The Cabinet is asked to note any announcements made by the Leader of the Council.

Russia’s Invasion of the Ukraine

The Leader of the Council (Councillor Neil Stock OBE) referred to the “chilling events” of the last couple of days which had seen the Ukraine invaded by Russia and which was “very worrying and concerning for us all.” He suggested that Members’ message to their residents should be to ‘keep calm and carry on’ and for everyone to be as productive as they possibly could in order to help minimise the impact on the UK of the sanctions imposed on Russia which would seriously affect the world’s economy, fuel supplies and food supplies, especially of grain.

The Leader also suggested that residents could help by donating monies to the relief charities working in the Ukraine and by writing to their local Member of Parliament to make them aware of their feelings on this. He had also requested the Chief Executive to consider lighting up the Town Hall in the colours of the national flag of the Ukraine as a small token of this District’s support for the Ukraine.

The Leader of the Labour Group (Councillor Ivan Henderson) proposed that a letter be sent in either the Leader’s name or in the name of the Chairman of the Council to the Prime Minister to support the UK Government’s sanctions against Russia and to condemn Russia’s actions.

Councillor Neil Stock OBE agreed that this was an excellent idea and further proposed that the letter should be signed by the Leaders of all the political groups on the Council in a show of collective solidarity.

Covid-19 Memorial

Further to the decision taken by Full Council at its meeting held on 30 November 2021 (Minute 94 referred), the Leader of the Council informed Cabinet that he had requested the Portfolio Holder for Partnerships (Councillor Lynda McWilliams) to work with Councillor Mark Stephenson on the installation of a Covid-19 Memorial and to report back to Cabinet in due course. He urged them to ‘think positive and think big’ and gave by way of an example of a public art project the “Angel of the North”.

Kinder Transport Statue in Harwich

The Leader of the Council referred to the successful appeal by the Harwich Kindertransport Memorial and Learning Trust Limited to fund a statue to commemorate the role of the Port and People of Harwich in welcoming the 10,000 unaccompanied Jewish children who came, in the period December 1938 to September 1939, as refugees to Britain from Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Gda?sk, Hamburg arriving in Harwich via the Hook of Holland before eventually travelling onto Liverpool Street Station in London. The project had been supported by the Association for Jewish Refugees (AJR), The Federal Republic of Germany, Tendring District Council, Harwich Town Council, Harwich Haven Authority, Essex Community Fund, The Grassroots Foundation, The Bridges Impact Foundation and the University of Essex.

Essex artist Ian Wolter had created a bronze life-size statue which would evoke the arrival of the children by ship and for which planning permission had been granted to erect the statue on Harwich Quay near the RNLI Station later on in 2022.