Leader's update May 2010
From Cllr Lynden Stowe
Welcome to the latest update on key items of news and decisions from Cotswold District Council.
Please email me at lynden.stowe@cotswold.gov.uk if you have any comments or questions.
The Council met on 11 May and appointed Councillor Mrs Carolyn Nicolle as its new Chairman for the Municipal Year 2010-11, replacing the outgoing Chairman Councillor Ben Jeffrey. Carolyn is stepping up from her Vice-Chairman role and will be assisted by the new incumbent Councillor Geoffrey Adams. Ben deserves high praise for his year as Chairman – he has been a superb ambassador for the Council and I am very grateful to him. I have every confidence that Carolyn and Geoffrey will follow in his footsteps.
New Appointments
New Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen were appointed to several committees as follows:
Planning (Regulatory) Committee
- Councillor Mrs Venetia Crosbie-Dawson (Chairman)
- Councillor Robin Hughes (Vice-Chairman)
Licensing Committee
- Councillor Clive Bennett (Chairman – reappointed)
- Councillor Mrs Chris Roberts (Vice-Chairman - reappointed)
Overview and Scrutiny Committee
- Councillor Mrs Sandra Carter (Chairman)
- Councillor Peter Braidwood (Vice-Chairman)
Audit Committee
- Councillor Ray Theodolou (Chairman)
- Councillor Jim Parsons (Vice-Chairman)
(Note: the appointment of new Chair and Vice-Chair on the Standards Committee was held over because external representatives beyond the Council still need to be consulted.)
I will be remaining as Leader of the Council. However, It was agreed that my Cabinet would revert to nine members with Councillor Nick Parsons taking on the Portfolio to drive the new Local Development Framework. There are two new faces: Councillor Sue Jepson is the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Councillor Barry Dare is leading on Corporate Resources (with an emphasis on finance and properties.)
I am very pleased to lead such a widely experienced and talented Cabinet. We have a clear remit to deliver efficiencies, and I believe that we also have the best geographic and democratic spread of interests that I can recall. Sue Jepson is a former Chairman of Planning and she will be ideally suited to take on her new role as Portfolio holder; the outgoing Planning Portfolio Holder, John Birch, will be a hard act to follow but I have every confidence that Sue will handle this sensitive portfolio with the same skill and dedication that John brought to the job. I am also delighted that Barry Dare has agreed to lead on Corporate Resources now that he is standing down from leadership of Gloucestershire County Council – we will benefit immensely from the vast experience he has gained at Shire Hall. Nick Parsons vacates the Corporate Resources post and will now take on a new Portfolio, overseeing the development of a watertight policy to ensure that Cotswold heritage is protected while allowing sensible development of homes and businesses. The Council has approved an allocation of £54,000, from earmarked reserves, to ensure there is sufficient funding to get the job done in a robust, efficient and sensible manner - we want to get this sorted and I’m confident that Councillor Parsons is the man for the job.
For the record, the new-look Cabinet is as follows:
- Lynden Stowe (Leader)
Councillor | Portfolio Area |
|---|---|
| Mrs Carole Topple | Corporate Planning |
| Nick Parsons | Local Development Framework |
| Mark Tufnell | Environment and Communities (Lead) |
| Barry Gibbs | Environment, Housing and Communities |
| David Fowles | Customer Services |
| Sue Jepson | Planning Services |
| Barry Dare | Corporate Resources (Lead) |
| John Burgess | Corporate Resources – Support Services |
Lynden Stowe
Leader