To receive Report No. 241/2018

Report No. 241/2018 was received, the purpose of which was to receive the final Report of the Oakham Town Task and Finish Group along with accompanying evidence which had been referred to Council following consideration at the Growth, Infrastructure and Resources Scrutiny Panel on 15 November 2018 and seek agreement in principle to establish a Partnership Board (independent of the Council) to take forward the Town Centre work.

Mr Callaghan introduced and moved the recommendations in the report.  Mr Hemsley seconded the recommendations in the report.

During debate the following points were noted:

i.      Mr Dale, who had been a member of the Task and Finish Group, highlighted how the group had worked towards a common aim and the hard work that had been put into the final report over a period of months.  He asked Council to accept the report in a constructive way and recognise the achievement of putting together such a comprehensive paper;

ii.     Mr Conde was concerned that any investment in the County Town would not be at the expense of rural areas and villages;

iii.    Mr Conde also highlighted the importance of ensuring that any solutions to car parking payment systems should take account of the aging population in Rutland;

iv.   Miss Waller requested clarification on the level of initial funding.  This was confirmed by Mrs Briggs (Chief Executive) as the figure of £2000 initial funding as detailed in recommendation 4;

v.     Miss Waller did not think that it was appropriate for RCC to be members of the Partnership Group as that would risk the independence of the group, but that relevant Ward Members should attend as observers;

vi.   Mr Bird also felt that RCC should not be members and that the Group should be completely independent of the Council;

vii.  Mr Callaghan responded to the comments regarding membership and stressed that it was very important that RCC were members of the group, albeit with the same status as the other members.  RCC would have an important role to play, but would not lead or influence the group;

viii. Mr Baines credited the Task and Finish group for the enormous amount of work that had been done and felt there was a real sense of community involvement.  The Task and Finish Group Report (Appendix A) contained some achievable recommendations, others might need to be looked at in more detail;

ix.   Mr Gale was concerned that the timescales were very tight;

x.     Mr Hemsley confirmed in relation to the composition of the Partnership Group, that care had been taken not to be too prescriptive.  The Council was willing and had the expertise to set up the Partnership Group, but once it had been established the Council would cede any further responsibility.  He also confirmed that the aim was that the infrastructure for the group would be in place by May 2019 and that time should be taken to ensure this was right without losing the momentum to drive the work forward;

xi.   Mr Cross commended the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 471