The City Mayor will answer questions raised by members of the Overview Select Committee on issues not covered elsewhere on the agenda.
Minutes:
Councillor Porter asked the City Mayor whether he would like to apologise for the way he spoke to a member of the public who asked a question at a recent meeting of the full council. He thought that some people believed that the City Mayor had been aggressive.
The City Mayor replied that the person who had asked the question had probably been given more council time in consideration of the issues she had raised than any other individual. He had reviewed the webcast and believed that he had remained polite throughout and given a robust and appropriate response given the subject matter and persistence of the questioner.
Councillor Dr Barton stated that she had met someone at Visit Leicester who had said that it was the best Tourist Information Centre he had experienced for service. He had travelled by boat into Leicester and had asked whether there could be additional mooring pontoons. Councillor Barton suggested that it would also be helpful to those people who visited Leicester by boat, to provide facilities for providing water as currently there was nowhere for them to fill up.
The City Mayor responded that he was very pleased that boaters were now coming into Leicester. Providing further moorings, in addition to those in Castle Park was a priority and would be included as part of the Friar Mill Development. Part of that provision would include a water point and possibly a refuse point as well.
Councillor Cleaver commented that Castle Gardens was very attractive and offered a valuable opportunity to show some quality art work, perhaps focussing on the history of Leicester. The City Mayor thanked Councillor Cleaver for this suggested and commented that waterways were important in a number of areas around the city and a good asset to Leicester.
Councillor Dr Barton referred to the empty buildings on Western Park and said that enquiries had been received from people interested in using those buildings but they appeared not to have received a reply.
The City Mayor responded that he shared her concerns about the empty buildings, particularly in relation to the old Western Park School. This was a unique listed building and because of this it was proving difficult to find an appropriate long term use for the school. Officers were working to find solutions for this building as well as the other empty buildings on the park.
Councillor Dr Moore asked the City Mayor whether he had any advice as to the essential arguments that Members could use at Planning and Development Control Committee when considering applications which would involve the demolition of a historical building to make way for a new building. There had been a recent application involving a building on London Road which had links with Arthur Wakerley.
The City Mayor responded that he was not a member of the Planning Committee but understood that the general advice was that it was a balance between what would be lost and what would come in its place. Arthur Wakerley was an important person to shape the city in the latter part of the 19th century and early part of the 20th century. There was a considerable architectural heritage from him in the city, not least in North Evington. He added however that he was not fully familiar with the particular building on London Road that had been subject to a planning application.
The Chair commented that he had sat on the Planning and Development Control Committee and he was not aware of any other committee that took its decisions with so much diligence.