Agenda item

The Leader invited Members to present their briefings.

The Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency shared the following:

-       he presented his first report, on carbon emissions, to Council on Monday; it was well received, and will be used to move forward and improve our approach to Net Zero by 2030, as pledged in 2019;

-       November has been a month of progress on our climate plan, including:

-       hosting the inspiring schools climate conference in the council chamber;

-       awarding over £35k in Cheltenham Zero grants to local businesses driving low carbon innovation;

-       advances in flood resilience work with an updated response plan now in place and community flood wardens joining the network;

-       housing retrofit projects are moving forward, with work on 87 properties completed under the social housing decarbonisation fund scheme and plans for low carbon heating well under way.

The Cabinet Member for Waste, Recycling, Parks, Gardens and Green Open Space briefed on three items:

-        Cheltenham’s ‘friends’ groups are massively important, engaging with communities, making a real difference and saving the council money; a new one recently held its first event at Newcourt Green in Charlton Park, and the new Roamers Group is also working well;

-        he is meeting with bereavement services to consider direct cremations and green burials and how to work down some of the deficit we currently have on revenue to offer a new service;

-        street cleaning is moving forward, with most roads cleared of leaves, many others to be done before the end of year, and the remainder in January and February.   This requires a lot of coordination with the county, including signage, car removal and drainage works, so although the situation is not great in some areas, residents can be assured that the council is working on it.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets said all had paid tribute the Deputy Chief Executive Paul Jones at Council on Monday, and a later agenda item approved the appointment of a new S151 officer, which the council is legally required to have.  He thanked the Chief Executive, Leader and all the finance team for their work, and said that every meeting without Paul is difficult. 

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Customer Services shared several items:

-        she enjoyed a visit to Riding for the Disabled in Cheltenham, to help distribute some of the nearly 900 selection boxes collected by Citizen of Honour David Bath for children in Cheltenham.  She said that he and housing officers have done great job raising cash and providing the selection boxes, and thanked them and all officers for their help;

-        work has started at Saracens and The Hub, with piling work finished today;

-        she met two new staff members today, and is looking forward to working with them and others in the year ahead;

-        she was in Malta last week, with the Local Government Association, and as always, it was a privilege to be able to share what CBC doing as a commercial council, bringing housing back in house to make it better and working with all Cheltenham communities to improve people’s lives.  She is looking forward to next year’s formal meeting in June, which will take place at Father Christmas’s official residence in the Arctic Circle;

-        she has been visiting various locations Cheltenham, talking to tenants, seeing their flats and houses, including Barlow Road where new pipes are now being fitted.  Tomorrow she will visit sheltered housing accommodation at Wallace House to meet residents;

-        a number of policies are coming forward, including domestic abuse work, and preparation for the regulator;

-        she has been designated the person responsible for housing complaints, so has attended a meeting in Leeds, and will meet the ombudsman on line on 19 January.  This is good, and pertinent to providing the best possible homes for our residents.

For clarity, the Leader pointed out that visit to the Arctic Circle is part of the Cabinet Member’s role in the Local Government Association, and will not be financed by CBC.

The Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Culture, Wellbeing and Public Realm had been busy as always and had several items to share:

-        a positive meeting with County Councillor Joe Harris and the Civic Society, to   share developing plans for the town centre public realm.  The council is working hard to deliver long-term results, of which we can be proud;

-        together with Richard Gibson (Head of Communities, Wellbeing and Partnership), a meeting with Smith’s Rugby and the RFU to see what funding opportunities there are to help the club continue to grow; and with Cabinet Member for Waste and Recycling, Parks, Gardens and Green Open Space, a meeting with Leckhampton Rovers for a regular check-in and discussion about areas of town where we can develop football and improve pitches;

-        a meeting with Harriers Athletic Club and the BBC to reaffirm CBC’s position on resurfacing the Prince of Wales stadium’s athletics track to get it back to the standard required for 8-9 high-level events a year. This is a £600k project and cannot be delivered immediately due to financial pressures, but he hopes CIL regional funding might help, particularly as this is a regionally important site, not used exclusively by Cheltenham residents;

-        a regular meeting with Cotswold Plus LVEP (local visitor economy partnership), which brings together councils in the county and beyond to collaborate on tourism and visitor economy matters and is always positive;

-        a meeting with Tony from Lansdown Arts Studios, with a tour of the building and site to provide a better understanding of what the artists do there and the amazing art they create;

-        with the Marketing Cheltenham team, a meeting with the English Symphony Orchestra, to offer the council’s support in growing classical music in Cheltenham, including various residences at the Town Hall;

-        together with the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Horwood, the opening of the ice rink.  Thanks to the Marketing Cheltenham team for delivering this again, open every day until 04 January, and providing many different types of sessions for everyone and a great opportunity to come to town and have some fun.

Finally, he reminded everyone that there is lots going on in Cheltenham for residents and visitors between now and the new year, with pantomimes at the Everyman and the Playhouse, and also the Pittville Pump Room pop-up café, open from 22-31 December, with live music - a great place to go with the family.

The Cabinet Member for Major Developments and Housing Delivery was happy to report on the latest progress at 320 Swindon Road, where much-needed affordable housing is being built on a disused car park.   She said recent work has focussed on foundations and drainage, and levelling the site out for expensive vehicles to start work in the new year.  She said on-site work will break from 19 December, to avoid any disturbance to local residents, but that  drainage work on the adjacent Malvern Street will be complete by Christmas.

She added that she was delighted to hear officer comments earlier in the meeting about  residents moving into the affordable homes at Regents Village, particularly wonderful at this time of year, and with the promise of many beautiful new homes being completed and ready for families to move into in 2026.

The Cabinet Member for Safety and Communities had a number of items to share:

-        huge thanks to officers and Gloucestershire Constabulary for the strong and effective partnership work on the Safer Streets summer campaign - their joint efforts have resulted in a 5% reduction of reported crime in identified town centre hotspots;

-        thanks to all the young people she has been privileged to meet in the past month, together with Geraldine, a No Child Left Behind officer – at youth groups in Whaddon, Springbank, Hatherley and St Peter’s.  They have provided valuable insight as to what they want from the proposed new Cheltenham Youth Pass, including a more affordable and accessible choice of activities in the town centre, which will make sure we have the right conversations with activity and hospitality providers, and that hospitality in Cheltenham to get the best deals;

-        there are also exciting developments coming forward in the new year, with a potential venue identified for a youth cafe – a safe, accessible town centre place that young people can call their own;

-        she has an important meeting coming up with the accessibility forum, during which she will go on a night walk wearing simulation glasses to understand how difficult it can be to navigate the town centre with a visual impairment.  This will help the council do its best to make sure the town is as accessible as possible;

-        thanks to the licensing team for their great efforts in putting together this year’s Purple Flag survey, with important feedback from residents and visitors about their experience of the town centre.  Cheltenham has been awarded accreditation for ten consecutive years, but is only as good as the previous year, and needs feedback to ensure the town continues to be lively and safe.  The survey ends on 09 January 2026;

-        finally, she also wanted to congratulate community hero Dave Bath for his fantastic work providing selection boxes for children and young people, and to thank all partners, individuals and the council for their contributions, which have a huge impact across Cheltenham.

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control had no exciting news to share, but thanked planning and building control officers, and also the comms team with whom he works closely, for their hard work and commitment throughout the year.

The Leader said she was lucky to have attended the press night of the Playhouse pantomime, which she described as magnificent – professional, full of good humour, affordable, and involving many young people – and said her grandson particularly enjoyed it. Apart from this, she said much of her time is spent working through Local Government Reform and planning reforms. 

All Cabinet Members thanked their officers, colleagues and partners for all their hard work and collaborative spirit, and wished them all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.