Issue - items at meetings - West Suffolk Rural Taskforce: Action Plan Update

Issue - meetings

West Suffolk Rural Taskforce: Action Plan Update

Meeting: 21/09/2021 - Cabinet (Item 276)

276 West Suffolk Rural Taskforce: Final Report on Implementation of Recommendations pdf icon PDF 147 KB

Report number:     CAB/WS/21/039

Portfolio holder: Councillor John Griffiths

Lead officer: Jill Korwin

Additional documents:

Decision:

Resolved:

 

That:

 

1.           The progress made in implementation of the Taskforce’s recommendations be noted; and

 

2.           The ongoing activity, initiated as a result of the Taskforce, to be ‘mainstreamed’ into programmes of work and no longer reported on separately.

 

 

Minutes:

(Report number CAB/WS/21/039)

 

The Cabinet considered this report which provided an update on progress in implementing the agreed actions within the West Suffolk Rural Taskforce Action Plan and summarised some of the wider developments that had affected the Council’s role in supporting West Suffolk’s more rural areas.

 

The actions had focused on three main areas:

-      Rural transport and communication

-      Rural housing

-      Strong rural communities

 

Councillor John Griffiths, Chair/Leader of the Council, drew relevant issues to the attention of the Cabinet and explained that the updated Action Plan (attached at Appendix A to the report), showed the progress which had been made in implementing the actions since January 2020. Progress had been inevitably slower than anticipated (for example, on transport initiatives), 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.

 

Given the stage that work on many of the recommendations had reached, the Cabinet agreed for this to be the last separate report to them on the specific suite of actions from the West Suffolk Rural Taskforce and now be ‘mainstreamed’ into ongoing work programmes.  Paragraph 4.1 of the report also outlined the ways in which the Council would continue to ensure it supported rural businesses, communities and residents.

 

Councillor Mike Chester addressed the Cabinet and asked the following specific questions with regards to the actions within the Action Plan:

 

-      Action T9: Explore with Suffolk County Council/Police/Suffolk Roadside, the potential for a rural road safety/driver behaviour change campaign to tackle speeding in villages; a) Explore Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) use

Please could more detail be provided as to the number of activities which had been undertaken under this action and where, the numbers who had been caught speeding and what was the plan moving forward?

 

-      Supporting and nurturing volunteering – how was the Council making it easier for people to be able to volunteer?

 

-      Community engagement – please could examples and the types of engagement being undertaken with rural communities be provided?

 

The Strategic Director thanked Councillor Chester for his questions and confirmed that a detailed written response would be provided accordingly.

 

In addition to a further question raised with regards to the Government roll-out of ‘Project Gigabyte’, which aimed to provide people in rural England access to the fastest broadband speeds on the market, the Strategic Director explained that further information on the provision of broadband within Suffolk could also be viewed via the link Home - Better Broadband for Suffolk (betterbroadbandsuffolk.com)

 

Resolved:

 

That:

 

1.           The progress made in implementation of the Taskforce’s recommendations be noted; and

 

2.           The ongoing activity, initiated as a result of the Taskforce, to be ‘mainstreamed’ into programmes of work and no longer reported on separately.

 

 


 

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