In accordance with paragraph 1.32 of the Council Procedure Rules and Appendix 7 to the rules, a total period of 15 minutes is allocated for members of the public to speak at Council meetings.
Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes, but the Chairman will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned, where there are a number of speakers.
Members of the public wishing to ask a question at the meeting should provide at least three clear working days’ notice in writing and should include the question with that notice. This will enable an informed answer to be given. It is not a requirement to give notice of the intention to make use of public speaking provision. However, as a matter of courtesy, a period of 24 hours notice is encouraged.
Minutes:
1. Mr Phillip Irlam asked a question relating to the decision to close Lime Tree Drive, Crewe for the 8 months that the Sydney Road bridge would be out of action and the effect that closing this road would have on the rest of the town, asking for this to be reconsidered.– Cllr D Stockton, Environment Portfolio Holder,responded.
2. Ms Suzy Firkin asked a question relating to a recent Buzzfeed freedom of information request to the Council, which she stated had found that an analysis produced by the authority had found that of the top 100 companies in the area, 14 firms contributing almost £1bn to the local economy, had been assessed as being at “high risk” from leaving the EU. She referred to a recent letter from the Leader of the Council to the Congleton Chronicle and asked her to explain what this actually meant by way of practical support to businesses in the region.
3. Mr John Arnold asked a question concerning the exit deal with the European Union, asking what plans the Council had made against the possibility of a no deal Brexit, including food, supplies to local businesses and whether any plans had been made to ensure that medicine stocks were maintained at Leighton Hospital, particularly those that had a short shelf life, such as insulin.
4. Mr Arnold also asked a question on behalf of Mr C Foster, asking what consultations had the Council undertaken with local businesses to assess the impacts of Brexit for them and what were the main findings of that research.
5. Ms Sarah Murphy also asked a question relating to Buzzfeed news, which she said had stated that an analysis by Cheshire East had found that, of the top 100 companies in the area, 14 firms contributing almost £1Bn to the local economy had been assessed as being at high risk from leaving the EU and another 43 companies had been judged to be at ‘medium risk’ and investment proposals were being put on hold. She asked for confirmation as to whether this was accurate and whether the Council had received the Government’s regional impact assessments on Brexit and how much money/resource had the Council set aside to mitigate the impacts identified.
(The Leader of the Council responded to all the Brexit-related questions later in the meeting, under her announcements, but undertook to follow up the issue in respect of stocks of medicine at Leighton hospital).
6. Mr J Buchsbaum, Chair of the Jewish Representative Council for the Manchester region, spoke in respect of antisemitism and hate crime and thanked the Council for adopting the HRA definition of antisemitism.
7. Mr A Wood spoke in respect of support for engineering and crafts in schools and his request to the Council for the release of land for a market and also in respect of problems with parking.
8. Middlewich Town Cllr Jonathan Parry spoke in respect of the recent decision relating to charging for bin services. – The Leader of the Council responded.
9. Mrs Sue Helliwell spoke in respect the Notice of Motion relating to the peoples vote, to be considered later in the meeting, and asked Cheshire East Councillors to reject the motion.
10. Mr G Goodwin spoke in respect of a past business interest of the Finance and Communications Portfolio Holder. – The Leader of the Council and Cllr Bates, Finance and Communication Portfolio Holder, responded.
11.Mrs C Peters Rock, representing the Knutsford and District Neighbourhood Forum, spoke in respect of the recent decision by the Northern Planning Committee to approve the demolition of the Knutsford War Memorial. - Cllr L Wardlaw, Health Portfolio Holder, responded briefly and undertook to provide a written response.
12.Mr M Unett spoke in respect of the new bin charges scheme and also in respect of police investigations concerning the Council – The Leader of the Council responded.
13.Mr D Alcock spoke in respect of the Notice of Motion relating to the People’s Vote.
14.Mr G Jones spoke in respect of a recent planning application for development at Chelford Road, Henbury, considered by the Strategic Planning Board, and asked for the actual figures relating to air pollution at Broken Cross. – Cllr Arnold, Housing, Planning and Regeneration Portfolio Holder, responded.