Agenda item

Like the Mayor, the Leader said she had also had the privilege to represent Cheltenham locally, nationally and internationally throughout the year, meeting many different people, and was taking this opportunity to reflect on all the council has achieved in 2024:

-       housing colleagues were welcomed back to the CBC fold on 1^st July; thanks to tenants and leaseholders involved in our housing committee and tenant and leaseholder panels for their time and their voice, vital in driving and improving the service going forward;

-       CBC self-referred itself to the housing regulator, who provided no formal judgement but was pleased with the actions being taken thus far; huge thanks to all involved in that process and the work that will continue into 2025;

-       all-out elections in May, swiftly followed by the general election in July, involved a massive all-round team effort led by the elections team.  Thanks to them for the phenomenal amount of work entailed;

-       the Minster Exchange was formally opened, Golden Valley planning applications were submitted, and we delivered over £2m in savings; 

-       the council won accolades for keeping people safe during race week, for Cheltenham’s night-time economy, and for our amazing parks and gardens;

-       officers were involved in dealing with the fire at the Regent Arcade car park;

-       after 30 years of talking about it, the Municipal Offices are finally up for sale with applications now closed.  The airport is also on the market, to remain as an airport with much-needed investment.  Both have required a huge amount of effort from officers; the responses have been good, and many compliments have been received on the management of the process;

-       £20 million pounds has been received from the government to support another step on our journey to delivering the innovation centre. 

She went on to consider some of the challenges ahead:

-       the change in the National Planning Policy Framework announced last week will see increased numbers for CBC, and make working with our Strategic and Local  partners even more important;  there are many other changes which will need to be digested;

-       with the white paper inviting all remaining two-tier council areas to submit reorganisation proposals, at the same time requiring unitary councils to look at themselves again in terms of their size, she hoped that, once the contents of the paper have been fully digested, the county and the districts will be able to reach a consensus that is best for our county, noting that the government is anticipating that the changes will happen within this parliamentary term.

Returning to CBC’s achievements, she said the festive ice rink has been a huge hit again, now offering special relaxed glide sessions and working with the Holiday Activities Fund to offer free skating to local residents who meet the eligibility criteria. Sales are up on last year, thanks to excellent marketing and reputation, and also to our primary sponsor, Lidl. Last year the rink welcomed 30,000 skaters who spent an estimated £1.6 million in local businesses, £860,000 of which wouldn’t have been spent without the ice rink, and the same analysis this year will see how this has improved.

She congratulated Cheltenham Town Women’s team who have reached the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time in their history, and will play Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday 12 January for a place in the last 16.

Finally, she asked everyone to support her in thanking all CBC’s operational teams, including the housing team, environmental health officers, cleansing teams and emergency planning, who will be on call across the festive period to support local residents and businesses.

She ended by  wishing everyone the very best for the holiday season.