A NEW Cotswold district councillor, who was elected following the death of Cllr Jim Parsons, has paid tribute to the late councillor.

Richard Morgan, from Tetbury, was elected to represent the Grumbolds Ash with Avening ward last Thursday.

The by-election was called after the death of Cllr Parsons, who died on September 13 aged 82 following a battle with prostate cancer.

Richard won with 420 votes, beating Nicola Baber (Lib Dems) who had 136 votes and Edward Shelton (Labour) who had 93 votes. The turnout was just more than 31 per cent.

After the result was announced, just before 11pm last Thursday, Richard paid tribute to the long-serving councillor: “I am delighted and very excited to have been elected the representative for Grumbolds Ash with Avening.

"I do, however, wish it was under better circumstances, and my thoughts and best wishes go to Jim’s wife, family and friends.

"A real high point of the campaign was meeting residents of Avening who spoke so highly of Jim, telling me stories of his strong life-long bond to the town, his musical talents and his unwavering commitment to civic duty and to the local area.

"They are massive shoes to fill but I am eager to continue the work that Jim was doing.”

The father-of-two talked about his aims for the future: “The Conservative group on CDC is committed to connecting all areas of the Cotswolds to high speed broadband by the end of 2018, and that will benefit many people in remote areas of Grumbolds Ash with Avening who are struggling to work from home or whose children are struggling to do online homework.

"This is a huge issue for people living in remote parts of the Cotswolds and I am happy that the Conservative- led council is committed to helping these residents.

“I am really excited to be elected and I have pledged to try and improve leisure facilities in the area. For example, I am particularly keen to support the plan of Avening Parish Council to redevelop their recreation ground.

"Also, the recent announcement that £200,000 extra has been invested in the Community Projects Fund is fantastic news to some village halls in our local area which need updating and refreshing, and I am already committed to supporting an application by Beverston Parish Council to update their meeting rooms.

"There is so much good news connected with CDC. It’s a very exciting time to be joining the council and I can’t wait to get started”.

For more information about Richard Morgan, visit: www.facebook.com/GrumboldsAshandAvening