MALVERN’S new mayor wants the town council to stand for all parts of the town and all sections of the population.

Councillor Julian Roskams, a member for the Dyson Perrins ward, was elected to the town’s top civic post at the annual council meeting on Tuesday.

He was elected in a three-way contest, scoring 10 votes from council members, while Coun John Jordan got six and Coun Pat Mewton three. His deputy is Coun Julian l’Anson.

Coun Roskams said: “What’s important for local people is that they have clean and safe neighbourhoods and Malvern Town Council has an important part to play in that. We should be helping to empower communities, something we are in the best place to do.

“I would like to be clear that the town council is for all parts of Malvern, the Link, Barnards Green and Pickersleigh, as well as the town centre, and also it’s for all age groups and sections of the population, something that’s not always appreciated.”

He also wants to tackle recent disputes that have arisen between councillors and council staff, and he is on a working party that was set up last week to “improve procedures relating to governance of the council”.

He said: “There have been difficulties recently, and this is why we are looking into how we operate.

“We want a way of dealing with disagreements before they reach a critical stage and before emails start flying around saying things that might be regretted later.”

Mr Roskams, who lives in Worcester Road, is married with six children and for the last eight years has run his own publishing services business. He has served on the council for two years.

His charity for the year is Malvern Special Families, which provides social opportunities for children and young people with disabilities He said: “It’s local and it does a tremendous job, helping more than 100 families who have to cope with very difficult circumstances.”