A NEW town mayor and deputy were voted in at the Launceston town council meeting on March 17.

The former deputy mayor was voted unanimously to be the replacement for the current mayor, Cllr Margaret Young, who will be relieved of her position in May.

It was also resolved that Cllr Leighton Penhale take on the role of deputy.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Gordon said: “Naturally I am extremely honoured to have been elected to the office of mayor of Launceston for 2019/20 by my fellow councillors.

“I am looking forward to working with my fellow councillors on many projects, with I guess the most important one at the moment being the proposed devolution of the library service from Cornwall Council to the town council.”

The council voted in favour to take on the library last year, and since then the working group have held many meetings with Cornwall Council.

Cllr Gordon continued: “I look forward to continuing to work towards delivering the project for Launceston. I truly believe this is an exciting time for our community.

“I was born, educated and learnt a trade in Launceston before working as a fireman in Plymouth for 30 years, but I have lived here my whole life, so Launceston is very important to me and my family.

“I have always believed that Launceston deserves a better deal from our unitary council and I will continue to stress the importance that our community has in our county to Cornwall Council, and with everyone working together, we can all work as a community towards creating a better town for all that live and work here.”

It will be familiar territory for Cllr Gordon, who served as Launceston’s mayor in 2013/14 and 2014/15.