Boost to Rasen council with three new members

It comes after the authority revealed its concerns that just seven of the 12 available seats were occupied, forcing all members to sit on planning and finance committees.

Jo Pilley, Nicky Brooksbank and Cathy Sirett have now joined the town council, providing a welcome boost to its numbers.

This week, the Rasen Mail caught up with Coun Pilley to find out a bit more about her - and why she wanted to become a councillor.

Before retiring, Coun Pilley worked as a council administration officer. She moved to Market Rasen from the Sheffield area one year ago, and before that spent several years living in Italy where she and her husband took care of an olive grove.

She said: “I’ve got a past history in that environment [local government], but on the other side of the fence.

“I do understand a lot of what has to be done.

“It wasn’t going to be difficult for me to slip into the role. I already know what to expect.

“I’m new to the area… it gives me a chance to find out what’s going on locally.

“I thought ‘why not’, I’ve got the time to do it.

“I can see the things that would benefit from improvements.

“If I can be a small part of that, I will give it a go.”

Coun Pilley said she was particularly looking forward to getting to know the area better.

Since moving to Market Rasen, Coun Pilley has joined various clubs and groups but said she has not had a chance to find out everything about the area.

She said: “We have lived in a lot of places, moving to a new area isn’t that daunting to us.

“My husband happened to say one day, ‘I wonder why we didn’t look at Lincolnshire when we were moving - I always fancied it’.

“We’ve found Market Rasen to be a really pleasant area to live and move to.

“The facilities are good and although some of the businesses are closing, you still have quite a selection of things available.

“It’s one reason we chose Market Rasen.

“We did look all around the other villages but we kept coming back to Market Rasen.

“You can walk into town - you don’t have to have transport.”

Coun Pilley got married when she was 18 and has just celebrated her 49th wedding anniversary.