To receive any announcements from the Leader.
Minutes:
The Leader made the following announcements:
“When I became Leader, I and my leadership team made a number of commitments.
We said we were going to be more open and transparent than the previous administration, give residents and Councillors a real voice, and be more focused on the needs of residents. I am pleased to say that we have made real progress in this.
In my first few weeks as leader I arranged for residents’ associations to speak directly to myself. We have met a couple of times and I appreciate the feedback which has led in principle to a 20mph zone in Laleham. I wish to thank all the resident’s associations for their dedication and working with ward councillors to improve local areas.
We have worked in partnership with Public Health at Surrey County Council to introduce Spelthorne Covid champions, the first scheme to be launched in Surrey. The scheme presents an opportunity for the Council, Public Health England and residents to work together to support our community and ensure effective, informative and timely communications are reaching our residents
After being hospitalised due to Covid-19 in March, I know personally how important it is to keep everyone updated and safe from this virus, so I am very pleased we have over 30 Champions in Spelthorne.
I would like to take this opportunity, and ask councillors to join me in thanking the groups of volunteers across the borough who have signed up to be Covid champions. You really are amazing!
We continue to work hard to support businesses and our high streets during the pandemic, by encouraging residents to shop safely in our town centres. We have recruited town centre managers for Ashford, Shepperton and Sunbury to take a proactive role in the revival of our town centres.
We also created two new Task Forces to review and make recommendations on the Local Plan for Spelthorne and the Staines Development Group. A number of obstacles have been thrown in our path as we have sought to deliver on these pledges, but we are determined to deliver on them.
We know there is a great deal of opposition, across the community and in this Council, to Staines becoming a high-rise heaven for developers at the expense of making the town a great place to live, work and visit. We don’t want to become another dormitory town of shoe-box size flats in tower blocks for commuters – an approach that has already permanently disfigured other towns in Surrey and elsewhere.
We want to ensure the town’s infrastructure and amenity is enhanced for all its residents, protecting its personality, skyline and public realm.
We need to work to do the best that can be achieved while also accommodating other factors such as protection of Green Belt.
If we need to bring in new outside experts to help us with this, we will. And we will ensure there is a proper full consultation in due course with residents before any new Local or Town Plan is brought to this Council for discussion and final approval.
Journalists and social media pundits have made news of the accounts position which have not been signed off since 2017. We are making progress with this matter. I have setup a leader’s task group which is working hard to meet the goal of these accounts being signed off as soon as possible.
Since inheriting this position, this administration has fully focused itself, with great energy, to resolve this situation. I would like to thank Cllr Nichols and Cllr Mitchell for their support since I inherited this matter.
I would like to welcome to Spelthorne our 2
new non-executive directors to Knowle Green Estates; Darren Levy,
and Ann Fillis who will be the first female board member.
[amended by Council at the meeting on 25 February 2021]
Knowle Green Estates will give an update at intervals to Full Council to ensure all members and public are aware of what is happening, again being more open and transparent for our residents.
I would like to announce to our residents and members tonight, that I will be bringing an Extraordinary Council Meeting (ECM) in January 2021. If these housing developments are approved by members at the ECM, this will then bring in over 520 properties, 83% of which will be affordable for Spelthorne residents which is so needed.
The ECM will also consider the matter of parking, to ensure that modern car parking in Staines upon Thames and Ashford are fit for the future, offering a high level of electric charging points. Residents have feedback that parking in Staines and Ashford can be a problem at times and we need to improve this.
A program board made up of members of this council and also expertise from other professionals, will be set up to monitor the development projects. This will be transparent and report to members of this council and our residents. This will also cease the need for other smaller groups such as the Property Investment Committee.
This Borough, along with the rest of England has endured a second period of lockdown and I know this continues to be a very difficult time for many of our residents and businesses in the Borough. Spelthorne and the rest of Surrey sits within Tier 2 Covid restrictions. Our Support4Spelthorne helpline is open and help is on hand for residents. Additionally, details of grants are available on our website, particularly for local businesses who face restrictions during this pandemic.
As at October half-term, the Council, through our Support4Spelthorne team will be supporting vulnerable families by providing hot meals to children through our community centres during school Christmas holidays. No child should go hungry and throughout this pandemic we have done everything in our power to care for our most vulnerable residents and we will continue to do so.
The winter edition of the Bulletin has been distributed to residents, containing 28 pages of Council news, local information, community messages, leisure updates and environmental stories from around the Borough. This edition includes a centre spread to highlight the services this Council offers and contact details for services and Councillors.
On Thursday 14 December the Council will be launching a 4-week public consultation to gain the views of residents on proposed changes to the way decisions are made at the Council.
Following the July Council meeting, a motion was approved which proposed adopting a Committee System of governance; meaning that decisions which are currently taken by the Cabinet would instead be taken by several committees.
I consider that the Committee System should provide a more open, democratic, inclusive and transparent way of conducting Council business which is one of my commitments since my leadership began.
The questionnaire along with FAQ documents will be available on our website and will close to respondents on Thursday 14 January.
The Chair of Spelthorne's Overview & Scrutiny Meeting has agreed to hold an Extraordinary meeting to discuss the mounting number of complaints from residents worried about unacceptable noise levels and air pollution from the Eco Park.
Harper House, an emergency accommodation facility for families and The White House, temporary housing for single homeless people are both due to open for residents in May 2021. Following a thorough procurement process, Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH) have won a five-year contract to provide an intensive housing management and resident support service at both these residential developments.
The Council also announced that we intend to revise the housing needs figure for the new Local Plan that would see Spelthorne's need figure reduced from 606 homes per year to 489. Whilst there are no guarantees the decision to use a lower figure has come from a recent Government consultation that proposes a revised method for calculating housing need.
The Council’s litter campaign continues to gather pace and we have now named over 50 young litter heroes in the Borough who have been awarded certificates by the Mayor. The neighbourhood services team are continuing to work with volunteers across the Borough to make Spelthorne a cleaner and greener place to live.
Our community centres have produced new Christmas initiatives to ensure elderly residents are supported during the holiday season.
The Greeno, Fordbridge and Staines Community Centres have produced Christmas hampers and activity packs to support those residents who will be facing a quieter Christmas than usual. These Community Centres are proof that localism works best in times of crisis and I am proud of how our staff have responded to the Coronavirus pandemic.
I know that many residents have missed being able to visit our centres and, like them, we are looking forward to the day we are able to open our doors once again and welcome them back
I would like to put on record, a very big thank you for the efforts of Spelthorne Borough Council officers and key workers across the Borough for all their hard work during this difficult year. Since the Coronavirus pandemic began over 9 months ago, the Council has maintained all its services, including refuse and recycling, and redeployed staff where they were needed most.
This Council is in the best position to support its residents and believes local is best, where services, support and development are influenced by local need - all under the scrutiny of accountable, local elected representatives.”
The Leader announced that he plans to create a new partnership with Surrey County Council around the care and needs of children in the Borough, in the belief that by working closer with Surrey, we can achieve more. He would ask the Deputy Leader, Councillor Maureen Attewell to work with Surrey on this with input from the Spelthorne community.
The Leader thanked Gill Scott, Principal Committee Manager, for the support she had given councillors and wished her a very happy retirement.
The Leader wished everyone a wonderful Christmas and a peaceful break and that 2021 is a better year for all.