KENNY Miller has taken on the role of chairman of North Berwick Community Council.

The change comes after his predecessor Judy Lockhart-Hunter announced that she was expecting her first child with her husband Tom and was stepping down from the role.

Mr Miller, 66, was raised in North Berwick and attended both schools before leaving for work reasons.

He returned to the town four years ago and lives with his mother on Gilbert Avenue.

A former surveyor in the construction industry for 45 years, Mr Miller retired in January last year and has more recently been involved as a board member of North Berwick in Bloom.

He also volunteers as a driver for the North Berwick Volunteer Car Scheme and uses his DIY skills in the town as one of the harbour helpers.

'I love North Berwick'

Mr Miller joined the community council in November last year and is a former member of Ormiston Community Council.

He told the Courier: “I love North Berwick: it’s a brilliant town and I joined the community council to see what I could do to get more involved in how the town runs.

“I didn’t join with the intention of becoming chairman and I didn’t know that Judy was stepping down.

“I thought somebody else might stand as chair but Judy and Kathryn [Smith, secretary] both asked if I would consider taking on the role.

“Having thought about it and discussed it with both of them, I agreed to do so.”

Mrs Lockhart-Hunter will remain on the group as vice-chair and Mr Miller added that he was happy he would have her to advise him.

He added: “In six months, the community council will review how this is going and I will review it for myself and see what happens after that, but with every intention of continuing if it’s going well.

“I’m just looking to continue [what’s been done]; Judy did wonderful work as the chair and I’m not looking to change anything radically.

“I really just want to see how it works, what the local issues are and see what impact we can have.”

'Challenges'

Mr Miller spoke of the key issues he wanted to be involved with and stressed that there were multiple “challenges” facing the town

He said: “The big issues that are coming up are clearly the parking, that’s obviously been an ongoing thing for decades.

“The council consultation didn’t offer any answers and I didn’t see how it benefitted the people of North Berwick.”

Mr Miller also highlighted the closure of Edington Cottage Hospital, the upcoming Local Development Plan, local train network problems and anti-social behaviour as pressing issues.

He thanked Mrs Lockhart-Hunter for her work and hoped he could live up to her successes.

He said: “It’s a tough act to follow. Judy has been absolutely marvellous and, having worked with North Berwick in Bloom with her, Judy is tremendously supportive in everything she has done.

“I hope to be able to follow on in that legacy and I’m really happy to have Judy as a vice-chair for her advice and support.

“North Berwick is a wonderful town and I just want to feed into the whole chain that makes North Berwick a great place to live and work and visit – it’s a wonderful place and we want to keep it that way.”