Rutland County Council's Annual General Meeting (AGM) took place under a cloud this year, with the recent relegation of Luton Town Football Club casting a long shadow, for the leader Gale Waller (Lib Dem) Video and Photos

Rutland County Council's Annual General Meeting (AGM) took place under a cloud this year, with the recent relegation of Luton Town Football Club casting a long shadow, for the leader Gale Waller (Lib Dem) 

 

Cllr Gale Waller Council Leader (Lib Dem)

Rutland County Council's Annual General Meeting (AGM) took place under a cloud this year, with the recent relegation of Luton Town Football Club casting a long shadow, for the leader Gale Waller (Lib Dem)  The no members of the public present to witness the routine reappointment of Cllr Andrew Browne as Chairman and Cllr Samantha Harvey as Deputy Chairman.

Cllr Andrew Brown Chairman of Rutland County Council (Independent)

with Chief Executive is Mark Andrews

Cllr Samantha Harvey Vice Chair of Rutland County Council 

(Independent)

Council Leader Gale Waller, known for his passionate speeches at previous AGMs, remained silent this year. Perhaps, the relegation had left her speechless, or perhaps a sense of decorum prevailed. Notably, no councillor dared to break the sombre mood with a mention of the fallen football team.

In a more controversial move, Gale announced the council would not be reappointing a Children's Champion for the coming year.  her reasoning? All councillors should be seen as "corporate parents" taking responsibility for the well-being of Rutland's children. This decision didn't sit well with everyone, particularly Cllr Samantha Harvey, who had held the Champion role with dedication for the past four years.

On a brighter note, Cllr David Wilby was appointed as the council's Armed Forces Champion.

 Additionally, the AGM saw the election of committee chairs and the appointment of councillors to various external bodies. 

A final, somewhat optimistic, note was the announcement that future main council meetings will be held on Thursday evenings. 

All members of the council were present

Councillor A Brown – Chairman of the Council

Councillor S Harvey – Vice-Chairman of the Council

Councillor N Begy 

Councillor P Browne

Councillor T Carr 

Councillor M Chatfield

Councillor G Clifton 

Councillor K Corby

Councillor H Edwards 

Councillor D Ellison

Councillor M Farina 

Councillor K Heckels

Councillor O Hemsley 

Councillor A Johnson

Councillor S Lambert 

Councillor S McRobb

Councillor K Payne 

Councillor R Payne

Councillor R Powell 

Councillor R Ross

Councillor T Smith 

Councillor L Stephenson

Councillor G Waller 

Councillor A West

Councillor D Wilby 

Councillor C Wise

Councillor H Zollinger-Ball