a) Councillor Jane Scott to outline her Cabinet role and to answer written questions (submitted one week in advance).
b) Presentation of a petition to Councillor Jane Scott from the Save Westbury Pool Action Group.
Minutes:
5a) Councillor Jane Scott to outline her Cabinet role and to answer questions
Councillor Jane Scott, Leader of the Council, thanked the Area Board for inviting her to the meeting and expressed her pleasure at seeing so many people in attendance.
Councillor Scott explained that she had previously been the Leader of the former Wiltshire County Council since 2003 and had led the bid towards One Council. She was subsequently elected as Leader of Wiltshire Council in 2009 and was responsible for setting the membership of the Cabinet. The Cabinet was responsible for the Council’s policy and budget framework, and made recommendations to full Council for final decisions.
Councillor Scott outlined the difficulties the Council faced in the present financial situation, with £4 million already being lost from this year’s budget. The move to a unitary authority, however, was already exceeding its cost saving predictions which left the Council with a better capacity for coping with the imminent financial cuts.
Councillor Scott answered the following questions from members of the public:
Bitham Mill, Westbury
Concern was raised from residents at Bitham Mill that one of the buildings was still undeveloped and presented both environmental and health and safety concerns.
Councillor Scott announced that the developers of the site had gone bust resulting in the redundant building being taken over by the receivers. Building Control officers were visiting the site on a six-monthly basis to survey the building and ensure it was safe. There was also a problem with pigeons in the building and, although the Council had no control over this or statutory duty to deal with it, Environmental Health officers had been to the site to assess the situation.
The latest information regarding the site was that the receivers had put it up for sale and had found a buyer. The sale is nearing completion which should then result in progress with the site’s development. If there was no progress on this, Councillor Scott undertook to liaise with the Chairman regarding the next steps to be taken.
Primary Care Centre
In response to concern that the proposals for a Primary Care Centre would encourage inappropriate development on greenbelt land, Councillor Scott explained that the Council had no involvement in this until the planning process begun. This was a Primary Care Trust issue and would be addressed in more detail later in the agenda.
Carbon Footprint Reductions
In response to a question from a member of the public, Councillor Scott announced that a paper was available on the Council’s website that set out plans for reducing the Council’s carbon footprint. This paper was due to be considered by the Cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday 22 May 2010.
Councillor Toby Sturgis, Cabinet member for Waste, Property and Environment, added that an important data capture had been completed and that ambitious targets had been set. The Council had been working closely with public sector partners, including the Police, Fire Service, NHS and the Ministry of Defence, to work together to reach the targets set.
5b) Presentation of a Petition to Councillor Jane Scott from the Save Westbury Pool Action Group.
Councillor Cuthbert-Murray presented Councillor Scott with a petition to save the Westbury pool from closure. The community had really come together on this issue and had gained 3,000 signatures in support of the pool. A further 1,500 supporters had been gained through social networking website, Facebook.
Councillor Scott received the petition and explained that it would be formally logged with Democratic Services. She also undertook to bring the petition to the attention of Cabinet colleagues when considering the review of leisure facilities.
Councillor Scott acknowledged the level of local support for the pool and its importance to local people and announced that is was unlikely that the pool would close.