MOTOR cycle enthusiast Cllr Neil Bastow has been announced as Colwyn Bay’s new Mayor.

Cllr Bastow, who works as a manager for supported living projects for people with learning disabilities, is keen to foster the continuing development of the town.

He said: “My passion for the Bay of Colwyn is to see its continued regeneration. To work with the business district to reopen closed shops, to bring diverse enterprises to the town and to engage the residents in supporting their locality.”

He added he is interested in history, but: “As a realist I look to harmonise the need for the new with the respect for the old, in that vein I particularly support respect of the Bay's heritage. I hope and pray that one day very soon the Pier will once again be a focal point of our town for all the right reasons, and I firmly believe that in whatever form it takes, it will bring jobs and focus the beach as the finest in the North Wales.”

Neil is married and has five children and five grandchildren. He said in addition to motor cycling he is also keen on running, reading and watching rugby.

He added: “My Charities for my mayoral year will be: “Children with Cancer UK, who I have raised funds for through competing in the London and Berlin Marathons and Multiple half marathons in the past and I will be running the Great North Run in the Autumn. Shelter will be my other charity.”

He served as Deputy Mayor for the past year.

His predecessor as Mayor, cllr Steve Williams, reflecting on his year in office, said: “What a fantastic year I’ve had and what an amazing community we have.

“I think I have been a boots on the ground kind of Mayor and have been a very visible Mayor within the community.

“I have had some amazing experiences from sleeping rough in the doorway in Peacocks’ doorway to meeting the amazing Eddie Kidd. Sleeping rough was to highlight the local issues we have with homelessness but more importantly to educate people that not everyone who sleeps rough has an addiction but sometimes life has just put them in this kind of circumstances. This kind of thing could happen to anyone and that was the main point I wanted to highlight and to show more empathy towards them.”