Cabinet considered the recommendations contained in the report from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the Lendy Memorial Lion petition.
The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Leighton , informed the Cabinet that Council had asked the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to look into the Lendy Memorial Lion petition in detail after it received a lot of resident support. Councillor Leighton explained that the officers report contained two recommendations, the second regarding a letter of support for two academics to undertake further research, however, she had wanted to discuss each recommendation separately as primarily the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had been asked to recommend a course of action regarding the memorial and the Committee felt there should be no delay in addressing this as residents had made it clear that they wished for the memorial to be uncovered.
Councillor Leighton explained that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee were satisfied that the Council had established the credentials of Mr Doyle, an investigative journalist who had provided the Council with a detailed background to the memorial and the Lendy brothers but that the provenance of the academics had been queried as their credentials had not been validated.
Councillor Leighton concluded that whilst the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had unanimously agreed with recommendation 1, they had been divided on recommendation 2 with seven members voting for, five against and two choosing to abstain.
The Leader allowed Councillor Sider to address the Committee as Armed Forces Champion. Councillor Sider echoed Councillor Leighton adding that he had sought information on the background of the academics and had been concerned that some of the tweets associated with them did not appear to be unbiased. Councillor Sider requested that Cabinet support recommendation 1 but reject recommendation 2.
Resolved that:
i. The Council supports the views of residents, as expressed in the petition. The statue should immediately be uncovered and left in place.
ii. The Council provides at the site a plaque containing historical information, with more detailed information available, for example through a QR code.
iii. The Council works with local informed sources and their wealth of information so other suggestions for ensuring access to detailed background information can be pursued, such as a booklet in the Embroidery Gallery and the involvement of the well-respected local history society.
Reason for decision:
The Council has listened to the views of its residents who have made it clear that they wish the memorial to be uncovered and left in situ for residents and visitors to enjoy.
The Council believes it is important to provide residents and visitors to the borough with access to historical information about the brothers and the memorials heritage and believes that a wealth of information is already available and thus the Council does not believe it is necessary to write a letter of support for the academics to receive funding for further research.