Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils
Democratic Services

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Agenda item

In addition to any announcements made at the meeting, please see Paper BC/20/28 attached, detailing events attended by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman.

 

Minutes:

67.1 The Chair announced that the High Sheriff Justice Event listed in her report had not gone ahead and therefore should be removed from the events.

 

67.2 The Chair invited Councillor Ward to introduce his report.

 

67.3 Councillor Ward introduced his report and informed Council that on this national day of reflection we had stood united in remembering those who had lost their lives as a result of Covid. Councillor Ward added that thoughts were with those who had lost love ones and had seen their lives impacted in ways they could not have imagined a year ago. Councillor Ward paid tribute to the Council’s teams, public sector colleagues and the army of volunteers who had kept essential services running and supported communities in the face of unprecedented challenges. The roll-out of the vaccine and availability of community testing brought hope for the year ahead as long as everybody followed the guidelines.

 

67.4 In the meantime the Council would continue to support the recovery of our towns and businesses so that Babergh continued to be somewhere people were proud to call home, post-Covid and beyond.

 

67.5 Councillor Ward reported that the latest data reflected a continuing decline in the infection rate to levels not seen since late Summer, in Babergh this was now down to 19.6 per 100,000 – the lowest in the county and a long way from the nearly 640 per 100,000 that was seen in early January. There was, however, a slight rise in parts of the county following the reopening of schools and a significant increase in testing. There was further good news in that the death rate was now not above the seasonal average.

 

67.6 The vaccination roll-out in Suffolk was still going very well – one of the best in England – and in Babergh almost everyone over 50 had now had their first vaccination. Many had now had both doses and this would be the focus of the vaccination programme next month. Councillor Ward hoped that any short-term reduction in supply wouldn’t delay the removal of lockdown restrictions and that everyone could have a good Summer.

 

iESE

 

67.7 Councillor Ward announced that Babergh and Mid Suffolk have been shortlisted in three categories of this year’s iESE Public Sector Transformation Awards, including Council of the Year. This was really exciting news and a testament to the innovation that was at the heart of everything the Council does also to the excellence of the staff. It was a welcome counterweight to the disinformation peddled on social media. Councillor Ward urged Councillors to watch the videos.

 

Belle Vue

 

67.8 Councillor Ward stated that he wanted to address the continuing rancour over the future of the Belle Vue site. The chosen way forward was not liked by some but it was gratifying that this was balanced by others who understood that something needed to be done and that a pragmatic solution had been found that stood a chance of being implemented.

 

67.9 Councillor Ward added that there was a myth that the Council had not considered all six bids or didn’t give them equal consideration. In addition to bid price, all were assessed equally and fairly against the same qualitative criteria, which were listed in the public paper. All bidders were contacted during the process, none was ignored and those who had not included sufficient information by the end date were given a further two weeks to provide more. The selected bid scored significantly higher overall than the others, meeting the S123 criterion to dispose of land for the best consideration that could be reasonably obtained. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee had decided overwhelmingly that the Cabinet debate had been conducted in a proper manner and that the decision was therefore sound.

 

67.10 Following the demise of the hotel bid, the Council had taken on board the strong desire to see a new entrance to the park from the town and developed a compromise solution that would be funded from the sale and it had the huge advantage in that it could be delivered. A solution that will finally see the regeneration of this gateway to the town and deliver a park that the whole town can be proud of.

 

Sudbury Investment

 

67.11 While on the subject of Sudbury, Councillor Ward reminded Members that the Council had already put a huge amount of investment into the town and that it was proposing much more with its Vision for Prosperity. This investment – either directly from Babergh or from the grants that the Council had been able to secure – now amounted to over £4m in the past few years.

 

 

67.12 Councillor Ward stated that the Council did spend and would continue to spend in the town. Sudbury was the Council’s principal town, the engine of our economy and the Council was determined that it would be transformed to be fit for the coming decades: a town for the 2050s, not the 1950s.

 

67.13 Councillor Ward added that unfortunately, this investment wasn’t appreciated by all and, to paraphrase a well-known film, it didn’t  seem to be a case of: ‘But apart from the leisure centre upgrade, the financial support for cultural venues, the environmental improvements including solar car ports, the CCTV, new council housing, additional temporary accommodation, the Virtual High Street, the Vision Masterplan, and investment in park facilities, what has Babergh ever done for us?’ Unfortunately, for those who remembered the scene in the film, he couldn’t claim the last item mentioned: the Romans may have brought peace but he felt this seemed still some way off that in Sudbury.

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