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

Temporary Closure of Walton-on-the-Naze Lifestyles Leisure Centre

The Leader of the Council (Councillor Stock OBE) referred to the temporary closure of the Walton-on-the-Naze Lifestyles leisure centre after a member of staff had tested positive for Covid-19 and read out the following statement:-

“I would like to send my warmest wishes to the member of staff involved and hope they have a full and speedy recovery. I am pleased to hear that, at the moment, they are feeling well.

We are promoting a Back to Business approach in Tendring, encouraging retailers, pubs, restaurants and the like to open up and support our community – while doing so in a Covid-secure way.

Tendring District Council has set an example with this through re-opening of our leisure centres, recognising they are important amenities for our residents to stay fit and well.

However, going Back to Business does not mean ignoring Coronavirus, and this is why we have taken the precautionary step of temporarily closing one of our facilities following an employee’s positive Covid-19 test result while we deep clean and support staff to self-isolate.

This acts as a reminder to us all that we must continue to follow the national restrictions, frequently wash our hands, maintain social distancing and wear masks as required, as our staff member did.

We will of course keep the public up to date with any developments going forward. I can confirm that the deep cleaning process at Walton Lifestyles will begin tonight and continue across the weekend.”

Successful Prosecution by the Council

Councillor Stock read out a further statement as follows:-

“You may recall that earlier this year a trial concluded where Tendring District Council prosecuted the director of a firm which provided box office services for our Princes Theatre between 2012 and 2017.

The director was charged with knowingly carrying on a business with intent to defraud creditors of that company; and relates to failing to ring-fence Princes Theatre receipts, which were then used to prop up an unsustainable business, without informing us.

This meant when an attempt to wind-up the company took place, we were owed more than £100,000.

The director was found guilty following a two-week trial earlier this year, and last week was sentenced. As part of the sentencing exercise an order was made for costs and compensation to the total of almost £145,000, in effect ordering the director to pay back as much of the money as his assets allow.

It is unfortunate that it came to this and that we could not resolve this with Eve during the meetings we held with him in early 2017. Instead we had to act to halt the liquidation of the company to protect our ability to recover the money owed.

I would like to add my thanks to our barrister, Miles Bennett, and the rest of our legal team for their hard work and diligence in bringing this prosecution to a successful conclusion. This action shows we will fight to protect our taxpayers’ money and that small councils such as ours are not a pushover.”