Councillor Richard Berry sworn in as new Eye Town Mayor

Eye said goodbye to one of its longest-serving mayors last week as Johnnie Walker made way for fresh incumbent Richard Berry.

After being sworn in at a council meeting at Eye Town Hall on Wednesday, Cllr Berry paid tribute to his predecessor, while outlining his vision for the next year.

The 70-year-old, who has served as a town councillor for eight years, said: “I will treat it with a good deal of humility.

“I received a lot of support from fellow councillors and I felt it was an honour to be asked and approached.”

A former chartered surveyor, Cllr Berry promised to focus on developing infrastructure in the town in order to meet the rising housing demand.

He said: “My mayoral priorities are influenced primarily by the housing growth, which should start in Eye probably later this year.

“All Eye town councillors will be working with our district and county council partners to see that the infrastructure support is delivered to service this growth and to preserve the historic centre of Eye.

“Visitors praise the quality of our built environment and we need to protect this with well-planned parking provision, while reducing unnecessary journeys from HGVs, recognising at the same time that all areas of the local economy must be supported.”

Other local priorities include developing an archive of Eye’s history and the promotion of sport and recreation in the town.

The outgoing Cllr Walker concluded an unprecedented two years as mayor – his stint extended by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Reflecting on the past two years since succeeding former mayor Jane Hudson, the 74-year-old said: “I am going to miss representing the town.

“It was a great honour to be given the offer to do it and I was very proud to do it. I would do it again in an instance.

“It was a bit tumultuous at times, but we got through it.

“There were certainly times when it got a bit hairy and you would get a bit concerned for the people of the town.”

He also paid tribute to residents and workers who had played a vital role during the pandemic.

The-grandfather-of-one, who moved to Eye from Lennoxtown, Scotland, 15 years ago, said: “Over the last two years, we have applauded the NHS, and rightly so, but we have forgotten about the heroes like the street cleaners, postmen, shopkeepers – the people who were putting their lives on the line every day when we were all comfortable in our homes.

“I think the biggest challenge was trying to make everyone feel like we were going to get through this.

“But Eye is a fantastic community and the community really came together to help everyone.”

He pointed to his achievements as mayor, notably opening the public toilets and library in Cross Street.

“I’m proud of that,” he said. “We reopened the toilets and the library at a time when everyone else was closing them.”

Cllr Berry added: “Over the past two years, Johnnie has approached the job with tremendous commitment and really shown the generosity of his character.”