i) Chairman of Council
ii) Leader of the Council
iii) Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service
Minutes:
Chairman
The Chairman addressed the meeting advising it had been quite a busy period since Council last met. He offered thanks to his Vice-Chairman for assisting and helping at number of those events.
Particular highlights in the month were the new civic presentations being made to deserving citizen’s brought to the attention of the Chairman. Recipients in the month had been Reggie, a primary school aged young man, with a passion for litter-picking in his local community in his spare time; and the founders of the Marton Grub Club, which had been running for 15 years, feeding local pensioners. Due to the retirement of the founders, the Club’s future was uncertain but local Members were working with volunteers in a bid to see the Group continue. All recipients had been most deserving
The Remembrance Service, at the Parish Church in Gainsborough, the previous day, had been both a special and poignant occasion. The service and attendees seemed to grow year on year, something the Chairman considered to be fantastic.
In concluding his announcements, the Chairman took the opportunity to both remind Members and promote some up and coming events. The Gainsborough Christmas Light Switch on – Friday 14 November, a great event to bring families to, with something for everyone; and the Trinity Arts Annual Pantomime – a great show was anticipated, rehearsals and preparations were in full swing, all were encouraged to get their tickets, available now.
Leader of the Council
The Leader of the Council addressed Council and made the following announcements: -
At the end of September, we were delighted to receive the news that an allocation under the governments Pride in Place Programme has been made to a part of Gainsborough known as Gainsborough West. The allocation will see our place receive £2m a year over the next 10 years, meaning £20 million in total. Whilst we wait for the publication of the full guidance, we were pleased to hear from Officers at last week’s Prosperous Communities Committee where Members approved the initial communications plan. This will ensure that work starts right away whilst the details are finalised.
Scampton
Since the last Council I have visited the site with the Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, Scampton Holdings Limited and our Officers. I was pleased to hear first-hand from the Home Office that preparations are well underway for the marketing of the site. It was also very helpful to hear first-hand from Scampton Holdings about the recent Economic and Social Impact Analysis which I’m sure some of our Members saw published. Headlines figures included total benefit from the proposed regeneration of a staggering £2.1bn and I have recently written, alongside our partners at LCC and City of Lincoln to the Prime Minister to urge that the Government act at pace to realise these benefits for West Lindsey and beyond.
Visit to Riseholme
On 9 October I was pleased to join a visit with other Members of the Council to the University of Lincoln’s Riseholme Campus which is where the Lincoln Institute for Agrifood Technology are based. We heard from Professor Simon Pearson – the founding Director of the institute who told us about the incredible scale of growth and investment being attracted into our area by the University. We met businesses working out of the Barclays Eagle Lab as they receive help and support on their new business journey. We met a company developing a prototype robot to pick mushrooms and witnessed the latest in glass house technology being used to develop and perfect growing conditions for strawberries! It was simply breath-taking to see all this happening in our district and with so much potential for growth. I was pleased to hear that our Officers continue to work hard with the University and partners in our area to develop the sector further and maximise the growth for potential.
The Great Exhibition
On 22 October I attended the Great Exhibition in the heart of West Lindsey at the Lincolnshire Showground. Hosted by the Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, the event was a real showcase of the capacity and capabilities of businesses in Lincolnshire. I met some of the wonderful businesses that are based in our area and saw first-hand the real buzz of excitement at the potential for the future.
Greater Lincolnshire Combined Authority Employment and Skills Board
In October I attended my first meeting of the Employment and Skills Board where I am a member representing the Joint District Committee. It is still early days for the boards of the Combined Authority and at this meeting we considered the terms of reference, the position of the Local Skills Improvement Plan, the Get Britain Working White Paper, the Get Lincolnshire Working Plan and the Devolution of the Adult Skills Fund. I was able to make the point that District Councils and indeed West Lindsey have much to offer this agenda – citing some of our great successes in the recent UK Shared Prosperity Fund. There was acceptance from the Mayor that Districts should be engaged in this agenda moving forwards. Thanks to Councillor Boles who attended the Overview and Scrutiny Committee of the Combined Authority last week and I’m looking forward to attending the Transport Board on Wednesday and the District Joint Cttee on 8 September.”
STEP Fusion
Tomorrow I’m delighted that we are hosting the STEP Fusion team here in Gainsborough as we hear more about their progress and future plans. My Deputy Leader, Councillor Westley attended the Strategic Collaboration Group in September on my behalf held at the University of Nottingham and was enthused by the progress being made on this fascinating programme of work. There is a community event being held on 27November over at the Fusion Energy Café in Worksop and Members and our residents alike are invited to attend to hear about progress and plans for 2026 and beyond.
Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service
In addressing the Chamber, the Chief Executive expressed his delight at having taken up the new role and placed on record his thanks and gratitude to the Members, Officers and the many partners across West Lindsey that he had managed to meet in the first six weeks, for the support and welcome that had been shown to him. He looked forward to meeting more in the coming weeks and months.