Wrexham councillor will continue to serve while on maternity leave

Offa's county councillor will continue to serve her residents while she goes off on her maternity leave.

Plaid Cymru's Katie Wilkinson is due to have her third child later this year and will be starting her maternity next month. 

She made her announcement to residents on her Facebook page: 

"As many of you by now know, I am due to have a baby very soon! I just wanted to share my maternity plans with you all and hopefully provide some reassurance. 

"I will be taking a few months of maternity leave, mainly from the many council meetings, but I do plan to still be available to individual residents and continue working in the background on the outstanding issues that take time to resolve. That being said, I will inevitably be a bit slower at responding, but I have a great team of colleagues at Plaid Cymru who are supporting me during these coming months. 

"Cllr Carrie Harper and Cllr Becca Martin are leading the way with challenging the proposed Redrow development on Lower Berse Farm, so I'd encourage anyone concerned about this to reach out to them alongside myself. I know many of you are already fighting this and we will continue to work together to hopefully stop the development in its tracks. 

"In addition, Cllr Marc Jones will also be supporting me with any pressing matters if I am unavailable. I still hope to serve the community to the best of my abilities and will hopefully still be visible in Offa, just with a baby in tow!"

Cllr Marc Jones, who leads the Plaid Cymru group, said: 

"Katie's made a great impression in her first year as a councillor for the Offa ward and is a invaluable part of our group. Her expertise as a social worker has been very helpful and her experience of dealing with people in crisis, in particular ex-service personnel, is a real bonus for our group. 

"This is the first time that I can recall a Wrexham councillor having a baby while in office - which is perhaps more a reflection on the age and gender imbalance that the council has had in the past. We're trying to correct that imbalance with a majority of female councillors in our group, most of whom are in their 30s and 40s. We wish Katie all the best with her maternity leave and hope she has a restful time."