Agenda item

The Chairman thanked the Council for the honour of being appointed to the post of Chairman for a second time, first being appointed in 2013/14. She gave special thanks to Councillor C Whitbread and Councillor A Patel for proposing and seconding her and for their kind words.

She stated that she was glad to have had her previous experience as Chairman to draw upon but that was not say that she did not approach this role with the knowledge that this year would be a difficult one. There was a heavy workload ahead where the Local Plan had still to be approved and needed final confirmation. There was also the District Boundary Review underway which would affect us all and we were still suffering from the knock-on effects of the covid pandemic. The horrific events in the Ukraine were regretfully yet to fully unfold on the world, and our residents were already feeling the effects in gas, electricity, fuel prices, and general inflation. She was confident that the Council would do its utmost to ease the pain by the efficient management and delivery of the services it was known for.

She stated that her predecessor had the difficulty of the pandemic to deal with and paid tribute to her and thanked her for her efforts, thank you Councillor Helen Kane and also to Councillor Sam Kane for supporting her throughout the last two years. The pandemic meant that she was unable to do many of the traditional events of the Civic calendar and stated that she hoped to be able to reinstate some of those Civic events now that covid problems were easing.

The Chairman stated that taking on this role at short notice meant that she had been unable to do as much forward planning as she would have liked and was a “work in progress” at this time. She advised that she would keep Members in touch with events via the Bulletin, the Chairman’s Diary and announcements at Council meetings.

The Chairman advised that the charities she would be supporting this year were the local hospice, St. Clare’s, who provided such excellent end of life care to the District, both in the Hospice itself but also out in people’s own homes and the Essex & Herts Air Ambulance Service, who were based in North Weald, and were a life-saving charity covering the District and beyond.

I know I can count on my husband, John, and our family to support me as they did in my first term of office, and I now have a five-year-old grandson, Nathan, who will no doubt give Granny a hand.

Now that we were moving back to some normality it will hopefully will mean “less on zoom - more in the room” as far as meetings are concerned. The discussions and interactions councillors and officers have before and after meetings are important. We get to know and understand each other’s problems and opinions easier outside the rigid bounds of committee and this can only be a good thing.

In conclusion, she look forward to the year ahead and trust that with the support of Members and Officers that we could continue the important work of this Council for our community.