The Leader congratulated the new Mayor and
Deputy Mayor on their election saying that they would make an
excellent team and be outstanding ambassadors for Spelthorne. On
behalf of the Council he wished them both a thoroughly enjoyable
year.
He thanked the outgoing Mayor Councillor
Leighton and her consort Chris Leighton for their sterling service
this year. He said Councillor Leighton had worked tirelessly during
her year and raised over £30,000 for her Mayors’
Charities. He announced that Councillor Leighton would now become
the Council’s River Thames Champion, with a remit to enhance
the role of the Thames in the life of Spelthorne. He also thanked
the Mayor’s Secretary, Sheila Kimpton, for all her hard work
this year.
He congratulated the Principal Committee
Manager, Gill Scott (formerly Hobbs) on her marriage to John Scott
and, on behalf of the Council, wished them a very happy future
together.
The Leader then made the following
announcements:
- The Duchess of Gloucester opened the
new Nursery at Springfield School in Sunbury this week.
- He and his wife had attended the
installation of the Right Rev and Right Honourable Dame Sarah
Mullally, the first female Bishop of
London, at St Paul’s Cathedral.
- Freeman of the Borough Colin Squire
was attending an investiture at Buckingham Palace on 18 May to
receive his OBE for services to the community. Mr Squire had kindly
agreed to become one of the Mayor’s Charity Trustees,
replacing Gerry Ceaser, whose memorial
service was held on Friday 11 May.
- 17 May marks the 75th
anniversary of the famous wartime Dambusters raid when two German dams were
destroyed.
- Spelthorne would be hosting
representatives from our twin town of Grand Port in Mauritius,
later in June.
- Next week marks 30 years of our very
successful Greeno Centre in
Shepperton. As a testament to its
success, and to assist in creating much needed extra space, we are
about to invest in the region of £60,000 in a new
conservatory. He congratulated the management team and will be
joining them to celebrate next week.
- He reminded everyone of a major
community event, JOY, taking place at Kempton Park on Sunday 17
June, when a group of local churches are seeking to feed 5,000. It
is a free event with music and entertainment and starts at
10am.
- The Council had recently announced
plans to build a new ‘flagship’ leisure facility in
Staines which would offer a modern design and meet the high
expectations of our residents well into the future. Public
consultations would shortly commence. The current centre would
remain open while the new one was being built to ensure continuity
of service.
- The Council is currently consulting
on a new Local Plan which will set out how much development is
needed in the Borough over the next 15 years. The consultation
paper sets out the key issues affecting Spelthorne to 2035 and the
options the Council will consider in order to meet the
Borough’s needs. Evening presentations are being held at
the Council offices on 21 and 24 May and
informal information events are also being held around the Borough
for residents to speak with staff. Following the consultation,
which ends on 25 June, the Council will draft the new Local Plan
before carrying out two further consultations. The Plan will then
be submitted to the Secretary of State who will confirm if it can
be recommended for adoption. He expected this process to be
completed by September 2020.
- The Council is calling on Heathrow
to broaden the compensation scheme which will be applied if
expansion at Heathrow goes ahead, to include the whole of Stanwell
Moor and large parts of Stanwell.
- Following a tender process, a 48%
saving has been achieved on the cost of the Council’s
insurance cover, resulting in an annual saving of over
£162,000.
- A Landlord networking forum was held
at Shepperton Studios on 8 May to build
links with local landlords and raise awareness of the
Council’s Rent Assure Scheme which guarantees rents for
landlords who let their properties through the Council. Following
the launch 2 years ago there are now 36 properties using this
scheme, to benefit local families.