Derry City and Strabane District Council Open Minutes of the Annual Meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Council held as a Hybrid/Socially Distanced Meeting remotely and also physically in the Council Chamber, Guildhall, Derry on Monday 7 June 2021 at 7pm. _____________ Present in Person: - Councillor Tierney (Outgoing Mayor); Aldermen Guy, McClintock, and Warke (Incoming Mayor); Councillors R Barr, Carr, Doyle, Duffy, Ferguson, Gallagher, Harkin, Jackson, and Reilly. Present Virtually: - Aldermen Devenney, Hussey, McCready and Ramsey; Councillors J Barr, J Boyle, M Boyle, Burke, Cusack, Dobbins, Donnelly, Edwards, Farrell, Fleming, Heaney, Kelly, Logue, McGuire, McHugh, McKeever, McKinney, Mellon, Mooney and O’Neill In Attendance in Person: - Mr J Kelpie (Chief Executive), Ms E Cavanagh (Lead Democratic Services and Improvement Officer), Mr P Kingston (Lead Legal Services Officer), Mrs S Maxwell (Democratic Services Officer and Miss L Bell (Committee Services Assistant). In Attendance Virtually: - Mr S Gillespie (Director of Business and Culture), Mrs K McFarland (Director of Health and Community), Mrs K Phillips (Director of Environment and Regeneration) and Ms A McCourt (Media Officer). __________ AM1/21 Notice and Summons of Meeting The Chief Executive read the Notice and Summons for the meeting. AM2/21 Member Attendance and Apologies The Chief Executive completed the roll call, Apologies were received from Alderman Kerrigan. AM3/21 Broadcasting Statement The Mayor read the broadcasting statement. AM4/21 Declarations of Members Interests No Declarations of Interest were made by Members. AM5/21 Welcome and Outgoing Speech from Mayor The outgoing Mayor, Councillor Brian Tierney addressed Council. He stated that this was a day of mixed emotions for him as he hands over the chain of office to his successor Alderman Warke. His year as Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council has been an unusual one while it has been challenging and different, it has also been very enjoyable and insightful and he has been truly honoured and privileged to have held the position of First Citizen and represent the wonderful people of this City and District. He stated that his year as Mayor has given him an entirely new perspective on life and while he was notable to physically meet and greet as many people as he would have liked to, he did adapt the role to enable him to carry out his duties in new ways. He stated that he had engaged with the public as much as possible through virtual and digital means and when the regulations permitted, he travelled across the Council area to visit towns and villages and meet with people from all communities. He extended his heartfelt thanks to everyone for their continued support and friendship over the past year. He expressed a special note of thanks to his Deputy Mayor and his party colleagues and to all Elected Members. He also acknowledged the support and love shown to him by my wife Cheryl, his children and his wider family including my parents, without their help he could not have carried out this role. Continuing he expressed his thanks to the Council team of Officers led by the Chief Executive, John Kelpie. He also extended his thanks to the team in the Mayor’s office, who have ensured that he kept to the schedule and ensured he kept his feet firmly on the ground with their continued good humour, jokes and wit. He also thanked the Guildhall staff for their work and support throughout this challenging year and he acknowledged the support and assistance provided to him by the Committee Officer team and the IT team. He commented that looking back to when he took office last year, little did he think that a year on and we would still be dealing with the COVID 19 pandemic. He acknowledged that whilst things are improving and we are in the process of recovery, we still have some way to go. He hoped that Council will continue with the cautious and slow step approach that will see us successfully come out of this difficult period and into a new and better future. He stated that in spite of the pandemic and the fact that he was very limited in terms of getting out and meeting people physically, he had a very full diary of commitments throughout the year that saw him prioritise leading our communities through the Covid-19 pandemic through consistent and positive messaging and continuous lobbying for investment to support our economic recovery. He advised that social media and digital communications were a key element of his Mayoral year and it enabled him to reach out to the wider public through video messages thanks to the help and skills of the Council’s press team. Council’s social media platforms proved essential in engaging with the public and getting out messages and also giving the public an insight into the work he was doing. He stated that Council took a very proactive role in leading on the health messaging throughout the pandemic and he wanted to sincerely thank everyone who helped with that line of communication – people such as Phil Coulter, Dana, Roma Downey, John Duddy, Adam B, Jason Smyth, Declan Devine and Tyrone McCullough who all responded positively to his call out to help Council increase awareness of COVID and help share health messages to curb the spread of the virus. He also acknowledged the tremendous support from the sports fraternity, youth organisations and leaders, community groups and artists, who also signed up to this campaign. He was confident that all their efforts helped keep numbers down and saved lives. Given the impact of mental health he was particularly pleased to have his Mayoral charity, Aurora Counselling in place, and while the pandemic limited the amount of fundraising possible , he was delighted with the support received at the various charity events organised and the level of profile and awareness which was raised for this very worthwhile charity. He acknowledged the important role carried out by everyone across the Council area in combating COVID 19. The huge sacrifices people made to keep one another safe has been phenomenal. He stated that the Covid-19 pandemic a huge impact not only here but across the world and the loss of life has been heart-wrenching. He offered his sincere condolences to everyone who had suffered loss as a result of COVID and stressed that behind each statistic, was a grieving family. He commented that, the way of life that we all took for granted has been totally transformed but thanks to the successful roll out of the vaccination scheme, there is light at the end of the tunnel and we are seeing a gradual return to a new norm. He stated that one of the highlights of his Mayoral year had been seeing at first hand the level of community support and solidarity that exists here in Derry and Strabane, from the heroic efforts of our NHS staff, to the incredible work carried out by the community and voluntary sector to ensure the vulnerable and those in most need have the support they need. He acknowledged the efforts of all the workers who continued to go to their jobs every day – whether they are working in a shop, a factory, a farm or driving a delivery van – they have all helped keep vital services operating. He stated that it was important to note the fantastic work of Council, all of whom have continued to work providing key services during such challenging times. He had the privilege of doing a series of Day in the Life experiences with Council frontline staff to see the important work they do across a range of services from Bin Collection, Street Cleansing, Recycling Centres, Cemeteries, Grounds Maintenance, Fleet Services and Dog Wardens. He expressed a huge thank you to all of them for all the work they do and for the warm welcome extended to him. He highlighted that during this recovery phase of COVID, there can be no room for complacency and everyone needs to continue to adhere to the public health advice, avail of the vaccine and continue to take steps to drive down the infection rate and protect our community so that we can concentrate on rebuilding our economy. On a positive note he stated that there was a lot to celebrate in 2020/21 He referred to the signing of the Heads of Terms for the City Deal funding package that confirmed the £250m investment from NI and UK Government to bring real growth, investment and prosperity to our region. He advised that the list of innovative and aspiring projects that will come from this investment have the potential to transform this place, to set it aside from others and he sincerely looked forward to see the roll out of these projects as we move into the delivery phase of this partner led investment. He added that the focus on innovation and research and bringing high level jobs and research into our city and district is hugely exciting for everyone. The Heads of Terms announcement came just weeks after the welcome news regarding the relocation of the School of Health Sciences to Magee. He stated that this all bodes well as we look ahead to the arrival of the first tranche of medical students to our new medical school at Magee in September. He truly believes this will be a hugely significant and a positive step forward in realising our economic and educational potential. Continuing he advised that in terms of regeneration, his Mayoral year saw huge levels of investment and progress on a range of projects across the Council area, including progress in a series of play parks at Sion Mills, Strathfoyle, Magheramason, Artigarvan and Newtownstewart.