HONORARY FREEDOM OF THE BOROUGH

 

Council is recommended to agree to present the person named below with a certificate conferring upon them the title of Honorary Freeman of the Borough affixed with the common seal of the Council.

 

The motion to be duly moved and seconded is:

 

That, by virtue of the power vested in it by Section 249 of the Local Government Act 1972, the Council does admit David Tyrie Williams MBE JP as Freeman of the London Borough of Merton.

 

This honour is bestowed on David Tyrie Williams MBE JP in recognition of the exceptional contribution he made to the Borough as a Councillor in over 45 cumulative years of service since his first election to the Council in 1974, including serving as Leader of the Council from 2006 – 2010, the Mayor of Merton in 2012/13, Deputy Mayor 1981/82, Leader of the Opposition 1999-2006 and his extensive civic service.

 

David has held a number of posts and senior positions on the Council throughout his time as a Councillor and has chaired various Committees and Boards.

 

David has also served the Borough in many other ways, including having been a School Governor at various levels for over 50 years, a member of the Endeavour Youth Club Management Committee in Morden for 35 years and a member of Merton Deanery Synod for 16 years. David has also served as a magistrate in Merton since 1986 and in 2019 received an MBE for Political Service in Local Government.

 

Note by Chief Executive: Section 249 of the Local Government Act 1972 requires a resolution conferring the title of Honorary Freeperson to be passed by not less than two thirds of the Members voting thereon.

 

The Mayor invited Councillor McLean to move and Councillor Holden to second the motion.

 

Councillor McLean:

 

Deputy Lieutenant, Madam Mayor, Councillors and guests, I’d like to begin by saying myself and Councillor Holden will be speaking to conservative colleagues tonight but the conservative group congratulates all former councillors being honoured for their contribution to this Council,

all of whom greatly respected the privilege it was to represent the residents of their respective wards with a dedication to public service they can all be proud of.

 

Madam Mayor, It is my honour to propose the motion that by virtue of the power vested in it by section 249 of the Local Government Act 1972 the Council does admit David Tyrie Williams as freeman of the London Borough of Merton.

 

This honour is bestowed on David Tyrie Williams MBE JP in recognition of the

exceptional contribution he made to the Borough as a councillor in over 45

cumulative years of service since his first election to the council in 1974

including serving as Leader of the Council from 2006 to 2010, the Mayor of Merton in 2012-13, Deputy Mayor 1981-82, Leader of the

opposition 1999 - 2006 and his extensive civic service.

 

David has held a number of posts and senior positions on the Council throughout his time as a councillor and has chaired various committees and boards. David has also served the Borough in many other ways including having been a school governor at various levels for over 50 years, a member of the endeavour youth club management committee in Morden for

35 years and a member of Merton Deanery Synod for 16 years.

 

David has also served as a magistrate in Merton since 1986 and in 2019

received an MBE for political service in Local Government.

 

It is also moved that former Councillor David Williams is conferred with the title of Honorary Alderman of the London Borough of Merton in recognition of his loyal and distinguished service to the Council over many years.

 

Madam Mayor, Deputy Lieutenant, Ladies and Gentlemen that is the service record of former Councillor David Williams MBE JP and it is that outstanding dedication to the service of this Council and the residents that David was elected to represent that we are here to acknowledge tonight, as this Council bestows upon him the Freedom of the Borough.

 

As Council Leader there were many achievements, not least the opening of the Mitcham Eastfields train station; the first a very significant transport infrastructure project in the constituency of Mitcham and Morden.

 

David Williams, the heart of the conservative group for decades steeped in professionalism, constitutional knowledge, a perfectionist; this Council will miss his wise input. But Madam Mayor what has struck me with serving with David over the last four years is that despite the decades that he has been a member of Merton Council he remains a moderniser. Yes always an anchor to former practices but also keen to do things differently and that to me is the depth of his character, his energy and respect of this Council

and the residents of Merton has not diminished, nor has his desire to serve the public as he once again takes up his place on the bench as a magistrate.

 

On a personal note, I want to thank him for his support to

me, he has been my mentor and his friendship and guidance has been greatly appreciated. That said, something tells me he will still be getting quite a few telephone calls he hasn't quite escaped yet.

 

Madame Mayor it is with immense honour that I move this motion that David Williams MBE JP be admitted Freeman of London Borough of Merton and is conferred with the title of Honorary Alderman of the London Borough of Merton, nobody deserves it more. Thank you.

 

Councillor Holden:

 

Thank you. Deputy Lieutenant and Madame Mayor it is my pleasure and honour to second the nomination of my good friend and former Hillside ward colleague David Williams to be awarded the Freedom of the London Borough of Merton.

 

David is well deserving to be a Freeman of Merton after having served a grand total of 45 and a half years as a Councillor in Merton. As Councillor McLean has outlined David has served in all the local civic roles

which one can do in this place which very few others have ever done or achieved.

 

So what was happening in 1974 when David first joined this place, well there had been an energy crisis, a three-day week, an invasion of a European country namely Cyprus, the UK hosted the Eurovision song contest, there were two general elections, a local government reorganisation and you couldn't eat at McDonald's in this country although that changed in December of that year. Now we fast forward to 2022 so upon David's retirement there are some similarities; we are facing again an energy crisis, a European country Ukraine being invaded, we've had ward boundary changes and we are about to host Eurovision again and also you can eat in many more restaurants too.

 

The phrase plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose - the more things change the more they stay in the same comes to mind. David has been steadfast and resolute standing fast in honour and strength throughout all those years. David has served in two wards first in Canon Hill and then when I was just four and a half years old David became a Councillor in Hillside ward which he has brilliantly served for 32 years.

 

David has throughout his time had a series of ward colleagues including Chris Grayling MP and retired councillors James Holmes and David Simpson, both of whom we are honouring as Honorary Alderman tonight.

 

The third ward Councillor often changed at each election. I first met David at the Hillside Conservatives Christmas party in December 2010 where I was warmly welcomed by David and David and Stephen Hammond MP at this point David had already been in situ in Hillside for 20 years.

 

David was also an excellent Mayor of Merton in 2012 coinciding like this year in the Jubilee year. In that year David created recognition pin badges for individuals or groups who had done good work in the community or

helped the Mayoral team. The badge here that I often wear on my

jacket at these meetings, I proudly wear for services that I did to David Williams and Krystal Miller when they were Mayor of Merton.

 

Only a couple of years later I was selected to stand with both Davids at the 2014 council election becoming the latest in the series of new third Councillors in Hillside. I was somewhat the junior upstart member with new ideas and keenness to use social media but David kept me on the straight and narrow and taught me a lot of about being a good Councillor for which I

am eternally grateful.

 

David's expertise in Local Government is well known and regarded which is why he received an MBE in 2019 at which point both David's had an award.

I think I have some way to go before I receive one as well. I do at times affectionately call David the oracle because of his deep knowledge of all things Local Government and even as he approached and went into retirement David received calls from other Councillors asking for advice knowledge or his recall of history; I’m sure that will continue if David doesn't mind.

 

Madam Mayor I am delighted to second this well deserved nomination David Williams to become a Freeman of the London Borough of Merton and an Honorary Alderman thank you very much.

 

The Mayor then called on Councillors Fairclough and Macauley to speak to the motion.

 

Councillor Fairclough:

 

Deputy Lieutenant Madam Mayor, before I speak about David Williams I just wanted to say that over recent weeks my group's thoughts have been with all the families affected by the tragedy in your ward Madam Mayor at Galpins Road, particularly with the families most affected. I've already said to Hannah and I think that she and we should be proud of her teams and how they came together and are still doing to support residents on the ground in such awful circumstances I'm sure we're all grateful for their services.

 

Turning to the matter in the citation, we've already heard from Councillors McLean and Councillor Holden in detail and I just wanted to add a few words of my own and on behalf of my group.

 

I think it's important to highlight that the legislation that powers local

authorities to bestow the Freedom of the Borough the 1972 act explains that this honour should be given to those who have rendered eminent services to the Borough; on any understanding over 45 years service to the Borough falls within this definition and we should all be grateful to David for his work.

 

I would also like to highlight his manner; he is courteous respectful and although strident online, particularly on Twitter, someone who will always engage with fellow Councillors of all parties as individuals.

 

I enjoy speaking with David as we've done at Mayoral and Civic events and he is generous with his opinion and fair-minded, I can certainly understand

why his colleagues were keen to support him as Leader of the Opposition and after winning the 2006 election why they were keen to support him as Leader.

 

He is also I think the only Councillor to use both points of order and an

intervention by way of personal explanation within Council meetings and the same one even and he's probably one of the few councillors who understands that the latter exists; certainly a level of procedural and constitutional wonkery that any Liberal Democrat would be proud of. Thank you Madam Mayor and thank you David.

 

Councillor Macauley:

 

Thank you Madam Mayor. Deputy Lieutenant, Madam Mayor, Councillors, officers, distinguished guests. I’m delighted to have arrived back in London safely this morning from the Tennis in New York in time for this very important meeting.

 

It gives me great pleasure to speak on the nomination for the Freedom of the Borough in respect of David Williams MBE JP. I am a joint member of the bench in Wimbledon Magistrates Court, now the southwestern Magistrates Court. David initially joined the bench in 1986 but came off

in 1987 when he left the Council and went to Hong Kong for two years. He came back to the Council and the bench in Wimbledon in 1990 he was Deputy Chairman of the Wimbledon bench until it merged to the Southwestern Magistrates Court and also Deputy Chairman of the Youth bench for three years to 2020.

 

David also mentored more than a dozen new magistrates, in fact when I joined the bench in 1995 having known David before I was elected

to Merton Council in 1998, we both attend the same church Saint Martins

in Lower Morden; David was very helpful to me during my chairmanship training together with Jackie McCabe, Peter McCabe's wife they helped me

with my training and I was delighted with all the help I got from David as we

all know that Wimbledon bench are very strict with their court's procedures,

the criteria was quite clear in that you have to have first-class knowledge

of the criminal justice system. David has served the court for well over 30 years and even when he decided to retire last year he has now been called back to the bench as Chair for a further four years due to the great contribution which he has made to the court with outstanding and excellent knowledge of court procedures and loyalty to the bench. He has never claimed any expenses for his services to the court.

 

David has also been a school governor for various schools

for nearly 50 years i.e prior to his first election as a

Councillor. He became a Councillor in Cannon Hill ward in May

1974 to October 1987 and for Hillside ward from May 1990 to

May 2022, some 45 years.

 

David has chaired several panels and several committees i.e allotments,

Housing, improvement grants etc he was Deputy Mayor in 1982

and he served alongside Theresa May during her eight years on the Council

1986-1994. He was also involved in education matters initially Deputy Group Leader 1994 to 1999 and Group Leader from 1999 to 2010 and Leader of the Council from 2006 to 2010. He became the Mayor of the London Borough of Merton in 2012-13 which was the time of the Olympics and Diamond Jubilee and in later years he was involved in finance including Standards and General Purposes Committee.

 

David was awarded an MBE for political services to the Borough he received his MBE from her majesty on the 8th of June 2019 and his MBE was presented by his Royal Highness Prince William at Buckingham

Palace which was well deserved for all his political services to the Borough

and I think at the time when he was receiving his MBE, Prince William turned round and said to him my goodness me you spent over 40 years in the London Borough of Merton you are a hero. Both in politics and criminal justice system David has made substantial contributions to this Borough and awarding him with the Freedom of the Borough is highly and richly deserved for such a very hard-working and dedicated man thank you very much Madam Mayor.

 

The Mayor then called for a vote and the vote was carried, unanimously. David Williams MBE JP was invited to receive certificates conferring upon him the titles of Honorary Freeman of the Borough and Honorary Alderman affixed with the common seal of the Council.

 

The substantive resolution was agreed.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That, by virtue of the power vested in it by Section 249 of the Local Government Act 1972, the Council does admit David Tyrie Williams MBE JP as Freeman of the London Borough of Merton.

 

This honour is bestowed on David Tyrie Williams MBE JP in recognition of the exceptional contribution he made to the Borough as a Councillor in over 45 cumulative years of service since his first election to the Council in 1974, including serving as Leader of the Council from 2006 – 2010, the Mayor of Merton in 2012/13, Deputy Mayor 1981/82, Leader of the Opposition 1999-2006 and his extensive civic service.

 

David has held a number of posts and senior positions on the Council throughout his time as a Councillor and has chaired various Committees and Boards.

 

David has also served the Borough in many other ways, including having been a School Governor at various levels for over 50 years, a member of the Endeavour Youth Club Management Committee in Morden for 35 years and a member of Merton Deanery Synod for 16 years. David has also served as a magistrate in Merton since 1986 and in 2019 received an MBE for Political Service in Local Government.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That former Councillor David Williams MBE JP is conferred with the title of Honorary Alderman of the London Borough of Merton in recognition of his loyal and distinguished service to the Council over many years.