Minutes – Annual Meeting of Council (Mayor Making) – 11 May 2022

The agenda and papers for this meeting are available here: Annual Meeting of Council (Mayor Making) – 11 May 2022 – agenda and papers

The minutes of this meeting are presented below.

You can also download a PDF copy of the minutes here: Minutes – Annual Meeting of Council (Mayor Making) – 11 May 2022

MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICHESTER HELD IN THE ASSEMBLY ROOM, THE COUNCIL HOUSE, NORTH STREET, CHICHESTER ON WEDNESDAY 11 MAY 2022 AT 4.00PM

PRESENT:

• The Mayor (Councillor J Hughes), The Deputy Mayor (Councillor Joy), Councillors Apel, Bell, Corfield, Dignum, Gershater, C Hughes, Lishman, Plowman, Quail, Scicluna

APOLOGIES:

• Councillors Barrie, Gaskin, K Hughes, Sharp

IN ATTENDANCE:

• Town Clerk, Deputy Town Clerk, Member Services Support Officer, Committee and Communities Officer, Front of House Supervisor, Finance Assistant, Mayor’s Secretary

ALSO PRESENT:

• Mayor’s Chaplain (Rev Canon David Nason), Ms Beverly Longhurst, Mrs Lynne Plowman, Bruno Kondabeka

ABSENT:

• Councillors Carter, Councillor Harry

1. ELECTION OF MAYOR

The Mayor, Councillor J Hughes, in the Chair for this item only.

It was moved by Councillor Gershater, seconded by Councillor Quail and unanimously RESOLVED that Councillor Julian Joy be and is hereby elected Mayor of the City of Chichester until the date of the next Annual Meeting and that the allowance to be paid to him be at the rate of £4,000 per annum (exclusive of additional allowances already paid).

The new Mayoress, Ms Beverly Longhurst, was invested with her Chain of Office by the retiring Mayoress, Councillor Cherry Hughes.

2. DECLARATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF OFFICE BY THE MAYOR

Councillor Joy in the Chair.

Councillor Joy, having been invested with the Chain of Office and presented with the Mayor’s ring, walking stick and gold snuff box, then made and subscribed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

3. APPOINTMENT OF DEPUTY MAYOR

It was moved by Councillor Apel, seconded by Councillor Corfield and unanimously RESOLVED that Councillor Richard Plowman be and is hereby appointed Deputy Mayor of the City of Chichester until the date of the next Annual Meeting.

The Deputy Mayor’s Badge and Walking Stick were presented to Councillor Plowman and the Deputy Mayor’s Consort Badge was presented to Mrs Lynne Plowman.

4. ELECTION OF BAILIFF

It was moved by Councillor Scicluna, seconded by Councillor Bell and unanimously RESOLVED that Councillor Gershater be elected Bailiff of the City of Chichester until the date of the next Annual Meeting.

The Bailiff’s Badge of Office and Walking Stick were presented to Councillor Gershater.

5. MINUTES OF COUNCIL

It was moved by the Mayor and duly seconded and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Council Meeting held on 20 April 2022 be approved, adopted and signed as a correct record.

Councillor Lishman abstained from the vote due to not being formally present at the April meeting of Council.

6. MAYOR’S ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Mayor introduced Bruno Kondabeka and, after giving some background biographical details about him, he informed Members that Mr Kondabeka would be his Mayor’s Chaplain until the date of the next Annual Meeting.

The Mayor suggested that his new Mayor’s Chaplain could give Members more information about his work and support for the community of Chichester at the next meeting of Council.

He also informed Members that the Mayoral charities for the year would be Business2Schools and Second Chance Chichester and he gave Members some background about the work that these charities did in the community.

Post meeting note: Discussions regarding the arrangements for Second Chance Chichester being the Mayor’s second charity were ongoing at the time of minuting.

The Mayor then highlighted areas of interest that he intended to focus on during his time in office. These included the cultural life of the City and the benefits of the arts at all levels to the wellbeing of the City, the City streetscape and wider community and sustainability projects. He also proposed the creation of forums involving the City Council, West Sussex County Council and Chichester District Council to better focus on these priorities and the needs of the city and its residents and visitors.

He also reminded Members that, while there were challenges including the post-pandemic recovery, the situation in Ukraine and the developing cost-of-living crisis; Chichester had always been a welcoming city with a strong history of charity and support. He expressed the hope that the City Council, with the newly created communities support role, could be a focus to bring together community groups and charities to support those in need.

7. VOTE OF THANKS TO THE RETIRING MAYOR

The Mayor then called on Councillor Scicluna to propose a vote of thanks to the retiring Mayor and Mayoress, Councillors John and Cherry Hughes and presented them with their past Mayor and Mayoress badges.

Councillor Scicluna thanked the retiring Mayor and Mayoress on behalf of the City Council and gave a citation highlighting the hard and dedicated work they had undertaken during a difficult Mayoral year.

Members were reminded that, due to the lockdown that had been in place at the time, Councillor Hughes’ Mayor Making had been online instead of the traditional ceremony.

They were further reminded that, due to Covid restrictions and some personal health concerns, he had not been able to enjoy as wide a range of Mayoral events as would normally take place. However, Members were advised that, despite this, Councillor Hughes did not ease off on performing his duties, leading from the front and attending almost all of the events he was invited to.

Councillor Scicluna gave particular and sincere thanks to the retiring Mayoress, Councillor Cherry Hughes, for all the support she had given the Mayor over the past year.

The Retiring Mayor thanked Councillor Scicluna for her citation, the retiring Mayoress, the retiring Mayor’s Chaplain, fellow Members of the Council as well as Council Officers and the wider community for their help and support during his Mayoralty.

The Retiring Mayor’s charities, Chestnut Tree House and Chichester Down Syndrome Support Group, were then presented with cheques representing the funds raised for those charities during Councillor Hughes’ Mayoral year.

8. COMMON SEAL

RESOLVED that the Common Seal be affixed to any documents necessary to give effect to the resolutions passed at this meeting.

The meeting closed at 4.34pm