Bangor City Council has agreed to sign the Armed Forces Covenant, pledging its support to serving personnel, veterans and Armed Forces families living in the city.

The decision comes two years after a proposal for the council to sign the Covenant was discussed but rejected in 2024.

Councillors reconsidered the matter at a recent meeting and resolved to accept and sign the Covenant.

The Armed Forces Covenant is an enduring promise between the people of the United Kingdom, the government and those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces, together with their families.

It recognises the sacrifices made by service personnel and their families and seeks to ensure they face no disadvantage compared with other citizens when accessing public and commercial services. It also provides for special consideration where appropriate, particularly for injured personnel and bereaved families.

Former Bangor city councillor and Armed Forces veteran Mark Roberts, of Glanrafon, welcomed the decision.

He said: “When I contrived to have it re-introduced this year, I was delighted that there had been a mood-swing; a total ‘U-turn’.

“I think they realised the sheer size of the serving and ex-Forces population of Bangor, which is far higher than the Welsh demographic average.

“The shame is that in the years while Bangor City Council had dismissed or ignored this resident base, the majority of Forces veterans had moved to Caernarfon, Llandudno and even Llangefni for their weekly get-togethers, and Bangor’s long history of affiliation with the military had been lost.

“The military parade last year was a wake-up call, both in the numbers of service personnel from London, Cardiff, Catterick, Tidworth and RAF Valley who marched, and the ranks and ranks of veterans who stood proudly to salute them.

“What matters now is not that city councillors have agreed to subscribe to the Armed Forces Covenant, but that they read, adhere to and advance the principles they have signed up to.

“A framed Covenant parchment hung in the Mayor’s office is useless unless every councillor, irrespective of party politics, seeks out old veterans in their wards to see how their lives can be improved.

“They’re proud men and generally loath to discuss their military service in, say, Suez, Aden, Oman or the more recent campaigns, but equally, they never beg for someone to occasionally pop in with an offer to make a cup of tea or to telephone a utilities company on their behalf when the gas meter is playing up or they need extra help around the house.

“That’s what the Covenant, in the community, can do.”

A spokesperson for a Bangor veterans’ group added: “This is welcome news indeed. The decision which recognises our value is long overdue.”

Councillors also considered the possibility of Bangor participating in Armed Forces Week in 2027.

Concerns were raised about the potential costs and whether an event in Bangor would duplicate similar events held in Caernarfon, Llandudno, Llangefni and Holyhead.

The proposal was approved in principle, allowing council officers to develop the idea further and report back to a future meeting of the full council. No final decision has yet been made about what form any Bangor event would take.

Bangor residents will have an opportunity to pay tribute to the military on Saturday, September 12, when personnel from RAF Valley will parade before attending a service at Bangor Cathedral commemorating the 86th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

Mr Roberts also highlighted Bangor’s historic links with the Royal Air Force.

He said: “It is not widely known that the very first air station created in Wales immediately after the formation of the RAF in the First World War was RAF Bangor.

“It was sited just east of Tal-y-Bont on what is now farmland. But if you look at its topography, it was very clearly an air station. These sadly are the things lost to modern history.”