To receive such announcements as may be made by the Mayor.
Minutes:
The Mayor, in summary: -
The Mayor, in summary: -
1 reported the death of Honorary Alderman Tony Ranfield and stated that it had been his privilege to represent the Council at his funeral on 31 January. He invited all present to stand in a minute’s silence in remembrance.
2 welcomed Councillor Roger Morris to his first meeting of Council following his success at the recent byelection for the Crewe Central Ward.
3 reported that this was Rob Polkinghorne, new Chief Executive’s, first Council meeting, and invited him to address Council.
Rob Polkinghorne responded by stating that it had been an absolute honour and pleasure to be the Council’s new Chief Executive. He thanked Members and officers for making him feel welcome. He had enjoyed meeting with Council employees, public and private sector partners and seeing the fantastic work which was being undertaken across the Borough to deliver great services. He felt the Cheshire East was an amazing place to both live and work.
4 reported that he, along with the Mayoress and the Chief Executive, had the pleasure of meeting HRH The Princess Royal, when she visited Jodrell Bank to mark the opening of the First Light Pavilion. Whilst at Jodrell Bank, Her Royal Highness planted a sapling apple tree, grown from a pip which originated from the ‘Flower of Kent’; the apple tree within Sir Isaac Newton’s Lincolnshire Garden, said to have inspired his Theory of Gravity. The pip, one of eight, had been taken on board the International Space Station as part of Astronaut Tim Peake’s mission in 2016. On their return to earth, the eight pips were taken to Kew Gardens where they were germinated. Jodrell Bank were successful in bidding for one of these amazing ‘Space Saplings’.
5 thanked Mr Ernie Hunter, from the Northern Holocaust Education Trust, who was the guest speaker at Cheshire East’s Holocaust Memorial Day Service, held at the end of January. Mr Hunter told the very moving story about his mother’s escape from Nazi Germany and the fate of many of his family in the death camps.
6 reported that on 7 February he had been privileged to attend, in Crewe, the 100th birthday celebrations for Bernard Morgan. Mr Morgan was the youngest RAF sergeant to land on Gold Beach on D-Day, 6 June 1944. His birthday celebrations were attended by the RAF, The Royal British Legion, Bentley Motors, Granada TV, and his beloved Crewe Alexandra Football Club, who presented him with a football shirt, with “Morgan 100” on the back. Mr Morgan planned to visit Normandy in June this year to take part in the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
7 reported that he had attended a 107th birthday party for an amazing lady called Marie who lived at Twyford House Care Home in Alsager.
8 reported that on hearing the news of His Majesty the King’s illness, the Mayor had written to him to give his own, and the Council’s, best wishes for a speedy recovery.
9 in relation to Item 8 on the agenda - Medium Term Financial Strategy 2024/25 - 2027/28, asked Members in order to ensure clarity during the meeting to refer to the small page numbers within the MTFS documents, rather than the Modern.gov pagination.
10 reported that he had agreed for reasons of urgency an additional report to be considered at the meeting, arising from the recent announcement of the Section 151 Officer that they would be leaving the Council. The report would be dealt with at the end of the substantive items on the agenda.