Leaders announcements to full Council 3rd Sept 2013

Thank you Mr Mayor, I think we can say that the summer has been very kind to Christchurch and I am sure members have had an enjoyable and restful August, our traditional holiday month. Christchurch community volunteers With your permission I would like to pay tribute to the many volunteers of all ages who have contributed over the summer months to the various events which has made this summer so special in Christchurch. The Christchurch food festival, The Burton Vets day, the Mudeford fun day, ‘Stompin on the Quomps’, Christchurch carnival, Christchurch regatta week, Mudeford Arts festival, as well as all the other local events that relied on our enthusiastic volunteers. Also to come this month the ‘Fit Christchurch’ event I ask members to join me in thanking every single volunteer for their help in making Christchurch a very special place this summer. Applause Reason to be cheerful Members will be aware of the National Office of Statistics report covering a profile of deprivation in larger English seaside destinations and the resultant press coverage in the Financial Times which highlighted ‘Christchurch Where we do like to be –beside the seaside’. The report put Christchurch as the least deprived and therefore the wealthiest of 31 seaside towns (their interpretation) and highlighted some of the delights of our Borough in photo post cards. All very positive for Christchurch Another reason to be cheerful Members should also be aware the BBC3 are currently filming in the Borough and will be up until November for a series of programs on youth employment. Christchurch was chosen by the BBC due to its welcoming an open approach to the project. Saxon Square Following protracted and highly complex negotiations the lease was exchanged and completed last month for the £ 4 million project to refurbish Saxon Square. This required considerable skill and indeed patience from our legal team and supporting officers so our thanks should go to them for their diligence in seeing this important project through. Thanks also to our Member of Parliament for his contribution in initiating the transfer of the defunct medical centre. Purbeck District Council compliment Members have been invited to a meeting on Thursday of this week to a members meeting with EDDC and Purbeck Councillors. This meeting at 7.0pm at EDDC is important as it will begin to explain the rational following the expression of interest from Purbeck District Council to join the partnership. Members please note that the compliment PBC have made to the partnership has to be given due diligence so I would ask for support from CBC members to be involved in this presentation and workshop, so that we can better judge the opportunities it presents. EDDC leader appointment Members at last night’s EDDC council meeting Cllr. Ian Monks was proposed and accepted as Leader of East Dorset District Council. Cllr Simon Tong as deputy leader. I look forward to working with them. We spoke at the last meeting about the contribution from Cllr. Spencer Flower to the partnership. ICT migration And finally members should by now have been migrated to the new ICT platform if this is not the case then please see the IT team as speedily as possible. Members there are considerable advantages in migrating to the new system, those details are before you this evening and as this process has been operating since April this year we should by now, have all been migrated. Thank you Mr Mayor. In seconding the SVP partnership with Poole The SVP is something this Council and our partners can be seriously proud off. I have been involved since early days and have seen just how this SVP partnership has benefitted the three Councils and most importantly the beneficiaries who are in simple terms our clients. Our performance is up there with the best in respect of response time and savings in time money and executive resource. Our offer to Poole and if they accept will bring further benefits in terms of resilience and recruitment. So I am excited by the future opportunities this will present as our business plans for the expansion of this process are seen by other Dorset authorities. I am therefore delighted to second the proposal.