THERE was a hint that changes could soon be afoot at Waverley Council, as new managing director and chief executive Mary Orton started her post on Monday. Mrs Orton will take the lead in advising councillors on Waverley's strategic direction, and is the council's permanent statutory head of paid services. In a statement announcing her arrival in post, the new MD expressed her keeness to make sure that residents in Waverley are confident that the council listens to them and that Waverley tailors its services to meet their needs. "That means that we may need to re-structure some of our services to meet these needs more fully, she said, adding: "It also means that we will carefully monitor the performance and efficiency of our services to see how we're doing in order to effect improvements." Richard Gates, leader of the council, said: "I'm very pleased to welcome Mary to this very important role in the borough. Mary has made several working visits to Waverley since accepting her appointment so she's 'hit the ground running' now that she has officially joined Waverley. She's a very motivated person and will be aiming high to help us deliver improved services to residents." Mrs Orton joins Waverley from East Herts Council where she was responsible for strategic policy and partnerships, including the housing and planning policy teams, refuse, recycling and street cleansing, front-line customer services and corporate performance management.
