By-election won by Labour councillor (From Barry And District News)

By-election won by Labour councillor

THE GIBBONSDOWN by-election has been won by another Labour town councillor.

In June this year Labour's Kalpana Matarajan was voted in by the ward but did not sign the relevant documents in time.

There were only two candidates in the running for the election held on Thursday October 21- Labour's Dennis Harkus and Plaid Cymru's Trudi Watts.

Cllr Harkus beat the Plaid candidate Trudi Watts, gaining 438 votes to 320.

Dennis, who has two sons and one grand child, has lived most of his life in Gibbonsdown.

The 58-year-old said: "Fundamentally I would like to be a strong voice for my local community and the people of Barry. I can offer my experience and skills in achieving this but I will obviously want to discuss my role with my party colleagues.

"As I see it the town council is the tier of local government, which is closest to local people and town councillors will have strong ties to the locality of Barry. They provide a link between the local community and the county council and they play an important role in ensuring that the local voice is heard by representing the local community.

"I want to see local authorities making a greater connection with service users and create more effective links with the people and the communities they serve. The town council will want to encourage their communities to contribute positively and have a direct influence in making things better.

"In this context, I want to work with my other Labour Party colleagues, i.e. Cllr Rob Curtis, Cllr Margaret Wilkinson, and town councillors Keith Lewis and Olga Cash.

"I have already worked with Cllr Rob Curtis on the problems associated with the through route, Barry Road to Skomer Road. During our canvassing of local people, this was a major concern and I am aware that Cllr Curtis is corresponding with the county council about the dangers.

"Another area where I would like to contribute with my county councillor colleagues is with work they are doing relating to condition of the elderly person's accommodation at Brecon Court."