Agenda item

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Jodi Clements, Melissa Fisher, Susan Hayes, Patrick McGinley and Kimberley Whitehead.

Announcements

The Mayor gave a brief summary of his recent visit to Kashmir, which he had thoroughly enjoyed.  The visit had centred on the Mirpur region and the Mayor had been accompanied by Councillors Mohammed Ayub, Noordad Aziz, Munsif Dad BEM JP and eight other people.

The group had hoped to start the trip with a short stay in Islamabad, but this had not been possible due to political unrest.  However, the group were able to take in a number of their birthplaces and visit family.  On one memorable occasion, the Mayor was granted a civic reception, which including flower garlands, music provided by bagpipes and drums and mouth-watering dishes such as kebabs, samosas and fried fish.  The group also took in some breath-taking scenery at Mangla Lake.  As part of the trip, the Mayor visited some charity organisations, including KORT (Kashmir Orphans Relief Trust), which worked with orphans and under-privileged children, having been founded following a serious earthquake in the region in 2005.

The trip included many more highlights which were too numerous to describe at tonight’s meeting.

Councillor Miles Parkinson OBE, Leader of the Council, commented that this must have been a very special trip for the Mayor and perhaps the highlight of his mayoral year to proudly represent Hyndburn within his heritage community.  A number of former Mayors had celebrated their achievements in a similar fashion.

On another matter, all political groups had recently received a presentation from the Chief Executive and Chair of Hyndburn Leisure Trust about their Transformation Agenda.  A document was being circulated this evening which included a QR code to link providing further information.  The project represented investment of around £20m in leisure.

He reported that he had also been away recently and the Deputy Leader of the Council had attended the Accrington Christmas Lights Switch-On in his place.

Councillor Marlene Haworth, Deputy Leader of the Council, acknowledged that it had been a hectic couple of weeks.  Last Thursday and seen the Christmas Lights Switch-On followed by a fantastic firework display.  There were lots of people in the Town Centre to enjoy to the music and to watch the fireworks.  The event had been enhanced by the efforts of the Market Hall Team, who had done an excellent job.  The centrepiece of their display was the community Christmas tree, which had included the input of local schools who had made bauble decorations.  Hundreds of baubles had been sent in and the feature had really captured the imagination of local children.  Councillors were urged to see the tree for themselves.  Both the Market Hall Team and Amazing Accrington had done a phenomenal job to make this event such a success.

Councillor Haworth also reported that Hyndburn Leisure had put together a series of ‘Christmas on the Square’ events taking place every Saturday and Sunday until Christmas on Accrington Town Square.  A range of products and ‘winter wonderland’ themed activities were on offer each weekend.

She undertook to write to all of the Teams involved to thank them on behalf of the Council.