The Council will receive the annual State of the Tendring District Statement from the Leader of the Council.
Minutes:
The Council received the Annual State of the Tendring District Statement from the Leader of the Council as follows:-
“Chairman, Councillors and members of the public, whilst my annual address is always an opportunity to reflect on the last twelve months, never before have I had occasion to look back at two years in which we have collectively witnessed such a monumental impact on our personal and professional lives.
I would like to begin this statement by expressing my sincere condolences to anyone who has lost a family member, friend or colleague as a direct or indirect result of Coronavirus over the course of this pandemic, and my thoughts also go out to all those who have been negatively impacted by the events of the past two years, whether that be through missed or delayed medical treatments or diagnoses, the impact on mental health and relationships, or the financial impact. I also wish to pay tribute to the incredible efforts of our dedicated key workers, our partners and all those who worked through the pandemic delivering essential services during such an unprecedented and difficult time.
I would like to take this opportunity to announce that, with fellow Councillors, we are working towards the establishment of a fitting memorial for the District to remember all those impacted by the pandemic.
Chairman, before I continue with my speech, I would also like to take a moment to reflect on what is happening globally and how, as a Council, we stand united with the people of Ukraine. The invasion by Russia is rightly very worrying and concerning for us all, and as mentioned at Cabinet a few weeks ago, a letter of solidarity has been sent to the Prime Minister to show support for the UK Government’s sanctions against Russia and to condemn Russia’s actions. This letter was signed by the Leaders of all the Council’s political groups on the Council. We know that many Tendring residents have offered to house refugees and of course this Council will be there to help and support in whatever way we can.
The situation in Ukraine is a clear and stark reminder that the security of the United Kingdom, and the ability of our country to be a force for good in the world, and to offer help to our fellow nations in their hour of need, is inextricably linked to the strength of our economy, both nationally and locally. After two years of lockdowns and the most restrictive measures ever imposed upon the freedoms of individuals and businesses in this country, the economy is recovering really well, with record job vacancies and unemployment back down to pre-crisis levels. The steps taken by the Government in Westminster in swiftly introducing the various business and job-protection schemes, most notably the furlough scheme, combined with the rapid response by local authorities, in particular Tendring District Council, in getting as much financial help to our small businesses as we possibly could, as fast as was humanly possible, have all contributed to our businesses and employers being in the best possible position given all that has been endured since the start of the pandemic.
Chairman, the steps the country is taking to sanction Russia are not cost-free for us at home; and the biggest impact will be the cost of living for working families. Just one example that has been felt immediately is the price of heating oil; since the invasion just over a month ago the cost of heating oil has more than doubled, and that has a direct impact for the great many residents in Tendring who are dependent on oil for their heating. We had already been bracing for the huge rises coming very soon to electricity and gas bills, as well as the general rate of inflation rising to levels not seen for many years; nobody will be unaffected by the cost-of-living increases that are already starting to bite hard and as an Authority we will continue to support our communities and do what we can to ameliorate the situation.
But despite the negative effects of rising inflation we are now seeing optimistic signs of the economy bouncing back, especially now that all COVID restrictions have ended, and I am immensely proud of how we, as a local authority and community leader, have continued to demonstrate our ability to review and adapt our services and plans in accordance with the often rapid changes in circumstances.
As Councillors, we have embraced new ways of working, with each other, with our residents and with partners. We now have our new Council meeting room, created as part of the Transformation Project, and it was a significant moment when we were able to meet again in person just before Christmas in this new, improved space.
Our workforce has shown fantastic resilience, flexibility and a determination to deliver, with teams being required to react swiftly to the closure, re-opening and further closures and also to step up to take on entirely new responsibilities, providing essential services that have supported the safety, health and wellbeing of our residents. Not only have they been undertaking additional duties to support the response to the pandemic, but they have also been continuing with their day jobs across the organisation, ensuring that services continued to operate as near as possible to ‘business as usual’.
As part of our ongoing COVID-19 response, Council staff rose to the call for mutual support from the NHS. Many staff were deployed to the vaccination centres and supported the emergency response. We also had staff working as Covid Ambassadors across the District, supporting businesses and residents.
Chairman, our staff are well-known for always striving to achieve the best and as an example of this, seven car parks within Tendring in 2021 have been awarded a top safety accreditation from the British Parking Association.
Each car park was assessed on the quality of lighting, cleanliness, security measures and quality management to give an overall review of safety; it is a tremendous achievement for the Council.
At last month’s Council meeting, we agreed a “fiercely ambitious” budget to deliver key projects across the District, whilst keeping the council tax rise to less than inflation. We plan to deliver important projects already underway, including the workspace and covered market in Jaywick Sands, the redevelopment of the Starlings site in Harwich and the replacement of the cremators at Weeley Crematorium.
Over the past couple of years, the Revenues team have had to completely reverse their normal operations, which is to collect money, and instead they had to learn how to pay it out; a completely unprecedented situation! It has been a mammoth task with well over £50m being paid out. They have also had to be there to support our residents with other financial help along with making sure the usual housing benefits payments are made on time. The services within Finance and IT go quietly unnoticed most of the time, but they are always busy behind the scenes and provide an essential cog in the overall machinery of the Council.
Chairman, with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee rapidly approaching, we proposed an extension of the Members’ Small Grants scheme, with each Councillor allocated £1,000 funding to spend in their local areas for events. I am already starting to hear about exciting plans for events in local communities and I am looking forward to the celebration events, and I would urge all Members to get their applications in as soon as possible.
The Council’s approach to financial management, priority setting, stewardship and ambition continues to make a difference for residents and businesses, as well as looking after the District and the natural environment that we have across Tendring.
On the subject of the environment, I am pleased to let you know that as a Council we have cut our carbon emissions by over a quarter over the past three years. The Authority’s emissions have dropped from 5,083 tonnes in 2018/19 to 3,881 tonnes in 2020/21. The Council has added insulation to offices and installed LED lighting, and we plan to accelerate as we embed climate change considerations into everything we do across the Council. That is a fantastic achievement, and we also urge partners, businesses and residents to join us on this journey.
Last year, the “Back to Business” approach galvanised the Council to counter the impacts of the pandemic. The Council has responded to the economic challenges faced in the District. We contracted with specialist provider Colbea up to 2024 to run services to support businesses in Tendring. Between April 2021 and December 2021, Colbea advised over 90 local firms, focusing on smaller enterprises. Three quarters of those supported have been sole traders.
The Council has also provided active engagement for residents during the pandemic and attracted tourists to the coast. The Octopus Ahoy! Sculpture trail ran for 10 weeks in the summer of 2021, with an App to download and 30 octopus sculptures to locate; participants earned prizes for scanning each one. The sculptures displayed art by local artists, and also engaged local primary schools, with smaller octopus sculptures in a school trail.
The Clacton 150 Anniversary flights took place in August 2021 with as many as 75,000 onlookers spread along Clacton’s coastline.
The Council installed a Clacton Heritage Trail from Jaywick Sands to Holland Haven through Clacton town centre, to tell the story of Clacton and celebrate Clacton’s 150th Birthday. The trail covers more than five miles of coastline and engages with local schools, elder care settings and the wider community. It includes interactive technology to bring Clacton’s history to life.
Restoration works on the Scheduled Monument and Grade ll listed Treadwheel Crane, a unique building in Historic Harwich, are progressing well. Dating back to 1745, Harwich’s Treadwheel Crane is considered to be the only surviving example of a man-operated double-wheeled crane in the country.
Works to refurbish the health suite and wet-side changing areas at Clacton Leisure Centre were completed in December. The £575,000 investment in the District leisure facilities saw the sauna and health suite – now re-named the Wellbeing Zone – completely revamped, along with new changing cubicles, showers and toilets at the Tendring District Council-run (TDC) facility.
I do also have to mention, that we hosted the first Santathon in December 2021, with more than 80 people dressed as Father Christmas taking part in a fun run to raise funds for Community Voluntary Services Tendring. This was certainly a sight to behold and a lot of fun. Some of you may have also spotted our Council Chairman among the participants. Well done everyone who took part.
One of our key projects this year is to transform the derelict Starlings site in Harwich into a new carpark which will double as an events space. Starlings will accommodate 51 car parking spaces, including four disabled parking bays and at least four electric charging points. The development will include new public toilets and landscaping. The site will be made level so that it can accommodate one-off events such as markets, travelling fairgrounds and open-air theatres, encouraging footfall and supporting the town’s economic recovery. I look forward to seeing this exciting regeneration project finally come to fruition over the next few months.
In November, the Council secured almost £2m of funding from the South East Local Enterprise Partnership in support of our ambitious plans to further improve and deliver a 9,500 sq. ft. managed workspace facility, with a market and community garden. Build inflation pushed the project costs up when we went out to tender in November, but I was pleased to be with Essex County Council last month when they announced they will meet the additional costs, so the contractors can get on site to start building. Whilst it is based in Jaywick Sands, this eye-catching new building will provide high quality, reasonably priced office space for small firms from across Tendring to set up shop, with advice on hand from experienced professionals. This is a great example of us helping businesses in Tendring to build back from the pandemic.
Section Two of the Local Plan has finally been agreed; we now have in place a robust planning policy that allow us to be masters of our own destiny in respect of what gets built where, at least as far as the current planning system allows. And our plans to increase our stock of council homes is progressing extremely well. The Council has retained ownership of its housing stock, which currently comprises well over 3,000 homes that our Housing and Surveying Teams manage and maintain. Work on these dwellings continues, including the upgrading of heating systems, reassessing fire precautions in the light of the Grenfell tragedy and of course thousands of daily repairs and routine maintenance jobs. Detailed assessments of prospective development sites and potential acquisitions are ongoing, and the Cabinet is committed to completing these assessments and achieving its target of 100 additional homes. Adding additional homes to our stock is a key part of the Housing Strategy 2020-25. The document, entitled “Delivering Homes to Meet the Needs of Local People”, identifies four key strategic housing priorities as follows:
• Delivering homes to meet the needs of local people
• Reducing and preventing homelessness and rough sleeping
• Making the best use of and improving existing housing
• Supporting people in their homes and communities.
I firmly believe these provide us with a strong foundation to work from.
Chairman, we continue to champion work in the areas of Education, Health and Community Safety working with many partners to ensure the best outcomes for Tendring residents. We have developed a Tendring Education Strategic Board, which includes District Headteachers, ECC, Academy leads and the Department for Education. This Board is planning a celebration event on 16th June so that children across the District can showcase their achievements throughout the pandemic and I would like to mention one particular project that took place over the past year - Street Tag.
Street Tag sees a number of virtual ‘check in’ points put up around the area, with people earning points for tagging in using the app and travelling between them in a physically active way. Points can also be earned by completing online fitness classes.
In the last season, which ran from 1 July until 12 October 2021, school teams – which include pupils, parents and staff – did the equivalent of 25,850,637 steps and travelled 25,174 miles. That is the circumference of the planet in three months – what an achievement!
We also work closely with Health colleagues through the Alliance Board and this work has influenced the creation and development of the diagnostics hub at Clacton Hospital. The diagnostics hub has just this month been recognised as the best in the country – and Tendring District Council has been congratulated for our role in its delivery. Partnership work includes influencing, facilitating and in some cases delivering through partners across the District.
Finally, Chairman, I am extremely proud of the role this Council has played, working closely with the Port and with other public sector partners on the submission of the successful Freeport East bid to Government. The Freeport’s tax sites are now designated in law and going forward, Freeport East will become a legal entity in its own right as a company limited by guarantee with directors being appointed from the key partners, including this Council and Essex County Council, with the detail on the Company functions and structure being discussed with my Working Party prior to Tendring formally signing up. To be simplistic about it, Freeport for us means the development of Bathside Bay, not as the container terminal that was envisaged 20 years ago, but as a huge dockside industrial and commercial area supporting the employment of thousands of people. So, I attended the recent Planning Committee meeting where the Bathside Bay application was determined, and I have to say I was greatly impressed with the intelligent and sophisticated way in which the members of that Committee dissected and dealt with what must surely be the most complex and complicated planning application that has ever come before the Council. To massively simplify things, the existing planning consent was due to expire 29th March 2022, which is today, and if that were to happen then it will be highly improbable that any such consent would be granted in the future due to the way that such large applications now have to be determined. The application was unanimously approved by the committee but only after addressing the concerns raised by Natural England with a well informed and worded condition that will safeguard the current and future significance of the sensitive areas concerned. The Secretary of State formally notified us of his assent late yesterday evening following conversations with Council Officers and Civil Servants confirming he is satisfied that the proposed conditions and legal agreements will ensure compliance and the safeguarding of the natural environment and he will not intervene. But even then, there still had to be evidence that the works had been commenced, and I have today been advised by our planning officers that they are satisfied that such works have begun and therefore the permission is enacted. I can say quite clearly to Members that I have never been more optimistic that Bathside Bay will actually be developed and that it will fulfil its potential to become a nationally significant employment site.
Our planning and legal officers have really excelled with this application, and although there will doubtless be more work to do, our officers have really gone the extra mile and I am very proud of them all.
In closing Chairman, it is truly remarkable to me that we have been able to achieve so much together throughout the past twelve months and I know that next year will see even more tremendous achievements by this Council, for and on behalf of our residents and businesses.
I would like to thank all Members, the Council’s Officers and especially our Chief Executive.”
Councillors I J Henderson, M E Stephenson, Barry, Morrison and Scott addressed the Council during the debate on the Leader of the Council’s Statement. Councillor Stock OBE responded to the points made by those Members.