Meeting Details

It was PROPOSED by Councillor Harris, seconded by Councillor Chapman and supported by Councillors Cory and Nissen and:-

RESOLVED that Councillor T. Young be elected as Mayor of the Borough of Colchester for the ensuing municipal year.

Councillor T. Young took the customary oath and signed the declaration of acceptance of office.

Councillor T. Young then took the Chair and returned thanks for his election.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting on 23 February 2022 be confirmed as a correct record.

It was PROPOSED by Councillor Moore and seconded and supported by Councillors Cory, Fox and Nissen and:

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY that Councillors Jowers be appointed as Deputy Mayor of the Borough of Colchester for the ensuing municipal year.

Councillor Jowers then signed the declaration of acceptance of office and returned thanks for his election.

It was PROPOSED by Councillor Laws and seconded and supported by Councillors Cory, Fox and Nissen and:

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY that the best thanks of the Council are due and are hereby accorded to Councillor Robert Davidson for the admirable manner in which he has discharged the responsible duties of the Mayoralty during his period of office and that a transcript of this resolution under the Common Seal be furnished to him.

The Mayor announced that the theme of his Mayoralty would be Celebrating Diversity, Challenging Prejudice.

The Mayor announced that he would be supporting the following charities:-

• African Families in the UK
• Colchester Arts Centre
• Colchester Korban Project
• Next Chapter
• The Outhouse

The Mayor announced that he had appointed Reverend Sue Howlett as his Chaplain.

RESOLVED that the meeting be adjourned until 11.45 am in the Council Chamber.

Sir Bob Russell addressed Council pursuant to  the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 5(1) and offered his congratulations to the Mayor on his election.  He would be the last Mayor of the Borough of Colchester and the first Mayor of the City of Colchester.

He expressed his opposition to the Cabinet system of Council governance.  All 51 Councillors were elected with an equal mandate and should be involved in decision making. It was not right that the largest group on the Council who had polled the most votes on the recent election was now excluded from the Cabinet whilst a group of three members had a seat. Concern was also expressed that not all groups put up candidates in all seats, and some groups had not actively campaigned in certain wards, which was against democratic principles.

Sir Bob also expressed his support for Councillor Mick Spindler who had been subject to a slanderous and unjustified campaign.

The Mayor thanked Sir Bob for his comments.

RESOLVED that Councillor King be appointed as the Leader of the Council for the remainder of his period of office.

The Retiring Mayor, Councillor Davidson, presented Councillor King with the Leader's Badge of Office.

RESOLVED that the Deputy Leader of the Council, the appointment of Cabinet members and the allocation of responsibility for Portfolios, as determined by the Leader of the Council and as set out in the Supplementary Information, be noted.

RESOLVED that:-

(i) in accordance with the provisions of section 15 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 the number of seats, Group representation and membership of the Environment and Sustainability Panel, Governance and Audit Committee, Planning Committee, Policy Panel and Scrutiny Panel (including the Crime and Disorder Committee) for the ensuing municipal year be as set out in the Supplementary Information for the meeting, subject to the substitution of Councillor Nissen for Councillor Kirkby-Taylor on the Planning Committee.

(ii) in accordance with the provisions of Section 17 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 the appointments to the Licensing Committee and Local Plan Committee for the ensuing municipal year shall not be on a Group basis and membership shall be as set out in the Supplementary Information for the meeting

(iii) that the membership of the Independent Remuneration Panel be as set out in the Supplementary Information for the meeting. 

(iv) that the terms of reference of the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community Joint Committee be amended to remove the requirement that one of the members appointed by Colchester Borough Council must be the Chairman of the Local Plan Committee.  Therefore Colchester Borough Council’s membership of the Joint Committee be three members, one of whom must be a member of Cabinet, all to be appointed by the Leader.

Councillor Sunnucks declared a non pecuniary interest in the following item pursuant to the provisions of Council Procedure Rules 9(5) and did not vote on the item.

RESOLVED that the decisions taken under the Council Procedure Rule 18 to make the Neighbourhood Plans for Marks Tey and West Mersea be noted.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY that Council records its grateful thanks  to former Councillors Bourne, Chillingworth, Cope, Crow, Dundas, Hayter, Hazell, Loveland, P Oxford and Whitehead for the public service rendered by them to the Borough during their period of office as a Councillor and instructs that a transcript of this resolution be furnished to them  under the Common Seal of the Borough as a permanent record of the appreciation of the Council.

The Mayor invited newly elected Councillors Arnold, Bloomfield, Kirkby-Taylor, Law, McLean, Rippingale, Smith, Smithson, Spindler and Sunnucks to introduce themselves to Council.