The Leader of the Council may give an oral report on matters of significance to the Borough, comment upon the Cabinet decisions or make any announcements.
Minutes:
The Leader of the Council made the following announcements:
(i) Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Campaign Board
The Leader acknowledged Members had been signing the Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Campaign Board and hoped all members would sign it.
(ii) “Swift Brick” Nesting Facilities for Endangered Birds
The Leader referred to the last meeting of the Council, following which, Councillor Healy had secured a response on swift boxes, which she would circulate after this meeting.
(iii) Platinum Award – Council’s Planning Team
The Leader congratulated the Council’s Planning Team for its Platinum Award, which recognised it as one of the best planning departments in the whole country. He said this was a fantastic effort on the part of the Team and he again extended his congratulations to staff on receiving the award.
(iv) Councillor Paul Watling
The Leader invited all in the Chamber to join him in sending the Council’s best wishes to Councillor Watling, who was recovering from surgery and an eleven-month battle against cancer and who had received the all clear this week.
(v) Pride in Place Programme
The Leader said that, in September, Telford had been chosen as a national launch site for the Pride in Place Programme, and he had welcomed Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Secretary of State, Steve Reed to Woodside.
The Leader said that the Pride in Place Programme had secured £20m of investment into South Telford and as a Council, it had topped this up with another £10m, which meant that a large part of South Telford, Woodside, Brookside and Sutton Hill would benefit from significant investment over the next decade. He wanted to place on record his sincere thanks to Telford MP Shaun Davies for his instrumental role in the Pride in Place Programme and recognised that his efforts would ensure communities in Telford would benefit from a scheme designed to tackle inequalities and unlock fresh opportunities.
The Leader said that this decade-long programme promised to deliver lasting, visible change for local people and places and he promised that the Council would not let this once in a generation opportunity pass to address challenges that had existed in those areas for generations. He said these were great communities, and the Council was committed that it drive this new investment into their neighbourhoods.
(vi) Visitation by Lisa Nandy MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Leader thanked Councillor Shaun Davies MP for his hard work in securing the visit by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy MP, who confirmed a £9m investment to safeguard the borough’s internationally important heritage in Ironbridge, with the transfer of ownership of the Iron Bridge Gorge Museum's trust to the National Trust. The Leader said that the Museum Trust and the many local people who had worked for the Trust over the years had been outstanding custodians of Ironbridge’s industrial heritage.
The Leader said that the transition to the National Trust ownership preserved a history made by hands and on the backs of local people of this area and delivered a multimillion-pound boost to the borough’s visitor economy, which supported jobs and education. Both of these developments, he said, showed very clearly that only an ambitious Labour Council working in step with a hardworking Labour MP and a Labour government prepared to listen and act for the borough’s common good, delivered results for Telford and Wrekin, and the Council would not stop there. He said that, in the weeks ahead, the Council had several meetings with the Government to push the Telford and Wrekin cause, all in the name of doing the very best by residents.
(vii) Remembrance Day Commemorations
The Leader said that, over the last week or so, he was sure members across this chamber had attended remembrance services as everyone paused to reflect and express heartfelt gratitude to all those who had served, and especially to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for this country and its people’s freedoms.
He said that Telford and Wrekin had a long and proud association with the armed forces, with more than 16,000 serving personnel, veterans and their families, living or working in the borough. He said that this time of year carried particular significance and it was pleasing to see that the Council was able to officially open the new Christopher Turley Armed Forces Community Hub in Dawley at the end of October, in time for these remembrance activities. This welcoming space was, he said, a partnership between the Council, Great Dawley Town Council and Telford Mind, and would offer advice, support and a sense of community to serving personnel, veterans and their families for years to come.
The Leader said that these items of good news showed how much residents had to be proud of in this fantastic borough. He said it was this pride that the Council was looking to share with everyone who lived and worked here.
(viii) Telford Day
The Leader was delighted to announce that, here in Telford with the introduction of Telford Day, the Council would dedicate a day to celebrate all things Telford at the end of this month to kick-off Christmas in style. He said that Telford Day, on 29 November, was a day to come together to celebrate Telford, a new town, formed on that date in 1968 and there were lots of ways residents could get involved in the first Telford Day celebrations.
The Leader said that, here in Southwater, there would be activities and music in the Christmas yurt through to 7 December and would include workshops, free live music, jazz Sunday sessions, film screenings, and more. He said that Telford Memories Coffee Morning would be a great opportunity to share memories of what residents loved about Telford. The Leader went on to say that Telford Day would also feature the new Telford flag being raised, which was the subject of a competition launched in June with schools in the borough and more than a thousand children took part. He said that almost 4,000 people voted for their favourite design with the winning flag announced today, which would be raised in Southwater on Telford Day as a focal point for the celebrations.
The Leader said that this was more than about a celebration of a flag but was about bringing together communities in the borough to celebrate its people, their spirit and their place. He added it was about saying to those who wished to create division and hatred that they would not succeed because this was a place that was home to hundreds of international businesses, a university - which attracted thousands of students from overseas - and a proud record of welcoming people from all over the globe These people, he said, made a living and made a contribution in building this fantastic place in the shadow of the Wrekin, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. He said that members were proud to serve this community and as a Council, which he led with his Labour administration, would always do its duty and go the extra mile and would always stand against those who hated and divided and who would always argue to divest. He said the Council would always protect, always care and would always invest.