New Salisbury Mayor "excited" to bring boosts to city
Cllr John Wells is the city's 764th Mayor
The new Mayor of Salisbury says he's excited to make a difference across the city during his year in the role.
Cllr John Wells, who represents the St. Francis and Stratford ward on Salisbury City Council, was elected as the 764th Mayor of the city on Saturday.
He succeeds Cllr Sven Hocking, after Cllr Ed Rimmer, who had been in line to take the role, turned it down ahead of the local elections.
Mayor Wells, a former teacher, was elected following an order of precedence.
"It all happened very quickly," Mayor Wells told us, saying it wasn't unexpected.
He says he's looking forward to boosting the city during his term as Mayor.
"It's very exciting because it opens up an opportunity to showcase the city, to do everything I can to raise the profile of the city in terms of its status as a tourist area and promote all the positive things that are going on in the city."
Mayor Wells said the role is "what I make of it", telling Greatest Hits Radio that it has "tremendous potential" to help people.
He insists he's going to be as available as possible for the city's people to contact him, saying he's ready to help as many people across the city as he can.
Mayor Wells said: "When people have problems, with whatever it might be, at whatever level, sometimes they don't quite know where to go or how to go about it.
"And sometimes as a local councillor, you are in a position to, shall we say, move things on a little bit quicker and make sure that they are supported in resolving the difficulties."
He said he's expecting to have more engagement that he'll be able to deal with but said the dynamic nature of the role makes it exciting.
He told us: "You don't quite know what's going to happen next, which is where the unknown factor makes it an exciting proposition, because who knows what's going to happen.
"I'm looking forward to it!"
Mayor Wells' chosen charity to support for the year is Alabaré.