COUNCIL TO GRANT FREEDOM OF THE BOROUGH TO THE MERCIAN REGIMENT
Amber Valley Borough Council is to Grant the Freedom of the Borough to The Mercian Regiment, at a Special Full Council meeting on Tuesday 26 January.
Officers of The Mercian Regiment have accepted an invitation to attend the meeting, when the Council will bestow this rare honour. They are Brigadier C E Wilkinson CBE, Major R S Prophet, Major M J Green, Mr. A H L McDougall and Lieutenant Colonel K Seddon MBE (to be confirmed).
Councillor Stuart Bradford, the Leader of the Council, will move the resolution to confer the Honorary Freedom of the Borough upon The Mercian Regiment to recognise and foster the close association between the Borough and the Regiment. Councillor Paul Jones, the Leader of the Opposition Group, will second the motion.
After the resolution to grant the Freedom of the Borough is passed, the Brigadier, on behalf of The Mercian Regiment, will be invited to take an Oath and sign the Freedom Roll. A framed Grant of Honorary Freedom, containing the formal resolution, duly sealed, will then be presented to the Brigadier by the Mayor, Councillor Peter Makin, and an opportunity will be given to him to reply.
After the formal proceedings a reception will be held to give invited guests to opportunity to offer their congratulations.
The Mercian Regiment will exercise its Freedom of the Borough by marching through Ripley, on Monday 15 March 2010. This event will be followed by a reception at Ripley Leisure Centre for the soldiers and their families.
The Leader of the Council will also announce at the meeting, the grant of free use of Council Leisure Centres by active members of the armed forces who live in the Borough, and by their partners and children. The details of the announcement will be published after the meeting. Commenting, the Leader said: "We want to give a real meaning to the Grant of the Freedom of the Borough, to honour the historic rights of the Freedom, which are no longer applicable, and to honour the Nation’s covenant with the armed forces to value, respect and reward them and their families. All sides of the Council felt that we could best do this by granting to them the free use of Council Leisure Centres”.
