To receive any announcements from the Leader.
Minutes:
The Leader made the following announcements:
In August the Council announced that the inquiry into the Waterfront Hotel scheme would commence in September after the appointment of an independent investigator via the Local Government Association. We can now update that, Yinka Owa, the appointed investigator has already completed her background work and is now at the stage where she will begin interviewing the initial list of individuals that she has selected. As the inquiry continues Yinka will be seeking wider input from interested persons. Yinka Owa, has over 22 years' experience of working in Local Government legal and governance roles including being a Director of Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer for a London Borough.
Following the decision of the Community Wellbeing and Housing Committee, Spelthorne will be welcoming up to five families under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme, providing medium-term support and accommodation for people who had been working with UK forces in Afghanistan. The accommodation will be sourced through private landlords and the scheme is being fully funded by Central Government.
The Mayor officially opened the White House, the Council’s newhomeless facility in Ashford which provides specialist accommodation for single homeless people. The development comprises 27 en-suite rooms with shared kitchens, four self-contained studio flats, as well as outside space. Social housing provider Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing have been appointed to manage the facility, providing an experienced team of staff with 24-hour on-site cover.
As part of the Local Plan process, we are asking residents and other stakeholders to suggest areas they would like considered for protection as Local Green Space. Spaces that achieve the LGS designation will be protected in the new Local Plan in a similar way to Green Belt. The consultation will run for at least six weeks and won’t close before the 15th of November.
We are welcoming applications for funding through the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) for local projects and improvements. CIL is money raised from new development to help fund the infrastructure needed to alleviate the impacts of extra homes. CIL funds are used for either local infrastructure or wider strategic infrastructure. We expect applications to come from statutory infrastructure providers and not-for-profit organisations such as state schools, community groups and registered charities. The deadline for this round of applications is the 31st March 2022. Decisions will be made by local spending boards, made up of ward councillors for each area in the Borough.
The seventh annual Spelthorne Business Plan Competition final was held on the 23rd of September at BP’s headquarters in Sunbury-on-Thames. Six finalists pitched in a Dragons’ Den style final for a chance to win £3,500 and a year’s package of business support to help them get their business started. The standard of the presentations was extremely high and after much deliberation first place was awarded to Shannon McBride for her business idea ‘Magic Elephant Ltd’, a wellbeing consultancy.
Our continued efforts to create a cleaner, greener and more colourful Borough were recognised as this year’s South & South East in Bloom Awards. The ever-popular Sunbury Walled Garden struck gold in the Small Park category for the third year running, and Sunbury, Ashford and Staines Cemeteries all picked up gold awards in the Small Cemetery category.