Minutes:
The Mayor made a number of announcements.
Although the Armed Forces Day flag raising event at the Great Hall was unable to take place this year, the Mayor reported that the council flew the flag from the Guildhall in the normal way. A special message from him to show the council’s support for all the armed services was recorded for social media and for the council’s website.
The Mayor was pleased to announce that Bishops Waltham Community First Responders had received the Queen’s Award for voluntary service and he congratulated them for receiving this accolade.
The Mayor had recently visited the Basics Bank at Bar End, Winchester where he was able to personally thank the volunteers for their commitment both before and during the lock down in delivering food boxes to those in need and adversely affected by the pandemic.
The Mayor then reported that as the Cathedral had been unable to host the annual Mayor’s Sunday civic service, a virtual Prayer and Reflection service had been arranged. This was to be available via the Cathedral’s website from 23 July.
Finally, the Mayor announced that he had been pleased to engage with the local community with virtual engagements, video recordings, and also meeting people face to face whilst socially distancing. He was looking forward to visiting some schools in the district and the Army Training Regiment at St John Moore Barracks.
The Leader then made several announcements.
The Council had been awarded £93,000 from the Enterprise M3 LEP fund to assist with the recovery of the local economy. This had been combined with the £109,000 of government funding and £40,000 of Community Infrastructure Levy funding to use on a package of measures to encourage people back to the district’s centres and to walk and cycle. The Leader thanked officers for their work in achieving this successful bid for the funds.
The Leader then referred to the recent National Health Service 72nd birthday commemorations. Together with the Mayor, she offered her special thanks to all those who work in NHS and social care and reported that the Guildhall clock was lit up in blue to mark this event.
The Leader then referred to the recent volunteering response and she passed on her thanks to all those who had given their time. The Leader made special mention of those volunteers who had attracted national attention. These included Debbie Lockett who was the national winner of the HSBC UK ‘Local Heroes’ campaign whose project to provide free meals in Winchester during the pandemic had been supported by the council. The Leader also added her congratulations to those of the Mayor to the Bishops Waltham Community First Responders for their prestigious award.
Finally, the Leader then congratulated Clare Bradley from Winchester who was the recent winner of the BBC’s ‘Great British Sewing Bee’ programme.
The Chief Executive then announced that she had been very pleased to have attended the recent presentation of the Deputy Mayor’s badge to Councillor Vivian Achwal at Abbey House. Councillor Achwal’s husband and daughter had also attended this special celebration together with the Leader and the Strategic Director (Resources).
The Chief Executive then announced apologies for the meeting.