Minutes:
10/21
The Leader provided her annual statement to the Council Meeting and made particular reference to:-
- her appreciation to the Deputy Chief Executive for the manner in which he had temporarily taken over the reins during 2020. In particular, she was truly grateful for the manner in which he had held the Council together during the onset of the Pandemic. Furthermore, the way that officers had knuckled down to work at home and continued to ensure a tremendous delivery of business as usual was also worthy of praise. For example, the allocation of over £71.7 million in grants to local businesses had been processed and paid to ensure that so many local businesses were able to survive the pandemic;
- the positive impact that the Chief Executive had already had since joining the Council in June 2020;
- the loss of Cllr David May. The Leader paid tribute to David, who had proven to be a valued, extremely competent and hardworking Member of the Executive. In stating how much she missed him, the Leader also highlighted his versatility, humour, generosity and kindness;
- her hope that the Team Devon concept would see all the local authorities in Devon, where possible, working closely together;
- her overriding objectives of Leader remained to:
o focus on the wellbeing and prosperity of local residents whilst welcoming visitors to the South Hams;
o conserve the natural and historic built environment, particularly the protected areas;
o progress and deliver on the adopted Climate Change and Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan and fully co-operate with the Devon Climate Change Plans. in support of this objective, the Leader highlighted the monies that had already been committed to support the delivery of the Strategy and Action Plan; and
o roll out the adopted Joint Local Plan (JLP) in order to provide both housing and employment space and to look for solutions to the affordability problems for local residents in accessing housing in the South Hams. With regard to the JLP, the Council still had a secure five-year land supply; the Supplementary Planning Document had been adopted; five more Neighbourhood Plans were on the agenda for adoption at this Council meeting; and there was a Freeport in the District (shared with Plymouth);
- the imminent presentation of a revised draft Corporate Strategy for approval. Whilst the Council already had a tremendously broad basis for the Strategy (via the adopted Climate Change and Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan; the Recovery Plan and Action Plan; and the Housing Strategy and Action Plan), there was still a need to convert this basis into an outward facing public document for consultation; and
- her wish to congratulate Cllr Louise Jones on her recent election to serve on the Council. In addition, the Leader announced that Cllr Holway would be joining the Executive with immediate effect to lead on the Climate Change and Biodiversity portfolio area. Finally, there would be some slight adjustments to the portfolio areas in light of the expected demands arising from the (once adopted) Corporate Strategy.