Princes Risborough Town Council is set to welcome a new councillor after appointing Alex Durao to join the team.

40-year-old Mr Durao, who moved to Princes Risborough in January 2013 and now lives in Wycombe Road, is originally from Portugal.

The architect, who runs his own firm, Alex D Architects Ltd in Bourne End, says he is excited to get started in his new role in the town council.

He said: “I wanted to be more involved in my local community. I am quite an active person and I want to be able to help people in any way I can.

 “That feeling when you achieve something is fantastic and I'm very proud of this achievement. I want to get started as soon as possible.”

Mr Durao officially became Councillor Durao last week after signing the official documents and has already started to involve himself with local issues.

“I went to the local meeting in Bledlow Ridge on Tuesday because I wanted to hear people’s views and see what was going on, so that was my first official meeting, but I'm looking forward to my first town council meeting next week.

“It’s very exciting. I moved from Portugal two years ago and I like to be involved and help people. I think it will be a very interesting role. All of this is quite new to me but I really just want to get started.”

The successful businessman hopes his experienced background in planning could help the council deal with serious housing issues like the Local Plan, which he is keen to get involved with.

Mr Durao said: “I still need to look at the plans in detail and learn all I can about it, but I think Wycombe District Council is under a lot of pressure to provide housing where they can, to meet targets across the country. Having said that, I do think Princes Risborough needs to be kept how it is at the moment.”

The new Councillor is hopeful that he can make an impact on the town and start helping people with their concerns. 

He said: “Most residents won’t know me, but I think I’m quite a straightforward and open person and I'm happy to listen to people’s issues, so I hope I can be a good representative for the people of Princes Risborough.

“I hope residents can trust me and I hope I will be able to help them with the issues they are concerned about.”