To receive such announcements as may be made by the Leader.
Minutes:
The Leader of the Council:-
1. Referred to the European Referendum result and stated that she welcomed the new Prime Minister and her Cabinet. She also welcomed the fact that George Osborne MP would now have the opportunity to spend more time in his Tatton constituency.
2. Reported that the Local Plan had again been consulted upon and that the examination was due to commence on 13 September 2016.
3. Reported that the Council had recently been ‘given leave’ to go the Supreme Court to present the case for an appeal at Moorfields, Willaston.
4. Referred to an application on a brownfield site in Mobberley, where an appeal for residential development and employment had recently been dismissed due to the proximity of the flightpath at Manchester Airport and that external noise levels would be harmful for future residents. She felt this had been achieved through the joint working of the local authority and the community.
5. Reported that, at the July meeting of Cabinet, approval had been given for options for the Crewe Green Roundabout preliminary designs.
6. Reported that the decision in respect of preferred location for the HS2 hub was awaited.
7. Reported that the Planning application for the Poynton relief road was due to be submitted shortly.
8. Reported that the Housing Options Team had undertaken a peer review of the Housing Advice and Homelessness Services and had scored 68% on the review, which was one of the highest scores nationally. This meant that they could now progress to working towards achieving the National Gold Standard in Housing advice and Homelessness Services.
9. Reported that the Cheshire East Catering Service had received gold status, meeting the highest possible standards of the ‘food for life’ catering mark awarded by the Soil Association.
10. Referred to the recently held Safeguarding Conference and stated that Borough’s schools had embraced the opportunity to attend. The conference had talked about the fact that young people had been able to share ideas that and this should be celebrated.
11. Welcomed the news that AO.com had extended from their existing site at Weston Road, Crewe, creating 80 additional jobs and reported that she had attended the grand opening ceremony on 4 July.
12. Reported that Informal Cabinet and recently considered a report concerning the setting up of a Skills and Growth Company, whereby a sample of local businesses had been selected to look at the potential impact of Brexit on Cheshire East.
13.Referred to the weekend of commemorative activities which had taken place to mark the first anniversary of the devastating accident in Bosley. She had attended a Sunday service, which had provided an opportunity for reflection on the devastating impact of the explosion on lives; to remember loved ones and friends who lost their lives and to give thanks for all those who had shared the journey. Representatives from various agencies involved in dealing with the disaster had taken part in the various activities, including Cheshire East Council officers, who had taken part in a tug of war.
14.Referred to the forthcoming Cheshire leg of Tour of Britain and stated that she hoped that those present at the Council meeting would take part. Cllr David Brown referred to Stage 3 of the tour, which was to be held on Tuesday September 6, following a course from Congleton to Tatton Park in Knutsford over a distance of 111 miles. Bosley Parish Council would be joining with Bosley and Congleton schools to make Bosley crossroads very special and there would be the opportunity for local organisations to get publicity for anything taking place in the parishes. Local schools had also designed a trophy and it was hoped to involve as many people in the community as possible in the event.
15.Welcomed the news that US President, Barack Obama, had given his support to the CARB-X consortium, confirming that the US Government would invest $350m in the partnership over five years, to fund research into combatting antibiotic resistance. The borough was to play a vital role in a new international effort to tackle antibiotic resistance. The AMR Centre, based at Alderley Park, was set to join the world’s biggest public-private partnership dedicated to tackling the major health issue,CARB-X. This would put Cheshire East on the world stage in the fight against superbugs and would deliver a boost for the local economy, jobs, skills and the borough’s cutting edge science businesses.