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 in which he had been involved and attended since Council last met.
Starting with supporting fellow Councillor, Councillor Darcel, at an Environment Agency meeting to further some work Councillor Darcel had been undertaking with regards to potential flood protection or alleviation schemes in the south of the county. The Chairman had found it extremely interesting and thanked Councillor Darcel for the opportunity.
The Chairman, in his civic capacity had visited the His Church in Binbrook, a charity which collects surplus food and other items from supermarkets and other sources before re-distributing it to those in need, both in this country and internationally. He spoke of the incredible work undertaken at the site and of the operation’s national and international recognition. The visit had left an impression, had been worthwhile and the Chairman indicated he looked forward to learning more about their work.
It had been a pleasure to attend at the fifth Annual Illuminate event in Gainsborough which had been a great success once again. Thanks were expressed to all Officers and Members involved in delivering the event which had been most enjoyable and had seen large numbers gathering in and around the Marketplace due to it being combined with the food market which had been welcomed. Those who the Chairman had spoken with had enjoyed the event and he hoped that similar festivals could be held, both in Gainsborough and around the District.
The Chairman had raised a flag for Commonwealth Day, filming the event and making this available via the Authority’s social media accounts on this occasion.
It had been a pleasure to attend at the Lincolnshire Carers’ Awards, an event the District Council had sponsored and played a role in the judging of some award categories. He spoke of the amazing and under-celebrated work of Carers and the evening had provided opportunity for them to be celebrated and honoured.
The Chairman had attended the Civic Dinner of the Mayor of Kirton Lindsey. The Mayor, who was also a Clerk to a Parish Council within West Lindsey, had complimented the Authority on its facilities fund from which her Parish had received a grant for play equipment, she had asked that personal thanks be shared with elected Members.
Over the Easter weekend the Chairman had had the pleasure in attending and sponsoring a number of guests at the Market Rasen Racecourse, in celebration of its 100th anniversary, hosted by the Jockey Club. It had been a most successful day, despite the cool weather, and expected traffic issues.
The Saturday of the Easter weekend had seen the inaugural Antiques Market in Gainsborough and markets in both Market Rasen and Caistor, with the Chairman visiting them all. It had been a pleasure to see the marketplaces experiencing increased footfall, and people enjoying their experiences.
The second Antiques Market in Gainsborough had built on its experience from the previous week, with an increased number of stalls again and higher footfall, the Chairman hoped that these sorts of activities could be continued in the marketplaces, and the spaces used and enjoyed by the District’s residents.
Leader
The Leader made the following address to Council: -
“Welcome Members - as a Council our work in trying to secure the agreement around the use of the former RAF Scampton site continues and I was pleased to secure a meeting with Minister Tom Pursglove two weeks ago in London, where we hoped to make progress in our discussions around the site. Later that afternoon, the Government laid the SDO, the Special Development Order, in Parliament, a procedure which is a mechanism for bypassing the local planning authority's planning permission process.
As with other applications, once the application has been made, any stop notices should be lifted as it is seen as the applicant is attempting to regularise the permissions on the development. The talks were very productive with the Minister who recognised what we are trying to achieve in terms of allowing our £300 million project plan for the site to develop. He attempted to reassure us that the numbers would reduce by 800 on the site to a further 300, with a further 300 to be allowed in emergency situations, though it's unclear, as we know, what might constitute an emergency. Those discussions will continue, the Minister was very supportive and offered Councillors from West Lindsey an opportunity to visit Bibi Stockholm barge and the Weatherby site to get a better idea of the way large asylum centres are now working. We are keen to arrange these visits as soon as we can and to protect the site, enabling the development, whilst working to ensure the disruption to local communities is minimised, that is our key priority.
I also attended the District Council Network conference, which provided opportunity to work with other Councils and look at what they were doing, to consider alternative ways and to be forward thinking in our approaches here at West Lindsey.
Finally like you Chairman, the weekly Antiques Market started two weeks ago and it was great to see the number of traders who visited and the hundreds of people who came to support. We hope that this continues to be a big success in Gainsborough.”
Chief Executive
The Chief Executive addressed Council and started by echoing the Leader’s comments in respect of the meeting with Minister Pursglove.
The Corporate Policy and Resources Committee on 21 March, had approved a list of 16 negotiation criteria for reaching an agreement, good progress had been made since that meeting. The Chief Executive further advised that he would be setting up an online Member briefing for Wednesday (10 April) at 7pm. Apologies were offered for the short notice with the Chief Executive indicating he wished to ensure that all Members were aware of the principles that were being put into place with the Home Office. He expressed his thanks to Sally Grindrod-Smith for getting the Council to this stage.
The Chief Executive further advised that all of the Authority’s Council Tax and Business Rate bills had been sent and issued on time and before the end of March. The financial year-end had approached and the close-down of the accounts was progressing smoothly and in line as expected.
Finally, the Chief Executive also took the opportunity to comment on the introduction of the Antiques Market on the 30 March, commenting that the first market had gone well with the second week seeing more traders. He looked forward to seeing the offer grow over the coming weeks.
This brought announcements to a conclusion.