I WOULD like to publicly thank the now former councillor Rebecca Whitaker of Craven ward (Silsden, Steeton, Eastburn and Addingham) for her incredible service representing our ward as one of our district councillors on Bradford Council over the last four years.

Rebecca Whitaker fought and worked extremely hard for the ward as a district councillor. She was and will continue to be a fantastic community activist and representative who works non-stop to improve our community and to help as many residents as possible.

Working with Rebecca since I was elected in 2019 has been such an honour. I was lucky enough to be elected when I was 19 years old, so entering the world of politics was quite daunting, but having Rebecca as my fellow ward councillor to work alongside really helped me get stuck into the job straight away and she supported me in every way she possibly could. She’s a fantastic colleague.

I would also like to congratulate our new ward councillor, Caroline Whitaker, on her election win in Craven ward. I wish Caroline all the best and look forward to working with her in the not too distant future.

Again, I just want to say on behalf of our Craven ward a massive 'thank you' to Rebecca for all the amazing work she’s done and for being an incredible representative for us at Bradford Council!

Cllr Owen Goodall, Craven Ward

* Email your letters to alistair.shand@keighleynews.co.uk