Agenda item

The Chair of Council, Councillor Duncan Anderson made the following announcements:-

“I am delighted to announce that Maria Jacob, a pupil at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School Rossington, was appointed as Doncaster’s Junior Civic Mayor at a ceremony held at the Mansion House on the 13th October, 2023.  Many congratulations to Maria and indeed all the young people who submitted an application.

We also appointed 13 new Primary Ambassadors whose role is to champion children's voice and work on issues important to children.

I would also like to say a massive thank you to Evia Shaw-Lewis, the out-going Junior Civic Mayor, whom I have had the privilege to work with during my time in office, as well as the previous Primary Ambassadors, all of whom did a fantastic job representing the young people of Doncaster.

This weekend Doncaster held it’s Remembrance Observances to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military, and civilian servicemen and women, in the two World Wars and later conflicts.  On Saturday 11th November, we gathered on the steps of the Mansion House to observe the national 2 minutes silence and on Remembrance Sunday, a service was held at the Cenotaph, and later at Doncaster Minster.  It was both humbling and a great honour to be part of these services, and I would like to thank all those involved in the organisation of the event, and all those that joined us to pay their respects to those that made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the freedoms that we enjoy today.

I would like to offer the Councils best wishes to Canon David Stephens. Canon Stephens has announced his retirement and will be greatly missed. He has been a friend to this Council, a pillar of the community and the cornerstone of many civic events.  He is a friend to many and whoever takes on his position has big shoes to fill.  His last service at the Doncaster Minster will be on 4th February, 2024 and I invite as many of you as possible to attend.

I am proud to announce that two charities in Doncaster;  Firefly Cancer Awareness and Support, and the Cantley Neighbourhood Centre, are amongst the organisations across the UK that have been awarded the first ever King’s Award for Voluntary Service.  Formerly known as The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, it was established in 2002 to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee.  It is equivalent to an MBE and is the highest honour awarded to voluntary groups, and is given for their outstanding community service.

Firefly provide free transport to local cancer patients and their families to regional treatment hospitals, using their fantastic team of volunteer drivers, and Cantley Neighbourhood Centre provides fellowship, comfort and advice, food, clothing and refreshments and signposting for health and well-being.  I would like to formally record our congratulations to both organisations on receiving this award and thank them for the tremendous work that they do.”

The Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, made the following announcements:-

Can I offer my congratulations to both charities.  I am delighted to see charities from Doncaster gaining the recognition they deserve; a big thank you from all of the people.

Re-opening Doncaster Sheffield Airport is my number one priority and by following our careful plan, and proper procedure gives us the best chance of securing its future.

I would like to update Council that negotiations are ongoing with the current landowners, and I am pleased to report that positive progress is being made on a potential lease.

We have launched a procurement exercise to obtain an Airport operator. The first stage has now closed.  I can report that eight bidders submitted an interest which have been carefully considered and assessed, and we are now in a position where four have been invited to the next stage of the procurement process which is the Invitation to Tender stages.  We are currently on track to have an operator finalised for Spring 2024.  Obviously details of these four cannot be divulged due to confidentiality of the procurement process.

I will be bringing a further report to Cabinet with the Outline Business Case that will be submitted to South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, in order to draw down gainshare funding.  Draw down of gainshare funding must be approved by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority at hopefully the January meeting.  Whilst we are at this critical juncture with negotiations, we will continue to engage with UK Government and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), in relation to protecting our airspace to aid efforts to reopen our Airport.

I do hope that we can share more good news soon as we continue the journey to reopen our beloved Airport.

Over the past 5 weeks we have seen horrific violence that has claimed thousands of lives in both Palestine and Israel.  Innocent civilians on both sides are suffering terribly in this war.

International law requires the protection of civilians and access to food, water, medical supplies and electricity, and this must be supported.  All nations have a responsibility to ensure that innocent civilians are protected as much as possible.

Our Government and the international community must put pressure on all involved to uphold their obligations under international law and afford the protections provided for civilians under International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law.  The long-term solution is the same as it’s always been; a secure and sovereign Israel, and a secure and sovereign Palestine.

Councillors will probably already be aware that HS2 phase 2 from Birmingham to Manchester, has been cancelled and that the funding has been reallocated through ‘Network North’.

My views on HS2 are well documented.  Sadly for communities in Mexborough, Conisbrough and Denaby, it could be another year before safeguarding of the previously cancelled eastern-leg route through Doncaster is lifted.  This will be to review any safeguarding needed for Northern Powerhouse Rail.

There is currently very little detail around the ‘Network North’ proposals.  I would expect more information to be released in the coming months and years, around the detail of the funding and schemes. The increased investment for Doncaster and South Yorkshire is of course welcome.

The funding allocated to South Yorkshire from the cancelling of HS2 accounts to an additional £543m for South Yorkshire and is scheduled for delivery between 2027 – 2032, as part of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement 2.  This new money cannot be used in our efforts to save and reopen our Airport.  However, it could provide additional investment for transport links to our Airport once re-opened.

As part of the ‘Network North’ proposals, there is the mention of a new £1 billion roads fund to fund new schemes such as the A1-A19 Hickleton bypass. This sounds positive as I have been lobbying for a bypass for Hickleton & Marr since I first became Mayor in 2013.  However, we must wait until we see the details of the potential funding.  I have been in discussions with the Leader of Barnsley Council and we have agreed to explore the development of a combined bid in order to deliver the A1-A19 Hickleton bypass.  We await the details of the fund and the criteria.  We expect to see this in the coming years.

There was no mention of the upgrades to the A1(M) Doncaster bypass which has been promised since 2010.  There was also no mention of the upgrades promised for the East Coast Mainline.

I will lobby to ensure that Doncaster receives it’s fair share of funding from the ‘Network North’ proposals, but we need to be realistic in that these are long-term proposals for the next 10 years, and the devil will of course be in the detail.”

The Deputy Mayor, Councillor Glyn Jones, made the following announcements:-

“I would like to formally announce that Councillor Emma Muddiman-Rawlins has replaced Councillor Bob Anderson on the Planning Committee.”

Councillor Joe Blackham, Cabinet Member for Highways, Infrastructure and Enforcement, made the following announcement:-

“This Festive Season, Doncaster Council will once again be supporting City Centre Businesses and our residents by offering free Town Centre parking after 2.00 pm from Friday 1st December to Friday 5th January, 2024 at the popular Markets Car Park, St Georges Car Park and the Colonnades underground car park.

Additionally, we are also offering every Saturday in December, free all-day parking at Chappell Drive Car Park.”

Councillor Mark Houlbrook, Cabinet Member for Sustainability and Waste, made the following announcement:-

“This weekend alongside the Flying Scotsman visit, we commemorated Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday, with events taking place across Doncaster.  This provides an opportunity to remember and honour our armed forces, and their families from Britain and the commonwealth, the vital role played by the emergency services and those who have lost their lives as a result of conflict, so that we can continue to enjoy our freedoms today.

We are incredibly proud of our Armed Forces in Doncaster.  I never cease to be amazed by our Armed Forces community, but what I have particularly been impressed by recently, is how all parts of our community, including Sea, Army, Air, Regulars, Reserves, Cadets and Veterans, have all come together, supporting one another and working collaboratively to achieve the best for them and for Doncaster.”

Councillor Nigel Ball, Cabinet Member for Public Health, Communities, Leisure & Culture, made the following announcement:-

“Last weekend saw the most famous locomotive in the world return home as we welcomed Flying Scotsman back to Doncaster as part of her centenary year.

We are incredibly proud of our rail heritage in Doncaster, and we will always be associated with Flying Scotsman which was built here at the Doncaster Works 100 years ago.  We also need to remember that 10 years later, we built another world beater, the Mallard.  Hopefully, in a few yea’s time, we will try and get that one back as well.

Thousands of people managed to visit her over the weekend and were able to marvel at Flying Scotsman’s beauty and historical significance, but also to recognise the part she played in shaping industries, economies and cultures across the world.

A huge thanks to the organisations who helped to make this event a reality, especially Riley & Son E Locomotive Engineers, National Railway Museum & Freightliner Group Ltd.  Internally, there is a debt that needs to be paid to our staff at Doncaster Council because it’s the grit and determination of these individuals that have pulled this together.  This event would not have been possible without Bill McHugh, who is the Culture Transformation Lead within our Heritage Services.  Bill and his Team were instrumental in the organisation of getting Flying Scotsman to Doncaster, alongside our Events Team who managed this historic event for Doncaster.  We must not forget Jenny Dewsnap and the Events Planning Team who did the City proud in terms of the smooth running of the event; it was very well organised and was a professional job.

In honour of the special visit and to recognise Doncaster’s award of City status which was given in 2022, Freightliner Group Ltd marked the occasion with a locomotive naming and a commemorative plaque that was presented to this Council as in the City of Doncaster.

I am delighted that thousands of visitors got the opportunity to see Flying Scotsman for themselves, as I know how much this means to the local people of Doncaster, but also the culture of the City as well.”