Agenda item

The Cabinet Member for Major Development and Housing Delivery reported that, together with the Leader, MP and officers, she went to Golden Valley last Friday, to celebrate the start of work on the site.  It was exciting to see diggers and construction vehicles in action where there used to be cows (now moved to new fields) and impressive to note how soon we have reached this stage.

The Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Wellbeing, Culture and Public Realm shared several items of news, reporting that he has:

-       recently met with the Culture Board about the reopening of The Wilson and re-launch of the Big Museum project.  It will be good to involve as many people as possible, enabling them to enjoy the town’s vast collection;

-       shared an LGR update at the Friends of The Wilson AGM, and explained how this might affect the cultural sector across the county;

-       attended the launch of the 81^st Cheltenham Music Festival, a small but vibrant, thriving and diverse festival, which takes the town’s festival offer up a level;

-       caught up with various culturalorganisations to consider what is working well, what isn’t, what works best for the town, and how the council can support their work;

-       attended a successful Marketing Cheltenham event at the Queens Hotel, networking with business organisations and focusing on working well together.

The Cabinet Member for Waste, Recycling, Parks, Gardens, and Public Open Space was pleased to report that the two Grade II-Listed chapels at Cheltenham Cemetery have been put to new purpose, as a café and venue for wakes.  Not only is this a great use of the building, but it is also creating new jobs – five so far with more to follow.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets thanked the finance team for the huge amount of hard work to get all the finance reports together and submitted to the external auditor.

The Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency had several items to share:

-       the council is continuing with its major decarbonisation project, including the heat network, operational building decarbonisation planning and associated funding. It has also started work assessing further solar opportunities, including rooftop projects, and is moving forward with housing decarbonisation;

-       there is a growing focus in the team on adaptation and resilience, ensuring that the council not only reduces emissions but is also managing climate risks, including planning for extreme weather and service disruption;

-       the recent Cheltenham Education Partnership Climate Changemakers showcase at The Wilson was a real joy, with the six schools who pitched ideas for funding and were awarded £250 each, presenting their projects.  He was impressed by the scale of what they produced, and noted that their work had enthused other children in all their schools;

-       Cheltenham Zero has had a strong month engaging with visitors at the Science Festival and Everything Electric West’s first show at the racecourse;

-       progress has been made on the Grange Fields Flood Alleviation Scheme, with the technical work accepted in principle by Severn Trent, allowing the project to move forward to next approval stage;

-       CBC is strengthening work with partners on nature-based flood management across Gloucestershire;

-       he was pleased to take part in St Gregory’s Catholic Church Peoples’ Emergency Briefing – one of many taking place across town – which prompted strong engagement and thoughtful discussion.  The team is working on bringing a similar event to councillors and officers in due course.

The Cabinet Member for Safety and Communities highlighted two items:

-       the Cheltenham Improvement Act of 1852 has been repealed, making the administration of street markets in the town much simpler and less circuitous;

-       the upcoming Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) scheme will provide summer holiday activities for children in difficult home circumstances.   He said this small-budget item makes a lot of families happy, with 19 activities available, and also ensures the children get good meal every day of the holidays.

Members were also reminded of the upcoming No Child Left Behind ‘Party in the Park’ on 05 August.

The Leader said she attended the Local Government Association conference in Bournemouth the previous week, where she met a lot of people, shared ideas, and was part of many discussions around the imminent announcement concerning local government reorganisation.  She said that, whatever the outcome, CBC’s priority will be to stand up for Cheltenham and fight for its future - protecting local services, securing investment, driving growth through Golden Valley, ensuring communities continue to have a strong voice – as well as not allowing Cheltenham interests to be sidelined, and making sure that LGR enhances Cheltenham rather that diminishes it.

She added that Councillor Beale also attended the conference with a specific remit to take part in as many parish and town council discussions as possible, as he is part of that LGR working group and learning what other councils have done will help inform us and protect our local voices. 

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Customer Services congratulated the Leader on becoming Vice-Chair of the LibDems on the Local Council Network.  The Leader said she feels very privileged to take up the role.