THE Mayor of East Cowes has resigned, after only seven months in office, and stepped down from the town council.

Michael Paler said he was met with a lack of enthusiasm over projects he brought forward for the council, like the Jubilee sustainable garden, as a reason for his departure.

The council clerk said Cllr Paler felt his commitments in other areas were increasing and was unable to give the time he feels necessary to the town council.

He was previously on East Cowes Town Council (ECTC) before, but resigned in August last year, instead turning his efforts toward being the coordinator of the town's Covid support hub.

Cllr Paler was voted in as Mayor in May following his successful election campaign to once again represent the Osborne ward.

Speaking of his resignation, Cllr Paler, who was recently co-opted onto Cowes Town Council (CTC), said ECTC did not get behind his ideas and, as a result, they were getting nowhere.

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He said there is so much potential for East Cowes but he has gone to CTC, where he is excited to get started and help.

Cllr Paler said he will still be around to help the community and continue to run the Covid support hub.

A spokesperson for ECTC said they were very grateful for the commitment and support shown by Cllr Paler during a very challenging year.

They said: "His work with the volunteer support hub and the Covid vaccination programme has been phenomenal and very much appreciated by the whole community.

"The town council wish him well in his new ventures."

More will be said at the ECTC meeting on Thursday, December 16.

UPDATE: 

Commenting on the resignation of Cllr Paler from East Cowes Town Council, fellow councillor Cameron Palin said: "While it is disappointing to see Cllr Paler leave the town council, and I thank him for what’s he has done, I cannot say I’m surprised by his resignation. It was late last week he informed the council he was successfully Co-Opted onto Cowes town Council, so this news fits in with that.

"Since May we have all been working incredibly hard to move forward projects and plans for East Cowes. Cllr Paler of course bought ideas with him that he wanted to share and push forward, like the rest of us. However, the way he went about this was extremely different to the rest of us.

"Some of us felt he was trying to impose his ideas onto the town council without relevant information, details, public consultation or even having a discussion with us prior to announcing his big plans.

"When we asked Cllr Paler for information about funding, timelines, costs ect nothing ever came forward, despite asking for it in meetings and over emails. These pieces of information are things we all have to provide if we are proposing a plan.

"As town councillors are responsible for public money, so we have to ensure this is spent wisely, legally and appropriately and unless we have all the information necessary we were unable to support these ideas.

"It’s important to remember though that the role of the mayor is to represent the town council, the town council is not there to represent the mayor and their ideas!

"It’s now time we move forward and press on with all the exciting plans we have as a council, including the levelling up money for our esplanade, plans to improve our skate park, the platinum jubilee tree planting project and much more."