Agenda item

Official announcements

Minutes:

The Worshipful the Mayor on behalf of council extended congratulations to Cllr Adam Langleben on his marriage on 17 September to Tasha Adley.

 

The Worshipful the Mayor stated he was delighted to announce that children of Akiva school had recently won a trophy at the inter-schools Gardening competition. He then invited Headteacher Suzy Stone, teacher Nicola Bettis and pupils including Maddie Noah, Joe Rudling, Olicia Bohn and Harry Abrahams who were present at the meeting to approach the front of the Chamber to receive their trophy. The Worshipful the Mayor noted the competition had been sponsored by Finchley Nurseries and that the schools were very grateful for the support.

 

In other announcements The Worshipful the Mayor noted Mr Robert Blyth had recently entered some photos, on behalf of Barnet, to the Le Raincy twin towns photographic competition. It was noted that Mr Blyth had won a first prize and that on of his photographs was on display on the railings outside Le Raincy library. The Worshipful the Mayor noted he had travelled to Le Raincy on his behalf to collect Mr Blyth’s certificate as Mr Blyth was unable to attend. Mr Blyth was then invited to the front of the chamber where he was presented with his certificate.

 

The Worshipful the Mayor noted that the Mayor of Le Raincy was very keen to establish relations with a group in Barnet as the Friends of Le Raincy was no longer in existence. He invited Members to let him know if they knew of anyone interested in setting up a group, which he could then put in touch with the Mayor of Le Raincy. 

 

The Worshipful the Mayor noted he had recently visited Cyprus and extended the greetings to council on behalf of the Mayor of Morphou and the President of Cyrpus who he had also met. He noted he had had the pleasure of visiting Morphou and seeing the future potential of the city if there was a solution to the problems in Cyprus.

 

The Worshipful the Mayor then noted he was sad to announce the death of John A Skitt who had passed away last month in Mallorca. He noted John was appointed Deputy Principal at Barnet College in 1981 rising to Principal in 1983. Former Governor of the College, Anthony Alderman who had been a Governor at Barnet college for 25 years and Chair for 15 years has advised of John’s outstanding leadership, during which time the college was always rated as good. He noted John was the person who oversaw the combination of Hendon College and Barnet College and memorably had contributed to the naming of the college by suggesting that the name be derived from a part of each colleges’ name; ‘College’ from Hendon College and ‘Barnet’ from Barnet College.

 

The Worshipful the Mayor was sad to announce the recent passing on 13th October 2017 of Tony Williams, who was a London Borough of Barnet councillor for Colindale ward from 1971 to 1978. In addition to his ward responsibilities, Mr Williams had been Leader of the Labour Group. On stepping down from the Council he remained publicly active and was the Labour candidate for the Hendon North constituency in 1983. He served as a school governor including periods at Colindale School. It was noted that Mr Williams was an accountant by training who had later established a successful printing business and relocated to Bournemouth where he later lived in retirement. Friends described Mr Williams as an enthusiast in everything he did; gardening, the piano, steam locomotives and a vintage motorbike and sidecar featuring strongly. The Worshipful the Mayor noted that Mr Williams leaves a widow, Sandra Williams, children Michael, David and Jennifer and five grandchildren.

Councillor Geof Cooke and Councillor Gill Sargeant then each spoke in tribute to Mr Williams. 

 

The Worshipful the Mayor then called on Council to hold a minute’ssilence.

 

The Worshipful the Mayor issued a reminder to Members that wreaths were ready to collect if they were representing him in attendance at services on Remembrance Sunday.

 

The Worshipful the Mayor noted he, the Leader and the Chief Executive had recently had the pleasure of meeting the new owners of the Golders Green Hippodrome.

 

The Leader of the Council then spoke with regards to the reasons why the petition on the Hippodrome was due to be considered by the Environment Committee and not Full Council, noting it was due to the number of signatures not meeting the required threshold. He noted that inappropriate comments on the council’s Planning Portal had been removed and emphasised that this is purely a matter which concerns traffic and planning and that the council would not tolerate inappropriate comments or sentiments of hate. The Leader of the Opposition then spoke in support of the Leader’s words.