New Chairman Elected

Cllr Paul Grafton is the new Chairman of Ashfield District Council after a unanimous vote from members at the authority’s Annual Meeting.

The Huthwaite and Brierley member takes up his year in office from Cllr Arnie Hankin who ended his 12 months tenure at the same meeting. Cllr Hankin was the 50th Chairman of ADC.

After taking the oath of office, Cllr Grafton told members he looked forward to serving as Chairman before naming 2 good causes as his nominated charities – firstly, the Nottinghamshire Blood Bikes which provides an out-of-hours emergency response service to the National Health Service, delivering blood and other urgent medical supplies such as platelets, blood plasma, samples and medical records by motorcycle between hospitals in Nottinghamshire, England.

His second charity is the Huthwaite Hub – a group designed to encourage greater social inclusion in the village and surrounding areas through the development of 'hobby and craft skills'.

Cllr Hankin said it had been an honour to serve as Chairman and said Cllr Grafton would be a fantastic Chairman for the authority.

The new Vice Chairman is Cllr Dale Grounds.

The meeting also confirmed the make-up of the Council’s Cabinet for the next 12 months, committee memberships and appointments to outside bodies.