Issue - meetings

The Mayor announced that his chosen charity for the year would be Mencap and that his Chaplain would come from the Bracknell Team Ministry but was yet to be appointed. He also announced that he would be asking his Mayor’s Poet to record the year’s events through poetry but that she would be properly introduced at a future meeting.

Opening of new Council Chamber and celebrating the Council’s first 20 years as a unitary authority

CouncillorBettison OBE, Leader of the Council, asked the meeting to join him in celebrating both the first meeting in the new Council Chamber and that it was twenty years since the Council became a Unitary Authority. He reported that the Council continued to be held up as a exemplar local authority winning awards, achieving successful inspections and acting as a mentor to other Councils. He shared with the meeting images of the original tree planting in 1998 in each town and parish area as well as the town centre. Trees had been planted across the borough and local members would be invited to formal planting events to mark the occasion. He believed that they were the first Council in the country to have an asymmetrical Council Chamber design which ensured that the public were able to see proceedings and that the new design brought the forest into the room. The Leader congratulated the project team for the innovative use of space within the building which had created an enhanced suite of meeting rooms.

The Mayor unveiled a plaque commemorating the opening the new Council Chamber and celebrating the Council’s first 20 years serving Bracknell Forest residents as a unitary authority.

Move to Time Square

Councillor McCracken, Executive Member for Culture, Resources and Public Protection thanked the project team for their hard work moving offices from Easthampstead House to Time Square. He highlighted in particular Kamay Toor, Head of Strategic Asset Management; Matt Howlett, Transport & Support Services Manager and Claire Garton, Transformation Project Manager. He also thanked members of the Civic Accommodation Working Group for their input, time and effort supporting the project.

Larchwood Shortbreak Unit

CouncillorDr Barnard, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Learning, was pleased to report that Larchwood had achieved an outstanding ofsted rating and he congratulated the whole team. He quoted the assessment which observed ‘highly effective services which consistently exceeded good’.

Foster Carers Fortnight

CouncillorDr Barnard, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Learning, advised the meeting that the craze of stone painting had successfully promoted foster caring in Bracknell Forest via 300 painted rocks hidden around the Look Out.

Congratulations to Councillor Ms Ashman (née Miller)

The Mayor congratulated Councillor Ms Ashman on the birth of her daughter, Sofia, on 7 May 2018 and looked forward to congratulating her in person when she returned to the Chamber.