Decision details

Councillor A S Fluker paid tribute to everyone in the District, particularly those volunteers involved in the role out of the UK wide vaccination programme and referred to a letter sent by the Leader of the Council to the Government supporting Small Modular Nuclear Reactors.  He asked the Leader the Council as the Council appeared to be the only District Council that had endorsed this technology whether she would be surprised if such technology was scoped in our District and sought confirmation of her policy regarding nuclear energy and the District.  In response the Leader advised that the policy had been agreed by the Council and the letter sent to the Government as a result of that decision.

Councillor Mrs M E Thompson highlighted the importance for the barges being able to leave and come back to the quay in Maldon and asked the Leader if she could advise, as the quay fees had considerably reduced, whether there was a policy for where the cost of dredging would come from.  In response the Leader advised that the Council did not have a policy at the moment, but she was sure Officers would be reviewing this following the February budget meeting of the Council.  She advised that Officers would respond to Councillor Mrs Thompson outside of the meeting with the details.

Councillor R H Siddall referred to the One Team internal newsletter and the major piece of work being undertaken by the Council in respect of equality and diversity.  Part of this work included the development of a new strategy aligned to the Council’s Corporate Plan and he commended Officers for their commitment to this piece of work.  Councillor Siddall commented how much harder it was for someone of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and others (LGBTQ+) community to grow up in a rural area rather than a city where access to support was easier.  He asked the Leader of the Council if she supported these values and felt that this was something that Members needed to incorporate into their behaviour.  He also asked if she hoped the future saw Members behaving in a way that respected equality, diversity and inclusivity.  In response the Leader of the Council advised she did and how it was very important for the Council to be embracing and taking on all aspects of equality and diversity.  She provided an update to Members on the work being undertaken by the Council and advised that a report would be brought to a Committee in respect of this in the next couple of months.

Councillor Mrs P A Channer referred to the question regarding accessibility of the Parish Council Forum agendas etc. which she had raised at the Council meeting on 4 February where the Leader had agreed to check the Terms of Reference and Constitution and sought confirmation if this had been done.  In response the Leader advised that she had spoken to Officers regarding this and asked Officers to provide further feedback.  The Leader referred to how the Council would be continuing to work with Parish and other Councils.  The Director of Strategy, Performance and Governance advised that he would ensure this information was populated onto the Modern.Gov library to ensure the information was available to Members.

Councillor M W Helm advised that he would put his question in writing to the Leader and ensure this was copied to all Members.