Agenda item - Public participation

Agenda item

Public participation

Council Procedure Rules Section 6. Members of the public who live or work in the district may put questions about the work of the council or make statements on items on the agenda to members of the Cabinet or any committee.

 

(Note: The maximum time to be set aside for this item is 30 minutes, but if all questions/statements are dealt with sooner, or if there are no questions/statements, the Council will proceed to the next business.)

 

Each person may ask one question or make one statement only. A total of five minutes will be allowed for the question to be put and answered or the statement made. If a question is raised, one supplementary question will be allowed provided that it arises directly from the reply and the overall time limit of five minutes is not exceeded.

 

If a statement is made, then the Chair may allow the Leader of the Council, or other member to whom they refer the matter, a right of reply.

 

The Constitution allows that a person who wishes to speak must register at least 15 minutes before the time the meeting is scheduled to start.  We urge anyone who wishes to register to speak to notify Democratic Services by 9am on the day of the meeting so that advice can be given on the arrangements in place.

 

As an alternative to addressing the meeting in person, written questions may be submitted by members of the public to the Monitoring Officer no later than 10am on Monday 20 February 2023. The written notification should detail the full question to be asked at the meeting of the Council.

Minutes:

The following members of the public spoke under this agenda item:

 

1. Richard O’Driscoll, a resident of the district, asked a question in connection with the £300,000 one-off allocation to Abbeycroft Leisure (subject to approval of the budget for 2023/2024) to assist them through their current financial pressures; however, he felt that this would still result in job losses and rising prices. He stated that it could cost £27 for a family of four to swim and asked whether it was now time for the Council to restore a regular annual grant to provide long term security and to ‘make sport for all’ a reality by bringing the cost of leisure down.

 

In response, Councillor Joanna Rayner, Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Culture and Community Hubs, stated that the ‘regular grant’ or management fee the Council had paid to Abbeycroft had reduced to zero from next year. This was as a result of the multi-million pound investment the Council had put into its leisure estate over the last six years. Councillor Rayner provided details of the benefits achieved across the district as a result of the investment.

 

As a valuable partner, Councillor Rayner reiterated the support the Council had provided to Abbeycroft during the pandemic and the current challenges it now faced; however, it also expected them to be an efficient well run business (as they are) so the Council could be confident that tax payers money was put to good use. As a social enterprise, any profit made must support their community objectives.

 

Before concluding her reply by explaining other beneficial services provided by Abbeycroft to support those on low incomes; the impact of the significant increase in costs to run leisure centres with swimming pools; and the health and well-being benefits that leisure facilities provided, Councillor Rayner informed Mr O’Driscoll and those present that:

 

a.       The Council’s intervention had averted job losses.  If the Council had not stepped in with financial support significant job losses would have potentially been a possibility as pools would have had to close (albeit temporarily). 

 

b.       A family swim at Bury St Edmunds costed £18.50, not £27 and for those residents who had a loyalty card (that costed £4 for a year) that cost reduced to £17.50.  Councillor Rayner reiterated that there were not many activities you could do as a family for less than £20.   

 

2. Nigel Wolstenholme, Chairman of the Bury St Edmunds branch of the Royal British Legion (RBL) highlighted an event on 5 May 2023 that the RBL was hosting to commemorate King Charles III Coronation. He was pleased to report that support had been offered by Councillor Robert Everitt’s locality budget; however, he specifically asked how, generally, was the Council able to support community groups looking to organise events to celebrate the Coronation in May.

 

In response, Councillor Robert Everitt, Portfolio Holder for Families and Communities stated that many community groups would be looking to organise events themselves to celebrate the Coronation. The Council would encourage this, and communications support could be provided, where appropriate, to encourage attendance at such events. Should any members wish to provide support from their locality budgets, applications would need to be submitted before 22 March 2023. 

 

The Chair concluded this item and invited Mr O’Driscoll and Mr Wolstenholme to remain in the meeting for the following agenda items should they wish to do so.

 

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