Agenda item

The Leader invited Members to provide briefings:

The Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Culture, Tourism and Well-being said that:

-       top of the list for good news is that Lansdown Art Studios – the council is going to help artists in the current building to secure a new and fit-for-the-future building.  This is an exemplar case study and good result for culture through planning, and credit is due to the planning team and developer for being open-minded;

-       he and Councillor Tooke recently visited the Pittville Pump Room and can report that work is going well;

-       thanks to St Philips and St James Church for their recent one-day event, From the Ground Up, which focussed on sustainability and what is being done to tackle the climate emergency;

-       he has spoken with Canada Life about the future of Cavendish House, and can confirm that positive plans are emerging.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets said that he would normally have presented the budget papers at this meeting, but due to the late announcements on additional government funding, these would be presented at an additional meeting on 23 February.

The Cabinet Member for Safety and Communities highlighted the following:

-       the recent No Child Left Behind (NCLB) ceremony at the Town Hall was a unique and heart-warming event, with representatives from almost 100 organisations and businesses in Cheltenham, all aiming to help children to a good present and better future in a variety of fun and practical ways.  She thanked everyone concerned for giving their time so generously;

-       she also thanked officers who have worked so hard, and also the Leader and colleagues, saying said NCLB is now set to grow outside the borough, helping young people with future employment opportunities.  She hoped that by this time next year, she will be able to report on more growth and improvement, resources and opportunities.

The Cabinet Member for Customer and Regulatory Services reported that:

-       consultation on the Strategic and Local Plan (SLP) is currently underway, and although it is still early days, this is a really important part of the process:  the SLP will ultimately replace the Cheltenham Plan and the Joint Core Strategy, tackling climate change, protecting local green space, allocating housing sites, supporting local businesses, and shaping communities locally.  He encouraged everyone to engage with the process via the SLP website or by emailing [email protected];

-       congratulations to the public protection and neighbourhood teams for their recent work with a young tagger, for undertaking restorative justice and spending many hours painting over graffiti in Town Centre East car park.  This alternative to a punitive approach is more effective in the long run and provides a different perspective;

-       thanks to the teams for tackling a range of anti-social behaviour and also their work underway for Gold Cup Week, and to Louis Krog and Sam Robinson for all the work they do.

The Cabinet Member for Waste, Recycling and Street Services was happy to report the planting of a new community orchard at Weavers Field in Warden Hill, in conjunction with Cotswold National Landscape and a representative of the Gloucestershire Orchards Trust.  He said there was an orchard on this site centuries ago, growing Warden Pears – from which Warden Hill took its name. It was satisfying to plant the trees, led by the green team and with children from three local schools delighted to be involved in creating a place where people will come together in the future to celebrate trees. 

The Cabinet Member for Housing had two updates:

-       with the return to CBH to the council, it was important to collect tenants’ feedback – the consultation was  launched in early December and closed on Sunday, and resulted in a good response, well above the hoped-for 10%.  She gave huge thanks to residents for makin the effort to share their thoughts, helping to shape the future services from the council’s housing services;

-       she has signed up to an annual fundraising event organised by Cheltenham YMCA, to highlight the issue of homelessness and rough sleeping.  The YMCA does great work in supporting vulnerable residents; more information can be found and shared via their website. 

The Cabinet Member for Housing gave huge thanks to all the small and medium-sized businesses who applied for Cheltenham Zero business funding - £100k in small grants to help businesses reduce their energy use.  £177k worth of applications was received.

The Leader welcomed all these positive and exciting updates,