Stepping down Weca Mayor to retire next year
THE mayor of the West of England, Tim Bowles, is planning to step down from the role when his term ends in 2021, he has announced.
Mr Bowles, who became the leader of the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) nearly four years ago, said he was planning to retire after nearly 20 years of political service.
He said it had been an “honour” and a “privilege” to serve the region and he was planning to “pursue some other interests” which had taken a “back seat for so many years”.
“I am proud of the track record of bringing our communities together so everyone can benefit from the skilled jobs, quality of life and new opportunities our area is home to,” he said.
“The combined authority has brought hundreds of millions of pounds to the region and seen major improvements that benefit every single person.”
Weca was formed in 2017 and includes the councils of Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset.
Mr Bowles was elected to the position, which has the power to deal with jobs, housing and transport, after beating Labour’s Lesley Mansell.
During his term, Mr Bowles has overseen and developed ambitious transport plans for the region, including the MetroWest rail network and the extension of Metrobus.
“[These] are all the sort of long-term investments and strategic decisions that the West of England has been crying out for but simply couldn’t agree to make in the past,” he said.
“Now they are happening because we have a combined authority and a regional mayor. We’re creating safe routes for people to cycle and walk and bringing e-scooters to the region.”
Mr Bowles said he had also invested in “technologies of the future” to create jobs in the West of England through the 5G test-bed, Digital Engineering Technology and Innovation initiative and the Business Innovation Fund.
He added: “My flagship Future Bright scheme has already helped more than 700 families improve their job and career prospects, and that’s supported by our funding for Adult Education and by putting careers and enterprise advisers in every school in the region – something I am particularly proud of.”
The mayor also said he had “accelerated” support for businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic through the West of England Growth Hub and the Invest Bristol and Bath team.
“[We have] an ambitious recovery plan to come back strongly from the pandemic and build back better bringing the decent, well-paid jobs of the future to our region,” he said.
But the mayor said he was “most pleased” about the 4,000 new jobs and 13,000 new qualifications that had been created as a result of extra funding the region was given for having a combined authority.
“I am proud of all of these achievements and this track record of success, but now I would like to take the opportunity to pursue some other interests and do those things which have had to take a back seat for so many years.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fantastic team at the West of England Combined Authority who have helped make these successes possible.”