A NEWLY-ELECTED councillor has vowed to find out what makes local young people tick in Wellington in a bid to try and curb anti-social behaviour.

Cllr Nancy Brace-Powell was one of three candidates to be successfully co-opted onto Wellington Town Council at a special meeting last week.

She said she was keen to engage with the younger generation in the town to see why they are not using local facilities and instead finding themselves getting into trouble.

“I want to see them getting a six-pack at the sports centre – not from down the supermarket,” she said.

Cllr Powell-Brace, who moved to Wellington five years ago, is already well-known in the area for her fundraising and community work.

She said she had been in teaching for 32 years and this would prove ‘handy’ for her role as a town councillor when dealing with youngsters.

“I’m not afraid of teenagers and never was as a teacher,” she said. “But why aren’t young people making the most of the facilities we have in the town?”

She said she wanted to find out from young people ‘what was missing’ and why some were getting involved in anti-social behaviour.

The council found itself three councillors short following the recent local elections – so it was left to members themselves to decide who would make up the numbers.

Five candidates came forward and a special meeting of the town council was held last week to determine which three would be successful.

Each candidate was allowed to give a three-minute presentation about themselves and then councillors voted to determine the winners.

A ballot was held for each seat available, two for Wellington South and one for Wellington East, and if no majority was achieved the candidate with the fewest votes was eliminated. Councillors then voted again until an outcome was reached.

The three winning candidates were Dean Bradley (Wellington South), Sean Pringle-Kosikowsky (Wellington South) and Nancy Powell-Brace (Wellington East). The two to miss out were Andrew Sully and Chris Williams.

Cllr Bradley, who has lived all his life in Wellington and is married with two children, told councillors that his background was ‘military, investigative, teaching and coaching.’

He said he would bring attributes from those areas to the role of a councillor and that he ‘wanted to help the council to help the people to help the town’. “I would be proud to be a councillor and find it rewarding to be on the council,” he said.

Cllr Pringle-Kosikowsky, who is married with four children, works as deputy manager at the One Stop store in Wellington and is also involved in a number of groups within the town.

“Being a dad and a deputy manager I can relate to people,” he said. “I have empathy with people and understand their problems.

“I was always taught that you should try and leave things better than when you found them – that would be my aim as a councillor.”

The Mayor, Cllr Janet Lloyd, congratulated the successful candidates and commiserated with the two who missed out – but added it was likely opportunities would occur again to serve on the council.