To receive any announcements from the Leader.
Minutes:
The Leader made the following announcements:
“I would like to invite everyone to attend the memorial service being held for the late Gerald Ceaser at noon on Friday 11 May at St. Peter’s Church in Staines. A former Mayor and Leader of Spelthorne Council, Gerry was an important local figure and is sadly missed by all who knew him.
I am also sorry to have to announce the death of Fred Smith, former Councillor and Freeman of the Borough, following a long illness. Fred’s funeral will take place in Lancashire but his family will also be holding a church service in Stanwell - more details to follow.
It has since been announced that a memorial service will be held on Friday 11 May at noon at St. Mary’s Church in Stanwell.
All Councillors will have received an email inviting them to a briefing session for an update on the work being undertaken to plan for a new leisure facility to replace the existing Spelthorne Leisure Centre, which is coming to the end of its useful life.
The White House, situated next to the Council’s refuse depot on the Kingston Road, has been demolished and the Council is progressing with plans to develop the site to provide accommodation to support homeless people. The Council’s Housing team has also recently introduced new processes to ensure that people in danger of losing their homes are being offered help at an earlier stage.
A networking forum for landlords is being held on Tuesday 8 May at Shepperton Studios.
A parking study is to be undertaken in Ashford to establish current parking habits and potential future needs.
Councillors will be aware that the Council has formally responded to the recent Heathrow consultation exercise and outlined a list of ten key requirements. We will be looking to engage further with Heathrow over the next few months to discuss a number of these requirements, including the need to obtain a better compensation package for those residents most affected by the proposals and to secure effective controls to minimise the effects on our residents during construction and operation of an expanded airport. I have appointed Councillor Boughtflower to chair an internal working group to take these things forward.
Members will be aware of the forthcoming changes to data protection legislation, known as GDPR. The Council is working towards implementing the requirements and has already provided four training sessions for Councillors and staff, the most recent of which took place earlier this evening.
Money from the Leader’s Windfall Grant, councillors’ Better Neighbourhood Grants and a contribution from County Councillor Richard Walsh’s Members Allocation has been used to improve Shepperton Lock, enhancing the area in time for the summer season. The makeover includes new signage, groundworks, resurfacing and remarking of the parking area and refurbishment of the toilet block.
Gardeners and residents attended the launch of this year’s Spelthorne in Bloom on Monday 16 April at Notcutts Garden Centre in Staines.
The Council has made use of powers in the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Regulations to recover a substantial of £300,000 outstanding debt from a developer following the implementation of a housing scheme in the borough. Although the developer had been reluctant to settle the outstanding debt, the Council continued to pursue the matter and succeeded in securing full payment of the Levy which, with costs and late payment interest, amounted to more than £300,000.
Again we have shown that Spelthorne Means Business!!”