Agenda item

The Leader invited Members to share any briefings.  Some had only been in position in their new portfolios for eight days, but briefings were as follows:

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control reported that hehas recently signed off the Cheltenham Non-residential Monitoring Report for 2024-25, covering all non-residential permissions in that period, which was interesting reading. He also advised that:

-       work has started on the draft Housing Delivery Test Action Plan, which shows the current situation with regard to the council’s five-year land supply.  The report will help to monitor progress more closely than in the past, and hopefully with Elms Park, Golden Valley and other strategic developments coming forward, CBC will get much closer to achieving its supply;  

-       the Director of Community and Economic Development has signed off a decision authorising a financial contribution from SAMM (Strategic Access Management and Monitoring) to Stroud District Council to facilitate an onsite ranger service at Cotswolds Beechwoods for the next two years.

The Cabinet Member for Major Developments and Housing Delivery said she was happy to have met with the excellent team, who shared their ambitious ideas for Golden Valley, a huge part of her portfolio.  High Street regeneration and housing delivery are also major items, and it is great to hear that the Monkscroft development, which had hit a snag due to economic factors, is now back on the agenda, with 100% affordable housing, mix of tenures to actively reflect the shortcomings on the housing waiting list, very high climate standards, and easy walking paths. 

She also reported on the promotion over the last few weeks of the Jam Coding project, with the Golden Valley team putting money into coding passes for children in local primary schools to have fun and develop skills for careers not only in the Golden Valley but also in the wider tech eco-system.  Her predecessor worked hard on the social value that Golden Valley gives back to the community, and this is the tip of the iceberg.

The Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Culture, Wellbeing and Public Open Space was also getting to grips with his new portfolio, with meetings already taken place and many more planned.  He is enjoying meeting leaders and organisations which contribute so much to our festival town, its culture and wellbeing, and all the very positive things that make Cheltenham the wonderful place it is, where people want to live and to invest. 

One of these, he said, is the Cheltenham Lido which is celebrating 90 years on Sunday.  It is a fantastic facility, supported by the council over the years, and a great asset to the town.

The Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency, having recently been elected to Gloucestershire County Council, said he was looking forward to bringing the county and the borough together on issues such as footpaths, and playing a role in liaison between the two councils to ensure that what they do is as effective as possible for the people of Cheltenham.

The Leader thanked the Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency for his much-valued contribution to Cabinet, and wished him well on the County Council.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Customer Services said she had been privileged to represent the Local Government Association at a number of meetings in Europe over the last few weeks, where she was able to share what CBC is doing.  In particular, she spoke about how the council is supporting girls and women, after reports that they are retreating from many aspects of life because they don’t feel safe.  She thanked, Richard Gibson, Kelly Patterson and Tracy Brown for all their work, and said what a great honour it was to be able to represent Cheltenham, talk about what we do, and show the difference it makes.  

The Cabinet Member for Safety and Communities shared several items:

-       thanks and congratulations to licensing officers and all partners who work with us on being awarded a 10^th consecutive purple flag, assessed on the town’s offering for the evening and night-time economy – this is a great achievement;

-       she was happy to have volunteered at the weekend’s Pride Festival, and to engage with the community, vendors and the police about hate crime and safety in our communities;

-       she was also pleased to have met and talked some visitors from Cheltenham’s twin towns, Annecy and Gottingen, here for the Jazz Festival, and given a presentation and update on the work of No Child Left Behind, with ongoing dialogue;

-       she has been working with officers to digest the consultation  responses to the recently-updated sexual entertainment venue licensing policy and taxi policy, and thanked everyone who took time to respond to those important consultations. 

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets was happy to return to this portfolio and thanked his predecessor for all her work.  He said that finances are hit by global economic forces from time to time, and recent events are likely to have an impact on CBC. He added that there is always a lot going on with the council’s properties, welcomed the upcoming report on the Petersfield Partnership, and he was looking forward to being involved going forward.

The newly-appointed Cabinet Member for Waste, Recycling, Parks, Gardens and Public Greenspace said he had learnt a lot in his first week, and was impressed by the first-class officers he has met, whose experience and longevity says a lot about the organisation.  He share the following news items:

-       the Long Gardens will soon be planted up with perennials, which will transform their appearance;

-       he has recently met with Adam Reynolds, Parks and Public Realm Manager, to discuss issues of security around parks, open spaces and recreation grounds;

-       new and more bins are being installed on the Promenade and High Street, which will hopefully be well used. 

The Leader said that she has received feedback from the government, following submission of CBC’s proposals on local government reorganisation in Gloucestershire.  This doesn’t add anything new, mainly reiterating the original document.  She commented that the county council elections have taken place since the original submission, highlighting the importance of working across all seven authorities.  She is looking forward to working with the new county administration.