To receive any announcements from the Mayor, Leader of the Council, Member of the Cabinet or the Head of Paid Service.
Minutes:
Mayor:
“Thank you to those who attended my last charity event on Friday, the Mayor’s Gala Dinner. It was a great success and in total we raised £2,414 for two extremely worthy local charities, Hatfield Foodbank and the New Zion Christian Fellowship Foodbank. I hope that those who attended the Mayor's Gala charity on Friday enjoyed themselves as much as I did.
Recently we held the first ever One Welwyn Hatfield Community Awards ceremony on 28 February. The event was a major success and recognised all the achievements of individuals, sports clubs, community organisations and businesses in the borough. Thank you to those Members who attended; for the members that could not attend on that night, here are some of the highlights that we would like to share with you.”
At this point in the meeting, Full Council was shown a video highlighting the success of the community awards.
“As you are aware, tonight will be our last Council meeting of the mayoral year. I would like to sincerely thank you all for the help and the support that I have received as Mayor. I would also like to thank all of the councillors who are standing down for their services within the Council, and all the best to those who are up for election on 2nd May 2024.”
Executive Member for Environment:
“The 2024 grass cutting season began earlier this month. As many of you know, there have been issues with grass cutting over the previous years that I've been keen to rectify. During the last year, I have had several meetings with our contractors to discuss and help solve these issues. Effective communication is a cornerstone of this administration and I would like to thank Continental Landscapes Limited on their cooperative and clear communication they have displayed throughout this past year. We have worked together to help solve these issues regarding staff as well as machine maintenance. While I am confident we will see a significant improvement in our grass cutting services this year, I ask all councillors to provide me with feedback on the service in their ward during this season.
This winter’s street tree planting has been completed with over 300 trees being planted in urban areas across the borough. A significant planted project has been completed in Lyles Lane in Welwyn Garden City; this involves a tree, shrub and proposed planting adjacent to the public footway and cyclepath which replaces the large poplar trees which were removed due to concerns about the condition, as well as their proximity to railway lines. The new planting will enhance biodiversity as well as improve the landscaping in the area.
Our winter woodland work is coming to a close; these large scale woodland works are undertaken to improve the structure of the woodland. This work was carried out in Sherrardspark Woods, Mardley Heath and Northaw Great Wood, and I would like to thank all involved for their hard work.
Last Thursday the Council held a thank you event for its woodland and green space volunteers. The event held at Oaklands College was attended by over 40 volunteers from a wide range of volunteer groups. The Mayor and I attended and were inspired by the passion and dedication of our volunteers. Over the last year the work that volunteer undertook amounted to over 660 days at a value of £46,000. This is truly a remarkable figure and highlights how valuable these groups are. Thank you.”