Agenda item
PUBLIC QUESTIONS
To receive any questions from the public, notice of which has been given in accordance with Procedure Rule 14.
Four separate petitions, each bearing over 1,000 signatures have been received as follows, under the Council’s Petition Scheme;
a) Petition to the Council to become a Living Wage Accredited Employer - Unison
b) Petition to the Council for Free Public Access to new Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery – Prof. Lalage Bown
c) Petition to the Council to Save the Quarry Swimming and Fitness Centre for the People of Shropshire – Mr Bernard Wills
d) Petition to the Council to develop adequate Transport Solutions for projected traffic volumes expected in and around Shifnal – Mr Chris Broderick
Each petitioner will be allowed 5 minutes to outline their case, after which there may be a debate of up to 15 minutes maximum.
Minutes:
8.1 Public Questions
The Speaker advised there were no public questions.
8.2 Petitions
The Speaker advised that four petitions, each bearing more than 1,000 signatures had been received under the Council’s Petition Scheme. Each Petitioner was allowed up to 5 minutes to outline their case after which there was a debate of up to 15 minutes maximum.
a) Petition for Shropshire Council to become a Living Wage Accredited Employer.
Unison’s campaign for the Council to introduce the Living Wage, which was currently £7.65 per hour outside London was presented by Alan James. In doing so he said that nationally around 119 councils had signed up to this and he very much wanted Shropshire Council to be added to the list. Mr James outlined the benefits of paying the Living Wage to business, the individual and society as a whole and in the light of recent workforce reconfigurations urged the Council to look again at this request.
After some debate it was agreed to undertake further research into the Council becoming a Living Wage Accredited Employer.
b) Petition for Free Public Access to the new Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery.
Professor Lalage Bown spoke about people being deterred from visiting Shrewsbury’s new museum and art gallery because of the admission charges and urged the Council to introduce free public access to allow less well-off families to visit and also return more than once. She believed there were better ways of raising the money to meet the attraction’s running costs and called for the introduction of donation boxes and investigations into schemes such as free admission for one day per week and cheaper admission charges for return visits.
A debate ensued during which the Portfolio Holder stated that the new museum was a success story, but its running costs had to be found in order to balance the budget. Many of the suggestions were already being looked at and developed further.
In conclusion it was agreed to take no further action.
c) Petition to Council to save the Quarry Swimming and Fitness centre for the people of Shropshire
On behalf of the Quarry Swimming & Leisure Forum, Mr Bernard Wills called for the Quarry Swimming and Fitness Centre to be saved amid local rumours of plans to knock down the existing complex to make way for a 5* hotel.
A debate ensued during which the Leader confirmed that no proposals for the site were currently being considered and that he was fully committed to providing high quality swimming provision in Shrewsbury. The Portfolio Holder also referred to the Working Group set up to look into the options for future provision and indicated that full consultation would be carried out as and when appropriate.
In conclusion it was agreed to take no further action.
d) Petition to Council to develop adequate Transport Solutions for projected traffic volumes expected in and around Shifnal.
On behalf of the Shifnal Transport Working Group, Mr Robert Owen urged the Council to develop adequate transport solutions for Shifnal and the surrounding area, in the light of increased projected traffic volumes anticipated in the future.
A debate ensued and it was agreed that further research should be undertaken.