Minutes:
The Leader made the following speech:
“As ever it’s been a busy couple of months
since our last meeting and we’ve made good progress in some important areas of
work.
As we know the Stockyard at the Cattle
Market was recently launched and whilst its great to
see the recent investment on the site, our longer term plans go much further.
We want to create a showcase for food and drink innovation and our extensive
and ambitious development plans for the site form the basis of our round 2
Levelling Up Fund. We have done lots of work with Rutland County Council and
have built a strong and credible joint bid, and If we secure the nearly £12m we
are seeking it will enable us to build both high quality food production space,
alongside flexible events space, creating a real feature and destination for
the town. We look forward to submitting our bid before the deadline next week.
Also due to be submitted next week is our UK
Shared Prosperity Fund plan. Working within a very tight timescale we have
consulted widely with all members, stakeholders and our Scrutiny Committee.
Through ongoing dialogue and refinement we have developed a fantastic plan
which seeks to meet the challenges Melton faces head on. We want to invest in
helping people with the cost of living crisis through establishing a new
community supermarket. We want to tackle rural isolation, boost investment in
tourism, support our town centre, and attract and retain the workforce of
tomorrow by supporting apprentices and graduates. I look forward to submitting
our widely supported plan and discussing and finalising with government
colleagues over the coming weeks.
Whilst we should be extremely proud and
confident of the high quality submissions we are making in these funds, we have
to recognise that submitting bids is a competitive process and not everything
we submit will succeed. We recently heard from government that our bid to
secure investment to improve rail connectivity between Nottingham and Melton
will not proceed to the next stage. We had done extremely well to get this far
and had secured government funding to develop our business case. We made a
strong case but ultimately government has taken the view that the investment
required cannot be justified at this stage. The work we have done will not go
to waste and we will continue to explore opportunities to improve this
important transport link with Nottingham.
Securing the right infrastructure to support
our growth aspirations is key, as is ensuring enough new homes get built to
increase housing availability and affordability within Melton. When we approved
our Local Plan, we made a plan for growth and I’m delighted that more homes
have been built in Melton in the last 12 months than at any time in the last 30
years. This breaks the record that was set last year and so it’s great to see
our strategic commitments delivering.
Whilst talking of housing, tonight we will
consider, and I hope approve, our new HRA Business Plan. If we think back 3
years the progress we have made since we established our Housing Improvement
Plan has been nothing short of phenomenal. Through our Corporate Strategy we
remain absolutely focussed on delivering the high quality homes and landlord
services our tenants deserve and tonight represents another important step on
that journey. We will not rest on our laurels and there is plenty more work to
be done, but we should all be extremely proud of the progress we are making.
Returning to the cost of living, we know
this is a really tough time for people financially, with inflation rising
sharply and energy bills set to rise significantly again in October. I’m
determined that as a Council we will do all we can to help, and I’m delighted
our team has got the £150 energy payments out so quickly, and also that we have
recently approved our Cost of Living Plan with a genuine commitment to support
people in any way we can. We have always been, and will continue to be, a
caring Council, whether that is supporting our Ukrainian friends fleeing a
warzone or by showing those who serve our country that we are a council that
fully supports them and recognises the sacrifices they make. On that basis I am
very proud that this year, for the first time, we have achieved the Gold
Employer Recognition Award from the Ministry of Defence, demonstrating that
commitment. Couple this with being the first council in the East Midlands to
secure the Disability Confident Leader status last year and we are, once again,
leading the way as an organisation that is here to provide opportunities to
everyone in our society.
Gold is a theme for my update this month, as
working with our fantastic partners, Melton in Bloom, the Council’s
environmental services team have worked tirelessly to deliver a terrific flora
display within the town as we collectively strive to secure the highest award
possible. I know all the many stakeholders involved in supporting the
initiative this year believe there is nothing more we could have done and
whatever the outcome, we can all be proud of their efforts.
We also want to celebrate the fantastic
achievement of Iman Barlow a teacher at the Melton Learning Hub who recently
returned from the US having become the World Number 1 in Muay Thai, a form of
kick boxing. She is now an Olympic Recognised Gold Medallist at the World Games
2022 and we congratulate her on this wonderful achievement. We have dedicated
and painted a gold bench in the town and we look forward to her opening the
Let’s Get Moving Melton Day on 21st August. Further details on this event will
be published shortly and I’d encourage all members to come along.
Whilst we are celebrating Meltonians, I also read in the Melton Times today that Nij Vyas won the England National Sheepdog Trials,
something made even more impressive because Kemi Lara the dog won the award
having recovered from a dislocated foot sustained over a year ago. Many
congratulations to Nij and Kemi Lara.”
In addition to his speech, the Leader requested that the Mayor writes a letter to Mr Vyas to congratulate him on winning the England National Sheepdog Trials. The Mayor agreed to the request.