Minutes:
43.1 The Leader opened his announcements and made the following points:
· Speaking on the attack on Sir David Amess MP, he reminded all Councillors to report any intimidation or threats received in the course of their duties to either the Monitoring Officer or the Police as appropriate.
· The Guildford and Waverley Joint Appointments Committee had met on 13 October to interview a candidate for the post of Joint Chief Executive and the recommendations of the Joint Appointments Committee would be reported to a Special meeting of both Councils in early November.
· He had attended a meeting with other Surrey Leaders and the Leader of Surrey County Council to question the current approach to the County Deal and there would be more on this later.
· He echoed the comments made by the Mayor in relation to the Pride event held in Godalming and thanked all the officers for their work on the day.
· The Executive had discussed the current Covid Safe Working Policy and an all Councillor Briefing would be held on this issue. In light of the current situation, Council meetings would continue to be held in external venues to facilitate social distancing, and this would be reviewed in the second week in November.
The Leader then invited Executive Portfolio Holders to give brief updates on current issues:
43.2 Councillor MacLeod, Portfolio Holder for Planning:
· Local Plan Part 2 consultation had begun and the planning improvement programme was progressing despite some technical problems.
· The opening of Brightwells was due to take place in June 2022.
43.3 Councillor Penny Marriott, Portfolio Holder for Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion:
· The well attended and good natured Pride event highlighted Waverley’s values of tolerance and inclusivity.
· The Corporate Equalities objectives were being reviewed and would be brought to Council in December.
· The Council’s Corporate Equality group had established a small number of “Active Citizens” who would support colleagues in equality, diversity and inclusion issues and had been trained in active listening.
· A virtual remembrance event would be held on 5 November, organised by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association.
43.4 Councillor Merryweather, Portfolio Holder for Finance, Assets and Commercial Services:
· Wilmer House in Farnham had been used to house the Museum of Farnham since the 1960s, currently run by Farnham Maltings under a service level agreement. This was a highly important public building in need of significant repair. The cost of bringing the building up to current legal standards was estimated to be around £660,000 and this did not include provision for contingencies, fees or VAT. The works could reveal further structural issues and therefore a contingency budget was important. Waverley did not have the capacity to wholly fund the cost of the repairs and the Council was bound by the financial rules as the works did not meet the criteria for capital spending. Waverley officers had explored every lead which could provide funding for the repairs and most recently the Council had not been invited to make a full application for grants funding for Arts Council funding. Wilmer House was an important community asset and its future must be assessed in terms of social value and value for money. Farnham both wanted and needed a museum service and an options appraisal had been commissioned for the future of service. He encouraged all stakeholders to work with the Council on identifying funding to ensure a sustainable home for the service.
43.5 Councillor Mirylees, Portfolio Holder for Health, Wellbeing and Culture:
· The Thriving Communities Fund application portal had gone live and would remain open until 18 November.
43.6 Councillor Palmer, Portfolio Holder for Operational and Enforcement Services:
· Speaking on the death of Sir David Amess MP, he highlighted the common purpose of all who enter into local politics, regardless of their political persuasion, to improve the lives of residents and looked forward to working with all Councillors.
43.7 Councillor Anne-Marie Rosoman, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Community Safety
· As reported at the Executive meeting on 5 October, the Council had a new out of hours service provider in Bracknell Forest Council, who had experience in this area and local knowledge.
· The Afghan Refugee Resettlement Scheme support worker had started with the Council to collate all the offers of help recieved.
· The two 1-bed Passivehaus housing scheme had completed in Farncombe for homeless in the Borough.
43.8 Councillor Townsend, Portfolio Holder for Economic Development, Leisure and Dunsfold Park:
· The Economic Development team continued to promote businesses in Waverley and supported by Covid grants, leaflets would be distributed to residents to promote the use of local businesses.
· The Leisure team continued to organise free half term events for families.
· 10 of the Borough’s green spaces had one Green Flag status and Farnham Park had received a heritage award, and thanked the Parks team and volunteers for maintaining the green spaces.
43.9 Councillor Williams, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Sustainability:
· Kerbside collections of textiles and electrical items was proceeding despite staffing constraints the service was currently under following the pandemic and it was hoped this would be on stream by early November.
· Students from Broadwater School and Godalming College would be taking place in a mock-Council meeting to mark COP26 and Councillors were encouraged to attend.
· Surrey County Council would be holding an event on the decarbonisation of rural transport on 10 November in Farnham.
· Two cycle routes were being investigated and the consultation was on the website and would run until 21 November. A consultation event would be held in Godalming Library on 30 October and at the Waverley Borough Council offices on 4 November.
43.10 The Leader concluded by congratulating Councillor Philip Townsend on his election in the Cranleigh East ward and thanked the electoral services team for delivering the election.
43.11 Councillor Cosser asked the Leader if he would consider, as part of the review of the Constitution, the value of the verbal updates from Portfolio Holders and whether the format should be reviewed. In response, the Leader advised that it would be for the Standards Committee to consider this issue although he would support the continuation of the Portfolio Holder updates as he felt that they were useful.