A NEW face has been elected to represent the views of Taunton Deane residents - the second Green councillor to ever be voted in. 

Dave Mansell took the seat on Taunton Deane Borough Council (TDBC) after a victory at the Wiveliscombe and West Deane by election that took place on Thursday, April 5. 

The election was called following the resignation of Independent councillor Steve Ross in February, who had held one of the ward’s two seat since first being elected in 2011.

Three people stood for the position for the ConservativeLibDem and Green party. 

David Gary Mansell (Green Party) bagged the victory with 600 votes, followed by Susan Levinge (LibDem) with 389 votes and Philip Thorne (Conservative) with 352.

Mr Mansell, 56, who has lived in Wiveliscombe for 10 years, is also a town councillor. 

He said: "I've been on the town council for a year. I retired early from Somerset Waste Partnership so I've got more time. 

"I am looking forward to representing Wiveliscombe and West Deane and looking after the people here."

Mr Mansell says he has a number of concerns for the area, including Somerset County Council's library consultation and the town being seen as a rural centre. 

He added: "It's such a special and wonderful area, and we need to stand up for that. 

"Planning is another issue, we've got a good range of shops and services but we have got to look after them. We've got to strongly resist over-development which leads to things like parking issues. 

"I am keen to move things forward on protecting the environment. Climate change is such a big problem. I am keen to see the new SWP recycling plans come to fruition and to monitor the implementation."

Mr Mansell is one of the founding members of the Wivey Action on Climate and Environment group. The group launched a petition to TDBC to phase out single-use plastics. 

The council unanimously passed and backed the petition at a meeting in February. 

The newly-elected councillor also wants to champion energy saving and better insulation to keep homes warm and to save money. 

In his spare time, Mr Mansell is a keen cyclist and enjoys playing badminton, as well as staying active on environmental issues. 

The political make-up of the council stands as 33 Conservatives, 15 LibDem, 4 Independents, 2 Labour, 1 UKIP, and 1 Green.

It is believed that Mr Mansell is the second green cllr to have ever been elected to the council, after former cllr Alan Debenham who stood until 2003. 

He says that he will be working closely with the Independent members on the council. 

"I am very pleased that Taunton Deane has a green cllr," he added.

"It says a lot about the local community. They are strong, caring, environmentally concerned and they recognise that we need to do more.

"I am very grateful to have had the support of Steve Ross, he was a very good cllr, but the baton has been passed."

Former Green cllr Alan Debenham said: “Very well done, Dave, for such a well-earned and clear-cut victory for our Taunton Deane Green Party and I’m sure, as the voters of Wiveliscombe are, you will be a hard working leader and breath of fresh air to the council in it’s current death throes till replacement by the unfortunately merged Taunton Deane and West Somerset District Councils from May 2019. 

“Your election is historic in that for Taunton Deane you will be only the second Green Party Councillor after myself and I sincerely hope you will ruffle as many feathers amongst the Deane establishment as I did way back in my councillor days from 1973 to 1979 and from 1991 to 2003, and I’m still ruffling.”