Minutes:
The Chairman made the following announcements:
(a) Olympic and paralympic medalists
On behalf of Council, the Chairman congratualted all Wiltshire residents who took part in the Olympic and Paralympic games, whether as a volunteer, official or athlete. In particular, she congratulated the following athletes who won medals in their events:
· Ed Mckeever - olympic gold medal –sprint kayaking
· Aaron Moores – paralympic silver medal –100m backstroke
· Stephanie Millward:
o paralympic silver medal – 100m backstroke,
o bronze medal - 4x100m freestyle relay,
o silver medal - 400m freestyle,
o silver medal - 200m medley,
o & silver medal - 100m medley relay
(b) The legacy of 2012
The Chairman acknowledged that 2012 had been an extraordinary year for Wiltshire, celebrating Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the Olympic Games and the Torch Relay, with hundreds of events being held across the County throughout the summer. Such events had had a huge impact, with significant benefits to the local economy and communities, and a huge volunteering effort from over 1,000 Wiltshire council staff.
The Chairman advised that a Legacy Steering Board had been established to ensure the momentum of this year was continued and that actions would be taken to create a real legacy for the future.
(c) Remembrance Day Services and Parades
The Chairman explained she had been delighted to attend the launch of the Wiltshire Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal at Salisbury Racecourse recently where she purchased and was presented with the first poppy sold in Wiltshire. With the strong armed services link to Wiltshire, the Chairman had welcomed the opportunity to be involved with this important and vital fund raising work undertaken by the Royal British Legion.
Annual Remembrance Day service and parades took place across Wiltshire last weekend. She was pleased to say that, where invitations had been received from towns and parishes for the Council to be represented, Wiltshire Councillors attended services and laid wreaths at war memorials across the County on behalf of the Council. The Chairman thanked Councillors for their willingness to be involved in and attend these important ceremonies.
In view of the proximity of this meeting to Remembrance Day, at the request of the Chairman, all those present stood for a moment’s silence.
(d) Bruce Trust: Paralympics
The Chairman explained she had been pleased to have had the opportunity to join other dignitaries at the invitation of the Great Bedwyn-Based Bruce Trust to send off the Diana, one of four specially-designed, purpose-built, wide-beam canal boats, on a voyage to the Paralympics. The Diana provided holidays for disabled people on the Kennet & Avon Canal. It undertook the 82-mile canal and river journey to London and provided accommodation at the Paralympics for disabled visitors, arriving in time for the opening ceremony. The Chairman explained the background, the voyage, involvement of various rotary clubs and The Bruce Trust and the provision of trips to local groups of people with special needs.
(e) The Marlborough Tile Mural
The Chairman informed Council that the Mayor of Marlborough, Mrs Edwina Fogg, had welcomed Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall to the town last month to unveil a tiled mural to commemorate Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The mural was designed and produced by Marlborough Tiles and reflected the town’s historic building, street scenes in and around the town and landmarks in the surround countryside. Permission had also been obtained for the Royal Coat of Arms to be included in the mural.
The Chairman had also attended the visit and had been very impressed with the mural which would provide the town with a lasting and beautiful artefact to commemorate this wonderful landmark by our Sovereign. The Mural would be displayed in the Court Room of the Town Hall and Councillors were encouraged to view it when visiting the
town.
(f) Official Opening Of County Hall
The Chairman referred to the official opening held in the new County Hall Atrium on 1 November which had been attended by a number of Councillors. More than three hundred people from communities across the County gathered to meet Ed Mckeever, 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist, Aaron Moores, 2012 Paralympic Silver Medallist, and Francesca Fox, 2012 Olympic competitor.
Exhibitions were delivered by Francesca Fox and British National Champion and Commonwealth Judo Championship winner and Wiltshire Council’s funding future Olympian grant recipient, Jemima Duxberry, and her coach Jason Parsons. Twenty seven torchbearers who carried the torch through Wiltshire this summer attended in their distinctive white tracksuits carrying their torches, and the six local games makers who assisted at the London 2012 games were also present.
The event was a great opportunity to bring our communities together to relive a little of this unique and special year and to thank them for making this year such an outstanding success and to thank our local athletes for giving us such a sense of pride in our County and Country and giving us the motivation to create a lasting legacy. the costs of the event were covered by sponsorship.
The first public exhibition in the Atrium was also opened showcasing the Wiltshire stars and athletes of 2012. Salisbury City Council and a local torchbearer had kindly loaned their Olympic torches as the centre piece for the exhibition and many people had taken the opportunity to have their picture taken with a torch.
Baroness Hanham, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department of Communities and Local Government assisted the Chairman with the official opening as part of her visit to Wiltshire to find out more about how we are transforming our building portfolio, working flexibly and helping communities to drive and design the campus programme.
A lot of positive feedback had been received from people who attended the opening who said it was a great thank you for their work this year and many people voiced their views via the video booth so that their memories of this year are now captured. A DVD with brief footage of the official opening was shown to the Council.
(g) Survey
The Chairman explained that as part of the annual Democratic Services review and current systems review, Democratic Services were inviting all Wiltshire Councillors to complete a short questionnaire concerning the extent and quality of service provided by Democratic Services to Wiltshire Councillors.
The feedback from this survey would influence the way in which Democratic Services delivered their services to Wiltshire Council Councillors in the future and will hopefully improve the range and quality of the service. Councillors were asked to return the completed questionnaires to a member of the Democratic Services Team.