Agenda item

The Cabinet Member for Major Developments and Housing Delivery said she and the Leader had today attended the ground breaking at 320 Swindon Road, where a former car park is being redeveloped to provide 24 affordable, eco-friendly, sustainable homes to buy and rent.  It was a pleasure to meet the workers and some of the neighbours of a scheme which will be a real uplift for the community.  She said ground source heat pumps will be installed, which work better for flats. 

The Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Wellbeing, Culture and Public Realm reported on several upcoming Christmas events for all the family to enjoy:

-       the ice rink will return to Imperial Gardens at the weekend, and is a brilliant way to bring people to the town centre between now and January, offering a range of sessions for everyone;

-       the Christmas lights switch-on is to take place at the weekend, with a temporary market on the Promenade for the event, and the German Christmas market coming soon in December;

-       there are two pantomimes in Cheltenham this year – Robin Hood and his Merry Men at the Everyman and Dick Whittington at Playhouse. 

The Cabinet Member for Safety and Communities shared two items:

-       she recently attended the C5 parish council catch-up, where there was interesting dialogue about the ongoing community governance review, considering the likely challenges and consequences, with 15 unparished or partly-parished wards in Cheltenham.  It was great to hear the views of parish councillors from Shurdington and Uckington;

-       Cheltenham Interfaith Week took place last week, and she expressed gratitude to Cheltenham’s Interfaith Network, in particular Kevin Devaney who worked so hard with Helen Down to put on a great week of activities  She thanked all the faith and belief groups who opened their doors to allow others to better understand and appreciate one another, and hoped that the event will continue for many years to come.

The Cabinet Member for Waste and Recycling, Parks, Gardens and Green Open Space shared the following:

-       Cheltenham is indebted to its many friends and volunteer groups for their hard work and dedication, and he welcomed the formation of a new group called Roamers, set up by greenspace team and comprising volunteers from all parts of town who will go and work on a rota basis in places currently not served by friends groups; 

-       he recently attended a meeting about allotments – there are 900 allotment holders in Cheltenham, and a long waiting list – and was interested to learn about some new initiatives coming forward;

-       it’s the season of falling leaves, which gives rise to many comments and complaints from residents.  The teams are working hard to clear them, but it can be problematic in streets where access is restricted by cars parked all day.  The council is working with GCC, temporarily closing parking zones to allow street-cleaning teams to go in, but this inevitably takes longer than we would like;

-       he and officers will attend a conference in Sheffield on Thursday, about cemetery and crematorium developments; this promises to be interesting and informative.  CBC like other councils is facing problems with competition from direct cremations at the moment, and it will be interesting to hear what can do to reinvigorate our service.

The Cabinet Member Climate Emergency described the success of a mock COP30 conference held last week in the Council Chamber and involving 61 local school children from 12 schools.  It was a child-led event, run in the format of COP, with children speaking for countries, having studied the politics, views, and climate vulnerabilities of those countries.  It not only provided those young people with valuable experience in international climate negotiations but also gave them the opportunity to understand more about local, national and global democratic processes to change the world for the better.  Like them, he learnt a lot, and thanked all involved for a thoroughly enjoyable event, including all officers and Cecily Etherington of the Inter Climate Network, whose mission is to inspire young people across the UK.

He added that Climate Leadership Gloucestershire hoped to publish the Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment after COP30, and this will be brought to Cabinet and Council soon.