Minutes:
The Mayor
(a) began her announcements by referring to the plans already in place to commemorate the centenary of the end of the First World War. The Remembrance Day parade and service would be held in the morning on Sunday 11 November at St Mary’s Parish Church followed by the laying of wreaths at the War Memorial. In the early evening, after a choral performance in the church, a short service of commemoration would take place in the Play Close during which the names of more than 200 of the fallen would be read out. This would be followed by the lighting of a beacon at 7pm. At 7.05pm the bells of St Mary’s church will mark the conclusion of the day’s events by “Ringing our for Peace” as church bells did across the land at the end of the Great War. The Mayor urged all Members, especially the town ward Members, to support these events. She acknowledged that the rural ward Members may be attending commemorative services in the villages during the day, but expressed the desire that as many Members as possible attended the evening event to show respect for those who gave their lives, often in appalling circumstances;
(b) highlighted a number of engagements at which she had represented the Borough since the last Council meeting in July which included:
- The RAVC Centenary parade and reception on 26 July had drawn good crowds in support. The Council received very positive feedback on the day’s events both verbally and in writing from the Commanding Officer;
- The official opening of the Bottesford Football Club’s new clubhouse and facilities which had also been attended by Sir Alan Duncan MP and Councillor Rhodes The Mayor stated she could not praise this project enough and recalled a site meeting she had attended with Mr Worley 7 years ago to look at the bare field site which was the location for the project. Despite some problems and setbacks, the village now had 14 football pitches and club house facilities. The Mayor praised the efforts of enthusiastic parents and local residents led by two local businessmen, Daniel Gribby and Nick Dobney, whose tenacity had secured funding from the Football Foundation to see this project reach fruition;
- Melton in Bloom’s Schools competition presentation. This was a new initiative led by Melton in Bloom with support from Brooksby Agricultural College whereby local schools had grown plants in wheelbarrows. There were various age groups in the competition which the schools had embraced enthusiastically and competition had been more than a little keen. After sharing details of the winning schools, the Mayor expressed how delighted she was to see how much the children had got out of seeing their plants grow from seed. Next year’s competition would feature growing vegetables and seeds had already been donated by the B&Q store;
- Macmillan Cancer ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’ event at St Francis Catholic Primary School. The Mayor advised the Council that at this event she had been greeted and looked after by children who were truly a credit not only to the school but to their parents;
(c) thanked the Deputy Mayor for representing her at the Leicestershire, Northamptonshire & Rutland Army Cadet Force Annual Camp Visitors Day held in the Lake District, the Leicestershire & Rutland Heritage Awards, and the Leicester Branch RAFA Battle of Britain Service in Leicester;
(d) introduced the appointment of the new Mayor’s Cadet, a role which had been introduced in 2016 by former Mayor, Councillor Wright. After outlining the purpose and function of the role she thanked the outgoing Mayor’s Cadet, Joe Roper who had been unable to attend the evening’s meeting as he was now at University. The Mayor then invited the Air Training Corps’ nominated candidate, Cadet Sergeant Olivia Brown to come forward to be officially appointed as the 2018/19 Mayor’s Cadet who would assist the Mayor at key functions such as the Remembrance Day parade during her term of office. Cadet Sergeant Brown was presented with a framed certificate to mark her appointment and would wear the specially commission brassard when supporting the Mayor.
At the conclusion of the Mayor’s announcements, Councillor Holmes who had accompanied the Mayor to many of the recent engagements, spoke on the success of the previous Sunday’s Civic Service at Bottesford Parish Church. Many compliments had been received from the visiting civic dignitaries on how special and enjoyable the service had been and that it had provided a ‘showcase’ for the beautiful rural location of the north of the Borough. Councillor Holmes expressed disappointment that more Councillors had not attended.