i) Chairman of Council
ii) Leader of the Council
iii) Chief Executive
Minutes:
Chairman
The Chairman addressed the Council, referencing briefly some of the events which he had been involved and attended since Council last met, noting there had only been a five week period between each meeting.
Starting with the sad occasion of attending at the funeral of the wife of the former Chairman of Council, held at the Lea Fields Crematorium. It had been a very moving ceremony, with several Council representatives their to support the former Chairman. It was anticipated a celebration of life would be held in coming months.
The Chairman had attended a number of business visits, focusing on those local businesses within the Visitor Economy sector and one in particular with environmental and climate credentials to be applauded. The first trip was to Wold Pines in Market Rasen, a high ropes experience which had been much fun and provided for a memorable video opportunity of the Chairman “having a go”. He fully recommended the independent outdoor experience to be had at Wold Pines, especially for those with adventurous youngsters.
Secondly the Chairman had visited Uncle Henry’s, receiving a tour of their tourist options and a fascinating talk on the company’s sustainability approach and their complete circular economy. The Chairman indicated he would like all Members to have the opportunity, via way of Member presentation, to hear about the company’s approach which he considered typified the District’s aspirations in respect of managing the climate situation. Again, he considered it a fascinating operation and well worth a visit.
The final visit had been to Wright’s ice-cream parlour, a recipient of funding from one of the District Council’s Community Grants Scheme, which had provided for a play facility on site, not only for visitors to the Parlour, but which was also accessible to the local community free of charge.
Finally, the Chairman referred to his attendance at the two-day APSE Climate Summat, highlighting a significant change in the expression been used when talking about such matters. There had been less talk of dealing with climate change, but rather of climate adaption and preventative work. It had been a fascinating event, with a lot to take away and consider. This area of work continued to be a focus for the Council and would continue long into the future.
Leader
The Leader made the following address to Council: -
“Chairman, Members, welcome to tonight's meeting, I have three items to report to the Full Council and I will try and keep my announcements brief. So firstly, Lincoln University - myself and the Deputy Leader were delighted to attend an event held by Lincoln University. Whilst we already have a good working relationship with the University, we are keen to build on this joint working, exploring opportunities to work with them on projects such as the step fusion project, with a long term aspiration to bring a University presence to the heart of West Lindsey.
Savoy Cinema - we attended the Ground-breaking event. Despite significant increases in the construction costs, we are delighted to continue the support for the cinema project, in Gainsborough, these increases have impacted on the amount of Government funding, awarded as part of the Levelling-Up Programme, but despite these challenges, we are pleased that the Scheme has now begun. I, along with other Members of the Council, attended the Ground-breaking event held last Friday and were delighted that the contract to build the Cinema was awarded to a local contractor and construction company, which will create and support employment opportunities for local people. The cinema is expected to be completed by Spring 2025.
Finally, the weekly antique market - Following six months of planning and working with MH Antiques, we will be launching a weekly antiques market in Gainsborough from 30 March 2024. Delivering a vibrant town centre is a key priority for this Administration and this planned weekly event has already attracted some regional and national attention. We have approximately 50 traders booked in on 30 March and we welcome any Members who would like to volunteer on that day and encourage as many Members as possible to support the event.”
Chief Executive
The Chief Executive addressed Council and advised of his invitation to speak at a launch event for Technology One, the Council’s Finance system supplier, the previous Wednesday, where the future of technology in Local Government had been discussed. The event was to launch a study Technology One had undertaken with FT Longitude looking at the New Digital Reality for Local Government.
Like the Leader, the Chief Executive had been really pleased to be part of the Ground- breaking ceremony for the Savoy Cinema on Friday of the previous week. He too welcomed the contract having been awarded to a local firm the Gelder Group. He placed on records his extensive thanks to Sally Grindrod-Smith and her team for getting the Project to this stage and he looked forward to seeing the cinema emerge from the ground over the next 65 weeks.
It was with delight, that the Chief Executive announced that the Local Land Charges Team have been shortlisted for three awards in the 2024 Land Data Awards for Excellence. The Team had been nominated for Best Migrated Local Authority, Customer Satisfaction Award and Local Authority Searches Team of the Year.
Thanks were expressed to Deborah Chapman and her Team for their hard work over the last two years, which had now been recognised nationally.
Finally, the Chief Executive took the opportunity to remind Members of the fifth Illuminate event being held on Saturday 9March. Previous events had been attended by over two thousand people and the Chief Executive was of the belief this year would be no exception and hoped to see as many Members there as possible.
This brought announcements to a conclusion.