A decision to change the old five committee structure at Ross-on-Wye Town Council and work with a new seven committee structure was made at the Annual Meeting of the Council on Monday, May 18th.

The Town Clerk had drawn up a list of the new committees and their responsibilities. She argued that the new Council needed to separate some of the responsibilities and a Human Resources committee to deal with staff issues was vital. At her last Council meeting as Town Clerk, Denise Mason told the Council:?"Your greatest asset is your staff, you need to look after the ones you have and work to the legislation that is in place."

Councillor Chris Bartrum said he was opposed to any changes to the structure and thought seven committees was too many. He added that the structure is under constant review and although the Policy and Management committee did have a lot of work it had done it well.

Councillor Phil Cutter said he agreed with the change. He said:?"This is a new council and it gives us a chance to make a fresh start and gives the new councillors an opportunity make a contribution."

To read the full story, see it in this week's Ross Gazette.