Cllr Helen Hayes has been elected as Frodsham Town Council's next Chair by members of the Council.

Cllr Hayes was nominated by Cllr Phil Griffiths at Monday's Annual Meeting of the Council and will replace outgoing Chair, Cllr Judith Critchley.

She will serve in this post until May 2022, when a new Chair will be chosen.

On her election, Cllr Hayes said, "I'd like to thank Cllr Judith Critchley for her time as Chair over what has been a quite extraordinary and challenging year."

Reflecting on her time as Chair of the Council, Cllr Critchley said: "It's been a steep learning curve, what with virtual meetings, and we have had a few hiccups with technology and internet service.

"I just [wanted to] highlight a few things that we have made progress with over the last two years. Firstly, the cemetery extension, which we started in November 2019 and which we were very lucky to have completed just as we filled up the old part of the cemetery. We now have a full working cemetery with lots of plots available.

"We've had a major refurbishment on our Grade II listed war memorial and memorial gates and it's all looking really good now. We hope that it will survive for another hundred years.

"Two further projects that are in hand for that involve the installation of a new disabled path up to the War Memorial, and the upgrade of the car park.

"We've worked with Cheshire West to get CCTV in the town centre. Cheshire West have provided it and we will contribute towards the running costs of the equipment and the monitoring service.

"The Hob Hey Wood Friends are doing a marvellous job of developing that woodland for the community and they liaise regularly with the Amenities Committee when they need funding for anything.

"And then there's Manley Road Copse. Going back to Storm Doris in 2017, we lost quite a few trees from the Copse and we took a decision to leave it fallow for a while just to see what did come up.

"It started to look a bit shabby and we invited Frodsham WI to take it on in a similar way to [the management] of Hob Hey Wood. They're making great strides there and having a lot of fun doing that. It seems to be a popular development with the community.

"Finally, I wanted to talk about Ship Street Play Area. As you know, if the Council is thinking of selling off a piece of land, we go through a public consultation, so we published our intention to sell.

"We did get a lot of feedback from the community, and what we are working on is an options appraisal to look at how best we can develop the land.

"We didn't put it up for sale and we're liaising with Cheshire West on the covenant [on the land] and once we have our options shortlisted and costed there will be a town-wide consultation, because if we want to spend a lot of money, we do have to give the whole community a chance to comment on how we spend their money.

"I think, all in all, over the past two years, despite difficulties with the pandemic, we have managed to achieve quite a few things."

However, the year 2020/21 was not without its difficulties, which were mentioned by a member of the public who referenced the Council's breach of financial regulations during the procurement of last year's Christmas tree.

"Clearly, the first half of last year threw up issues that need to be addressed in some way going forward," he said.

"Now that we have a recorded breach of financial regulations, that clearly shows governance issues, I am looking to all of you now to make sure, going forward, that the events of last year are never repeated.

"Moving forward, I appreciate that I am only one member of the town, but I would like this meeting to be the point where we draw a line under all the struggles, issues and problems that have come up.

"It would be good if the Council could apologise to the Christmas in Frodsham team for the stress that was caused to them by the actions of the Council.

"I would hope that you can now come together as a team in this new year, and take this town forward."

During the Annual Meeting, the Council also confirmed the membership of each of its committees for the coming 12 months.

Cllrs Ryan McKeown, Pauline Lowrie, Lucy Sumner, Caroline Ashton, Bill Stockton, Bernie Wade and Phil Griffiths will sit on this year's Amenities Committee.

Meanwhile, the Policy, Process and Revenue Committee will comprise Cllrs McKeown, Sumner, Hayes, Felicity Davies, Ashton, Stockton and Griffiths.

On Events, Cllrs McKeown, Lowrie, Hayes, Wade and Ashton will serve for the next year, while Planning will be made up of Cllrs Stockton, Davies, Wade and Griffiths.

Finally, the Staffing Committee will include Cllrs Hayes, Donna Critchley and Ashton.