Minutes:
The Mayor’s first announcement was that she had written letters to the following people who lived or worked in the District, to congratulate them on their awards in the New Year’s Honours List:
Carolyn Julie Fairbairn (Director General, Confederation of British Industry) – Dame Commander of The Order of the British Empire – for services to UK Business.
Felicity Harding (Ambassador and Special Advisor to the Chief Executive, Samaritans) – Officer of the Order of the British Empire – for Charitable Services.
Susan Margaret Henderson (Student Services Manager, University of Winchester) – Medalist of the Order of the British Empire – for Services to Higher Education.
The Mayor then reported on recent events associated with the district’s close relationship with the military. She had recently attended Operation Overlord D-Day commemorations at Southwick Park as well as the annual Armed Forces Week Flag Raising Ceremony. The Mayor was also to host a special lunch at Abbey House to welcome military representatives from St John Moore Barracks, Southwick Park and Worthy Down.
The Mayor announced that with her Chaplin, she would be ensuring that the diversity of local communities were represented at her events throughout her year.
The Mayor then reported that she had recently been involved in events to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Winchester’s association with Laon, France. The Mayor had also been pleased to have met the Mayor of Giessen, Germany (which was also twinned with Winchester) during his recent visit to Winchester as part of a choir tour.
The Mayor then informed the meeting that tomorrow was her annual Civic Day. She was to host a special lunch at Abbey House with Mayors from across Hampshire as well as a tour of Winchester College and also at IBM, Hurlsey.
Finally, the Mayor the reported that as many Members already knew, the Council’s Strategic Director (Resources) Joseph Holmes was leaving to take up a role at West Berkshire Council at the end of the summer. The Mayor awarded Mr Holmes the best thanks of the Council for his time as one of the Council’s Strategic Directors. Members reciprocated with applause.
The Leader then made a number of announcements. Firstly, Council had been successful in a number of national awards. These included the Land Charges team which had been shortlisted for a Best Customer Experience Award and Digital Award and also the Finance team which had been shortlisted for a Public Finance Innovation Award for financial reporting and accountability.
The Chesil Lodge Extra Care Scheme had been awarded the Best Inclusive Building category as part of the LABC South East Excellence Awards now being shortlisted to the national Awards. The scheme had also reached the finals of the best public service building, blue print for sheltered living. The Leader then announced that reviews were underway in respect of three major projects. The review of the Council’s new Sport and Leisure facility at Bar End was now substantially complete. It was not proposed to extend the sports hall at this time, but consideration would be given to changes to the internal layout along with further measures to improve the carbon footprint of the building.
With regard to the Central Winchester Regeneration work, there was an opportunity to build in further consideration with regard to sustainability and the involvement of key stakeholders.
The Station Approach project was complex and the Leader reported that a review was actively considering the environmental impact of the development.
The Leader then announced that Cabinet was taking a new open and transparent approach to each of these projects. Public open forums would be established and nominations requested from members. Further information would be provided in due course.
Finally, the Leader referred to the recent declaration of a Climate Emergency and involvement in the ’Clean Air’ Day and thanked the council team for their efforts to ensure climate change was at the centre of all their work.
The Chief Executive annouced apologies for the meeting.
The Chief Executive then reported that Winchester Citizens Advice Bureau was now located at the Colebrook Street offices. This co-location would ensure the best possible advice to residents was provided to residents as quickly as possible.
The Chief Executive then referred to the results of the recently commissioned residents’ survey. In summary, these showed that 95% of residents were satisfied with their local area as a place to live and that 79% had said that they were satisfied with the way the Council ran things. 65% had said that the Council provided value for money. These figures were all at least 14% higher than the average score for south east councils and would provide a baseline for further service improvements.