(a) Apologies for Absence
(b) Announcements
To consider any announcements by:
(i) the Chairman of the Council;
(ii) the Leader of the Council; and
(iii) any other Cabinet Member.
(c) Epping Forest Countrycare – Essex Wildlife Trust Living Landscape Awards
The Chairman to present two Living Landscape Awards from the Essex Wildlife Trust to Councillor Waller, Safer, Greener and Highways Portfolio Holder, and Epping Forest Countrycare officers, Nicola Rogers (Assistant Countryside Manager) and Kevin Mason (Countryside Assistant). The awards are part of a national initiative to create landscapes which provide enhanced conditions for wildlife to thrive.
Minutes:
(a) Announcements by the Chairman of the Council
(i) Olympic Games – Torch Relay
The Chairman reported that on 7 July 2012 the Olympic Torch had arrived at Waltham Abbey and that by 7.00 a.m. the streets had been full and a carnival atmosphere underway. He advised that after the Torch had passed through to much acclaim, a party had followed with a procession led by the Epping Pipe Band, himself, Councillor Webster – Chairman of the Waltham Abbey Town Council, Eleanor Laing MP, Councillor Whitbread, Leader of the Council and other local mayors and dignitaries. He advised that having crossed the Meridian Line where dragons signified "East meets West" entertainment had been provided by dancers and musicians outside the Epping Forest District Museum. He continued that had been followed with further entertainment being provided by staff from the District Council's Leisure Services and the Lee Valley Regional Park in the Abbey Gardens.
The Chairman stated that the Council owed a debt of gratitude to the officers of the Council led by the Acting Chief Executive and orchestrated by the Director of Environment and Street Scene for the manner in which the event had been organised.
The Council watched a short video of the event.
(ii) Olympic Games Tickets
The Chairman announced that as "host authority" for the Olympic Games the Council had been able to apply for and purchase a number of tickets for the Games. He advised that the Council had previously decided to award tickets to the Citizen of the Year Award winner and the two runners up and also to the Young Citizen of the Year Award winner and the two runners up. In addition, tickets had been given to King Harold School as the school nearest to the Olympic venue at the Lee Valley Park White Water Centre.
The Chairman advised that the remaining tickets had been allocated to deserving residents of the District. He informed the Council that there had been an excellent response to an advertisement for residents to nominate deserving recipients and a panel of judges made up of himself, Councillor Sartin (Vice-Chairman) and Councillor Webster (Olympic Champion) had met to discuss the applications received. Whilst all the applicants had been worthy of tickets, as the Council only had a limited number available the panel had decided to allocate the tickets to those persons who had volunteered widely throughout the District. He advised that the tickets had been allocated to a wide range of ages and that some of the recipients in addition to volunteering for a number of years had coped with health problems or had overcome adversity throughout their lives.
The Chairman stated that the winners' citations showed that this District had a large number of volunteers working with young people, the elderly, involved with fund raising, organising or running community and voluntary groups across all areas. He continued that without those volunteers, communities would really suffer and in his opinion the winners were hugely deserving of receiving the tickets which had represented a very small thank you from the District Council for the services they provided.
(iii) Attendance at Events
The Chairman reported on his attendance at some events held since the last Council meeting.
On 3 June together with his wife he had joined the Avenue of Sail on the River Thames to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Together with other chairmen and mayors of district and borough councils in Essex they had been ferried out to the sailing barge "Hydrogen" chartered by Essex County Council and moored down stream from Tower Bridge. Despite the subsequent inclement weather it had been a wonderful experience which had been a privilege to attend.
The Chairman advised that he had been questioned by some people as to whether it was right to spend public funds on such events, bearing in mind the current economic crisis. In order to avoid any misunderstanding he advised that in addition to two commercial sponsors, the invitation had been issued to everyone on the clear understanding that each attendee would pay for the privilege personally so there would be no cost to the public pursue.
The Chairman continued that during the last month there had been two Royal visits to the District, both by the Duke of Gloucester. The first as Forest Ranger, he had been invited by the Corporation of London to open the new museum and refurbishment of the Queen Elizabeth Hunting Lodge in the forest at Chingford. A week later he had opened the new extension at St John's Church of England Primary School in Buckhurst Hill. The Chairman announced that he had been privileged to attend both events on behalf of the Council.
The Chairman advised that it had been his pleasure to visit many of the District's local schools for various events over the past few weeks. He stated that he had handed out certificates under the WEP Scheme, whereby children nominated by their teachers were rewarded for effort and improvement. The Chairman continued that three local schools had celebrated their Diamond Jubilee this year and he extended his congratulations to Alderton Infants School, Whitebridge Junior School and King Harold Business and Enterprise Academy.
He also referred to a magnificent mini Olympics event hosted by Davenant Foundation School at which over 40 schools in the District had taken part organising the entire event from the torch design to the medal ceremony. He extended his thanks to the leadership of the teachers and support from governors and parents for the behaviour, enthusiasm and pride in their schools demonstrated by all of the children.
(iv) The Floral Display
The Chairman announced that he intended to send the flowers from tonight's meeting to the Treetops Care Home in Epping.
(b) Announcements by the Leader of the Council
The Leader advised that he had no announcements to make under this heading.
(c) Announcements by Portfolio Holders
(i) Leisure and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder
Councillor Webster extended her thanks to all of the organisations who had contributed to making the Torch Relay a success. She particularly thanked Mr J Nolan, Assistant Director, Environment and Street Scene for leading on safety and technical issues and Mrs J Chandler, Assistant Director, Office of the Deputy Chief Executive for leading on the community events. She also thanked the support provided by Ms J Richmond, Clerk of the Waltham Abbey Town Council and Mr J Gilbert, Director of Environment and Street Scene for co?ordinating the whole event. She stated that it had been a truly memorable day for Waltham Abbey.
(c) Epping Forest Country Care – Essex Wildlife Trust Living Landscape Awards
The Chairman advised that it gave him great pleasure to announce that the Council's Country Care Service had received two Living Landscape Awards from the Essex Wildlife Trust.
He informed the Council that any organisation, individual, business or group in the County was able to apply for an award if they had undertaken a project which enhanced wildlife and created a landscape which enabled species and people to move through a wildlife/rich landscape.
He continued that 10 awards had been made for the year 2011/12 and Country Care had received two of them. Epping Forest had been the only Council to receive an award and the only organisation to receive two awards.
The Council noted that one of the award winning projects had related to green hay strewning on Linders Field Local Nature Reserve in Buckhurst Hill. The technique of green hay strewning was used to enhance the floral diversity of a grassland site that was poor in terms of wildflowers. The cuttings had been taken from the Roding Valley Flower Meadow and spread over Linders Field to germinate. The Council noted that this project had been led by Nicola Rogers, Assistant Countryside Manager.
The Chairman advised that the other award involved work carried out on Weald Common Local Nature Reserve where an enclosed meadow had been created by planting hedgerows which had been managed to provide a good habitat for wildlife. The enclosed meadow also had created a sheltered spot for wildflowers to thrive. The Council noted that this project had been led by Kevin Mason, Country Care Assistant.
The Chairman informed the Council that Nicola and Kevin were present at the meeting and he invited them and Councillor Waller, the Portfolio Holder responsible for the service, to join him in the well of the Chamber for formal presentations and photographs.