Minutes:
After congratulating the Mayor on the success of the Civic Service, the Leader presented his report to Council which contained updates on the following matters:
(a) Melton Local Plan – since the last update, the Council had received notification that its Local Plan was sound and ready for formal adoption. This would be considered later in the agenda, presented by Councillor Sheldon. However the Leader wished to place on record his congratulations and thanks to all the Officers and Members involved in its development;
(b) Melton distributor relief road – the planning application had now been submitted and there would be a number of exhibitions in the Council Offices over the next couple of weeks to show what it would look like;
(c) Leicestershire Strategic Growth Plan – Melton has been recognised as a ‘key centre for growth and regeneration’ in the Plan and the developing Local Industrial Strategy identifies Melton as a place to support growth in advanced manufacturing thorough the development of a new Food Enterprise Centre. Recognition for Melton in these key strategic documents was crucial if the area was to attract more investment. The Council would be considering the Growth Plan for adoption at its scheduled meeting in December;
(d) Town and Place Partnership – realising the Borough’s potential and maximising its impact was a key focus of the developing Town and Place Partnership. Working alongside a number of key partners, including the Town Estate, Brooksby Melton College, PERA Business Park, and Melton BID, the Council had commissioned a place marketing specialist to undertake a wide ranging engagement exercise in order to build a shared story which would then drive the collective efforts to ensure all partners were focussing the work and resources on achieving the same ambitions. The first workshop was taking place that evening with the second one on 30 October from 8am to 9.30am in the Council Offices. All Members were encouraged to sign up and get involved;
(e) Budget development – the Council’s budget development work was now underway and would be discussed at the Members Away Day the following day. In line with its aspirations to become a more commercial council, a grant had been secured from the Local Government Association for support from a commercial expert who would be reviewing and assisting some of the Council’s trading services to see how the return from them could be increased. The Council was also continuing to build a business case for establishing a development company and had also secured funding to support a feasibility study into development proposals for Gretton Court. Later this month, the official opening of Beckmill Court would take place following the Council’s £2.5M investment;
(f) Service provision developments – this month two significant contracts for Melton had commenced; waste collection and housing repairs. The Council looked forward to the positive impact these contracts should have on both service quality and value for money. The new Neighbourhood Support Officers were now in place and had received positive feedback and coverage in the local press. A recruitment process was underway for the new Environment Officer who, once appointed, would further increase the Council’s ability to tackle environmental issues including exploring the benefits of implementing Public Spaces Protection Orders where appropriate. This would create opportunities to identify local issues and establish appropriate sanctions to address them. The Leader added that the issue of nuisance from drones had been raised and this would certainly be something that would be considered as part of the review;
(g) Unitary Council for Leicestershire – the County Council had now published its initial prospectus for a unitary council for Leicestershire. More details associated with this were awaited at the County Council’s meeting on 16 October. This Council would then consider the best way for Melton Borough to respond and an extraordinary meeting of the Council had been arranged for 13 November. The timing of this meeting would be reviewed once further details on the County’s proposals were received. The Leader went on to stress that throughout this process, the District Leaders had been working closely together and remained committed to exploring more fully how their collaboration could improve services and reduce costs for the benefit of residents;
(h) Governance Development Review – the Council’s own governance review work was continuing with work being done to explore alternative governance options. The Governance Development Group would be sharing its findings from their work at the Member Away Day the following day with a view to considering how to best move forward as a council.