Councillor James was a member of Cornwall Council’s Cabinet with the broad Portfolio of Environment and Public Protection. Being certified as “Cornish by Marriage” on the touring Tick Box Bus, she has thrown herself into the community of St Just and Pendeen since arriving in 2005.

Both new Mayor and Deputy are keen to work with all sections of the diverse and largely rural communities, and hope to use their time in office to develop further community cohesion and involvement.

The Mayor said “We have a challenging but exciting year ahead, as we proceed with the devolution of the car parks and public toilets in Pendeen and St Just, as well as taking over responsibility for St Just Library which is set to become a shared space between the Town Council and Library Services. I hope, in due course, to see services develop in this building so that it becomes a vibrant community hub for all our residents and visitors, the Council working hand-in-hand with the community it serves.”

Deputy Mayor, Sue James said “My experiences and learning as a Cabinet Member will enable me to support the community with meeting our environmental challenges to grow wildlife habitats and reduce our impact on the planet. I will also continue my work leading a project to establish an International Dark-Sky Designation for West Cornwall and work with the Tin Coast partnership to ensure our community is sustainable as a great place to live, work and visit.”

With a range of significant events coming up in the parish this year, including the 100th anniversary of the Levant Mine Disaster, the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies Summer Festival, the annual two-week Lafrowda Festival, and the Gorsedh Kernow Esedhvos Festival of Cornish Culture, both the Mayor and her Deputy are anticipating a busy year ahead.