Meet The Mayor

Now just embarking on his second term as Mayor of Boroughbridge, Graham Archer has great plans for the next year of his tenure in office. Here he spills the beans about life as a small town mayor…

There are three basic aims for Graham Archer’s second term as Mayor of Boroughbridge. “I want to address the issue of HGVs driving through the centre of town, and I would like to see everyone inthe community working together – or at least talking; and I also hope to develop the Water Rat’s Club to create a community center for all local residents.”
Graham Archer forged a successful career in the RAF before retiring from the forces at the rank of Group Captain 20 years ago. He moved to Harrogate with his wife Ann in 1990 and his first job in “civvy street” was pleased to be appointed the first General Manager and then Chief Executive of St Michael’s Hospice in Hornbeam Park Harrogate. He saw the hospice grow from a small nursing home to a specialist palliative care unit. The development included a successful £1.4 million campaign to build a new wing on Crimple House.
Washing up in Boroughbridge in 2001, Graham and Ann downsized and anticipated settling into semi-retirement. But things didn’t happen like that. He found himself knee deep in community work, from being President of Boroughbridge Lions to working with Community Care, Treasurer of Yore Vision and co-ordinating the Neighbourhood Watch.
Like many people, he was disappointed to see that the Royal Wedding in 2011 and Diamond Jubilee the following year both passed without public celebration in Boroughbridge. After making his dissatisfaction clear he was advised to stand for the town council.
“Normally there are local elections every four years,” explains Graham. “But in Boroughbridge there had been no new people standing for places on the town council, so there had been no elections for 16 years. Fortunately some enthusiastic new candidates stood in 2012 and Graham was elected to the council as an independent candidate. He was just settling in to his new role when he was asked to stand as mayor in the 2013 elections.
“So I’d barely been on the council for a year but had lots of support from other members. We were lucky that Liz Vose, the outgoing mayor, agreed to be my deputy so at least we’d have someone on board who knew what they were doing.” Graham found his political legs, and with wife Ann appointed as Lady Mayoress, they both plunged into Boroughbridge life.
“We really threw ourselves into it; we promoted the town in every possible way.” Graham claims. “We both love doing the PR bit, love going out and meeting people, and I am happy to stand up and talk. We became part of the ‘chain gang’ along with the mayors of Harrogate, Ripon, Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge, and went to almost every event we were invited to.”

The Changing Face Of Boroughbridge

In Roman times, Boroughbridge was an important crossing point on the Ure, with records showing that up to 1,000 horses were crossing the river daily. Its fortunes declined with the building of the bypass in the 1960s, a time when empty houses and deserted shops lined the streets.

“Boroughbridge’s fortunes only revived with the construction of the motorway and the junction off it. Suddenly it became in attractive town for commuters as Harrogate, Darlington, York, Leeds and Teeside were all accessible in under an hour.”

The town takes in the parishes of Aldborough and Minskip, and has a population of just 3,700, so despite its recent growth, there are only 1,400 households in Boroughbridge. This restricts the town council’s budget, as Graham explains. “Just 1,300 households are paying rates, most of which goes to Harrogate District Council to provide services for Boroughbridge; the amount that actually came to the town council to run their office, cemeteries, open spaces and public services was around £42 per household. Even though there was a small hike in 2014 to cover the cost of the car park, do your sums and you’ll agree that we do not have a huge budget.”

With a tiny budget of under £50,000 per annum, it’s small wonder that the town relies heavily on voluntary organisations such as Community Care, Brighter Boroughbridge and District, brainchild of John Goss, and the determined work of Louise Leong and the Chamber of Trade. And while other mayors of bigger Yorkshire towns have staff, chauffeurs, mayoral cars and spacious offices, Graham Archer receives a budget of just £500 per year to cover the cost of his role.

But how is he getting along with his three main aims?

“The campaign to ban lorries from the centre of town was sidelined by the Tour de France,” Graham admits. “North Yorkshire County Council put all available staff on to sorting out the logistics of that weekend and other transport issues have suffered. We need to get that back on track as soon as possible.”
And his second wish, to get Boroughbridge benefactors all talking to each other, has seen him attending Chamber of Trade meetings so both committees know what the other is doing. His third campaign is long term; to see the Water Rats Club on Mill Lane turned into a community center, with meeting rooms, a bar and a snooker hall.

Boroughbridge is currently growing, with nearly 300 houses about to be built. Graham hopes this influx of people will bring new skills and enthusiasms into the town.
“One of my biggest bugbears is that few people under 65 has time for their community any more. During the day the streets are filled with young mums and senior citizens, and when the bread winners are getting home from work at 19.30 at night, they don’t want to turn out again. It means that very few young people are contributing to the life of the town. In fact, it’s the same dozen, or so, people who are behind everything that goes on here.”