Agenda item

Communications

To consider any communications to be submitted by the Mayor or the Chief Executive.

Minutes:

(a)       Mr Jeff Lunn – British Empire Medal for Services to Nature Conservation

 

The Chief Executive was delighted to inform the Council that one of Barnsley’s residents and long-standing nature conservation partner Mr Jeff Lunn had been awarded the British Empire Medal for services to nature conservation.  Mr Lunn was the Chair of the Dearne Valley Heart Partnership and was a leading Trustee of the Garganey Trust which ran Broomhill Flash Nature Reserve.  This was an award that he richly deserved, and she was delighted that he had been able to join the virtual Council meeting this morning.  The Council looked forward to working closely with him in the future in order to continue the hugely important work in restoring the boroughs habitats and natural landscapes.

 

Councillor Houghton, Leader of the Council, added his own personal congratulations to Mr Lunn.  He commented that it was good to see that people who did all this kind of work year-round without any public recognition receive such an award.  He added his thanks and support to Mr Lunn for everything he had done and stated that this was incredibly well deserved.

 

Councillor Saunders congratulated Mr Lunn who had done many years of work in the area and particularly for the work he had undertaken at Broomhill Flash within the Darfield Ward.

 

Councillor Markham also thanked Mr Lunn for the work he had undertaken within the Darfield Ward.  She hoped he had a really good and memorable day when he went to receive this award.

 

The Mayor also added her own congratulations on behalf of the Council to Mr Lunn in receiving this award.

 

(b)       Ms Diane Lee (Head of Public Health Improvement) – LGC Rising Star Award Winner

 

The Chief Executive was pleased to report that on the 28th October, 2020 at the online annual Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Awards Ceremony, Diane Lee, Head of Public Health Improvement, had won the Rising Star Award.  This was a fantastic achievement for Diane and a great reflection on the Council.  The competition had been tough, but not only had Diane got through to be one of the 9 finalists, she went on the win the award.

 

The judging panel had said it was clear – ‘in the 4 years Diane has worked at Barnsley Council, she’s been instrumental in making public health relevant, bold and successful.  As an inspirational leader her considerable achievements in improving outcomes for Barnsley people, and her reginal and national recognition speak for themselves’

 

When asked by the host of the ceremony about her ambitions, she gave an excellent account of how she was able to realise her ambitions working in local government and especially here in Barnsley and in making a difference to the lives of the people who lived and worked here.

 

There were many Council colleagues at the online ceremony to wish her well and the Chief Executive was sure that Members of the Council would also join her in congratulating Diane.

 

Councillor Andrews BEM, Deputy Leader, also asked to add his own congratulation to Diane Lee.  Whilst she had worked for Barnsley, Diane had raised the profile of Public Health particularly in relation to anti-smoking and other initiatives, in trying to change adult behaviour and in encouraging young people not to take up the smoking habit.  She had also brought suicide prevention to the fore within the Council and she was also working widely within South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw regional hospitals as well as further afield.  She had also participated in the Best Bar None Scheme and through this had put pressure on Bars to have the availability of zero sugar products available thereby helping to improve the health of the population. She was also heavily involved in the work of the Health and Well Being Board and was leading on the Mental Health Partnership.  All these initiatives assisted in bringing health and wellbeing to the fore and for winning this award she was hugely congratulated.

 

Councillor Sir Steve Houghton CBE, Leader of the Council, added his own congratulations to Diane in winning this award.  This was a most remarkable achievement but to do so as a public health officer in the middle of a pandemic was absolutely amazing and made everyone proud to come from Barnsley.

 

Councillor Platts, Cabinet Spokesperson for Adults and Communities, also congratulated Diane at this amazing achievement.  She had watched the event online on the evening of the ceremony and felt that this was a well-deserved award for someone who did excellent work and was an outstanding officer for Barnsley Council.

 

Councillor Bruff, Cabinet Spokesperson for Children’s Services asked to add her own congratulations to those of previous members and particularly to thank Diane for all the work she did for Children’s Services to promote the health of young people as well as for the other work she did for Barnsley.

 

The Mayor also added her own congratulations on behalf of the Council to Diane Lee in winning this award.

 

(c)       Property Investment Fund – LGC Driving Growth – Highly Commended Status

 

The Chief Executive informed Members that the Council’s Property Investment Fund had been awarded highly commended status at the recent LGC awards in recognition of the innovative approach on addressing commercial property viability challenges to deliver much needed employment facilities within Barnsley contributing to the wider growth agenda.

 

The programme had been expertly project managed by Sophie Moore (Project Manager, Strategy, Growth and Regeneration) who had maintained a focus on delivery across three very different and complex schemes.

 

Legal and Financial Services Section support had been provided by Lawrence Gould (Senior Legal Officer) and Rachel Atkinson (Assistant Strategic Finance Manager) respectively.  This included supporting the creation of developer agreements and associated financial controls.

 

Tim Hartley (Group Leader Assets) had provided essential advice and guidance from an asset management perspective as well as working closely with the support partner CBRE to ensure that the overall build quality of units was provided to a high standard and fully aligned to original specifications.

 

Shaun Higginbottom (Business Investment Manager) had been instrumental in driving developer interest in the initiative right from the original inception of the programme and had worked tirelessly with support from the wider Enterprising Barnsley Team to secure end users for premises following completion.

 

Councillor Cheetham, Cabinet Spokesperson for Place (Regeneration and Culture) asked to place on record his thanks to the Team in achieving this success.  This was an incredibly complicated field and they were doing fantastic work.  As long-standing Members would know, one of the chief difficulties in Barnsley was finding sites for employment and business and the success that the Council had had in this area and in bringing in inward investment had been amazing.  The borough did not have enough land for this type of development and the requirement for jobs was certainly greater, but the Council was in good hands as the Team involved had done such extraordinary work.

 

Councillor Sir Steve Houghton CBE, Leader of the Council, could only reiterate Councillor Cheetham’s comments.  It was great that at a time when the country was moving into crisis that the Council had such a high-quality team working on its behalf.  He extended his congratulations to all staff involved.

 

The Mayor also added her own congratulations on behalf of the Council to members of the Team in the receiving Highly Commended status.

 

(d)       Glassworks Phase 1 – Awards for Planning Excellence – Highly Commended

 

The Chief Executive was delighted to confirm that Phase 1 of the Glassworks had been highly commended by the Yorkshire Royal Town Planning Institute at their recent Awards for Planning Excellence Ceremony.  This celebrated outstanding projects that demonstrated the power of planning in the region with the Glassworks being considered a great example of town centre place making. 

 

The Chief Executive, therefore, thanked all those involved in the planning process for the Glassworks and in particular Andrew Burton (Group Leader – Development Manager (Inner Area)), James Hyde (Planning Officer), Richard Gilbert (Planning Officer) and Nick King (Senior Urban Design Officer).

 

Councillor Cheetham, Cabinet Spokesperson for Place (Regeneration and Culture) congratulated everyone involved in this project which Members were all rightly proud of and would be for many years to come.  Everyone could see the scheme coming together and the improvements that were being made.  This was a scheme that rightfully should be winning awards and would be a beautiful development once it was competed.

 

Councillor Sir Steve Houghton CBE, Leader of the Council, again reiterated the comments made by Councillor Cheetham.  The importance of the Glassworks project to the economy of Barnsley as well as the Town Centre could not be overestimated.  He extended his thanks to all involved.  He also commented that the Council had a very strong planning Team and congratulations were offered to each and every member of staff.

 

The Mayor also added her own congratulations on behalf of the Council to the Planning Team in receiving highly commended status.

 

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