Agenda item

To review the report of the Executive Director of Environment.

The Committee received the report of the Executive Director Environment, and noted the achievements at Keats House in the period April to September 2024 noting in particular how the priorities, aims and objectives outlined within the Corporate Plan 2024-29 and other key Corporate strategies and the objectives of the Keats House charity were supported through those activities.

A Member commented on the improvements in the lighting facilities, commenting also that it was hoped that work could be done on insulation and on a leak that needs to be fixed.

The meeting noted that a contractor has visited the site in relation to the leak but was unable to fix it straight away, and that remedial action is expected imminently. The meeting noted that the Ten Keats Grove building occupied by the Keats Community Library is in poor condition generally and that £900,000 worth of work is earmarked for the site across the next three years, of which £200K is ringfenced for the library building as part of a conservation management plan for the entire site.

A Member asked whether any further plans were in place to continue the educational work of Culturally Speaking. The meeting heard that the funding for that programme is in place for 2024-25 and that two further CoLC ESU-funded projects for young people are in place:  Green Changemakers (creation of climate-resilient gardens); and Change the Record (examining and reinterpreting some records within the new database with a focus on language).