Tim Peake to be awarded the Freedom of his home City
Councillor Jane Kilby Leader of the majority Conservative group on Chichester City Council proposed the motion to grant the Freedom of Chichester to Major Peake.
Chichester City Council has voted unanimously to confer the Freedom of the City upon astronaut Tim Peake
Following the vote at a special meeting on Wednesday 17th February the Council will now be getting a message to Major Peake via the European Space Agency to ask if he will accept the honour when he returns from his six month mission on the International Space Station.
Tim Peake was born in Chichester and attended the City's High School for Boys, which has named its science centre after him. He was also a member of the local air training corps during his formative years in the City. His parents live just outside the City.
He is the first British born European Space Agency astronaut and in January became the first Briton to take part in a space walk.
The Freedom of Chichester is an honour that was adopted by Chichester in 1901 but has its early origins in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
"It is the highest honour the City Council can bestow, and the local government equivalent of an investiture," explained Town Clerk Rodney Duggua.
The Mayor of Chichester Peter Budge said: "We hope that Major Peake will accept this honour but I am sure his diary will be very full when he returns to planet earth so we will not know for a while when we can present him with the Freedom Scroll and sign the Roll of Freedom holders.
"However, we do hope to ensure that as many citizens as possible will be able to attend the ceremony, particularly our local young people as he has certainly inspired them."