Minutes:
The Deputy Mayor firstly paid tribute to former councillor Peter Kent Mason and former councillors and Mayors of Winchester, Ian Bidgood and Allan Mitchell who had all recently passed away.
Council stood in silent tribute to their memory.
The Deputy Mayor then announced forthcoming charity events and also the annual Mayor of Winchester’s Community Awards for 2023.
With regard to the King’s New Year Honours, the Deputy Mayor congratulated the following recipients:
Dr Martin Read CBE of Bishops Waltham - a knighthood for services to industry and for public and voluntary service.
Clare Hobbs of Winchester - an OBE for her work with young people as founder of the Wessex Dance Academy.
John Caulcutt of Sutton Scotney - an OBE for servicesto charity and philanthropy.
Jordan Wylie, lately of Andover but now living in Winchester – a MBE for services to children’s education in the Horn of Africa.
John Sutton of Winchester – a MBE for services to charitable fundraising as Director of Amateur Choirs.
Professor Beverley Harden, visiting professor at the University of Winchester – a MBE for services to healthcare.
Finally, the Deputy Mayor announced that Lisa Kirkman, Strategic Director, was to leave the council at the end of the month and she wished her well and asked that council accord its best thanks to her and that this be recorded in the minutes.
This was agreed and the meeting also reciprocated with applause.
The Leader then made a number of announcements.
In summary, the Leader referred to his recent meetings with the Leaders of Test Valley Borough Council and Eastleigh Borough Council (Councillor Phil North and Councillor Keith House respectively). Common issues discussed included the phosphates and nitrates issue, the way forward on the Partnership for South Hampshire (PfSH) Statement of Common Ground and the importance of rural economy issues. The Leader advised he had recently been elected as a local authority representative to the EM3 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Board and reported on the LEP’s work regarding relevant rural economy initiatives in the area and this included the recently opened Animal Health & Welfare Research Centre at Sparsholt. Regarding PfSH, he reported that the most recent Joint Committee meeting had discussed progress on the Statement of Common Ground and the Secretary of State’s recent announcements regarding changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
The Leader also advised that Councillor Becker (Cabinet Member for Inclusion and Engagement) was to investigate both Test Valley Borough Council’s and Eastleigh Borough Council’s initiatives to use the knowledge, insight and local understanding of local members to drive their council’s work.
The Leader also reported that he had discussed with the Leader of Hampshire County Council (Councillor Rob Humby) regeneration and growth in Winchester district and across the county. He then referred to his recent visits to North Whiteley, Newlands Parish Council, Wickham, Bishops Waltham and Alresford where he had met with local stakeholders.
He then referred to the importance of partnership working and highlighted this as part of the development of the council’s cost of living programme. Finally, he thanked officers for their response to issues over Christmas regarding Southern Water supplies and problems associated with the council’s out of hours call centre.
The Chief Executive announced apologies for the meeting.