Issue - meetings

Report number:     CAB/WS/20/061

Portfolio holder: Councillor John Griffiths

Lead officer: David Collinson

Resolved:

That:

1.       following progress being reviewed against the West Suffolk Rural Taskforce action plan, as set out in Appendix A to Report number: CAB/WS/20/061, no changes to the proposed activities be made; and

2.       a one-year progress report in spring 2021 be received, at which point, it is anticipated that most of the actions will have been completed, except for those which relate to the West Suffolk Local Plan, which need to await the appropriate phase of local plan development.

The Cabinet considered this report, which presented progress made to date against the West Suffolk Rural Taskforce’s action plan.

On 14 January 2020, Cabinet approved the final recommendations of the West Suffolk Rural Taskforce which included agreeing a list of actions and carrying out a review on progress against those actions. This review had now been completed.

Councillor John Griffiths, Leader of the Council, drew relevant issues to the attention of Cabinet, including highlighting positive developments achieved, as set out in paragraph 1.6.8 of the report, particularly in respect of the work undertaken by volunteers, community groups and parish councils in the rural areas.  

Members also noted the existing strengths of, and challenges facing, rural areas, many of which were summarised in paragraph 1.6.2. This included the rural community response to Covid-19, further details of which were set out in paragraph 1.6.4.

Councillor Mike Chester, Chair of the West Suffolk Rural Taskforce was in attendance and was invited to speak on progress made against the action plan. He made positive comments on progress to date and drew attention to specific actions that were ongoing or were yet to start, which were largely dependent on working in partnership with others. He also sought clarification on arrangements for the forthcoming virtual Parish Forum.

Cabinet accepted that progress made in implementing the actions since January 2020 had been inevitably slower than anticipated (for example, on transport initiatives) due to the coronavirus pandemic, but in some areas (for example, communities initiatives), progress had been accelerated due to initiatives that had been developed in rural areas in response to Covid-19. No changes to the proposed activities were made.

Given that further work was required, Cabinet considered the recommendation to receive a further one-year progress report in spring 2021 was acceptable. At this point, it was anticipated that most of the actions would have been completed, except for those which related to the West Suffolk Local Plan, which needed to await the appropriate phase of local plan development.

Resolved:

That:

1.       following progress being reviewed against the West Suffolk Rural Taskforce action plan, as set out in Appendix A to Report number: CAB/WS/20/061, no changes to the proposed activities be made; and

2.       a one-year progress report in spring 2021 be received, at which point, it is anticipated that most of the actions will have been completed, except for those which relate to the West Suffolk Local Plan, which need to await the appropriate phase of local plan development.