A report of the Mayor had been circulated with the agenda.

The Chairman invited members to indicate whether they wished to ask a question of the Mayor. Councillors Bell, Turmaine and Watling indicated that they wished to ask questions.

Before responding to members’ questions, Mayor Taylor mentioned that there was ongoing work in the town to support Ukrainians and thanked the Chairman for her contributions and hard work during her year as chairman.

1)      Councillor Bell also thanked the Chairman for her work over the last year.  He noted that there had been an investigation published in the Watford Observer that detailed the presence of Class A drugs such as cocaine in Watford’s pubs and bars. Councillor Bell asked what the Mayor had to say to families who were concerned about the outcome of the investigation.

          The Mayor told Councillor Bell that he had been in contact with the Police regarding the issue. It was said that cocaine residue can remain detectable for a number of years and as a result of this, it was important for there not to be an overestimation of the scale of the problem. This being said, the Mayor said that there was work being done with the police and other partners to ensure the safety of residents and visitors to the town.

2)      In a supplementary question, Councillor Bell advised that he was reassured by this confirmation but still wanted to know whether the Mayor had been involved with Watford’s Chief Inspector and relevant staff members at the council.

          In response, the Mayor said that he regularly spoke with Chief Inspector Ian Grout about a range of issues and had spoken with local businesses. The Mayor commented that the close working relationships that had been formed between partners meant that there was often collaborative work to tackle issues in the town, and that this was one of Watford’s strengths.

3)      Councillor Watling asked whether there were any plans to expand the Beryl Bike scheme as there was often a low supply of bikes in the North Watford area. Councillor Watling also said that bikes were sometimes left unrepaired.

          The Mayor disagreed that Beryl Bikes were left unrepaired stating that Councillor Stotesbury in particular had worked hard to ensure the success of the scheme. With regards to supply, the Mayor said that the bikes were often moved around to ensure that supply was provided where it was most needed, and said that he would be happy to look into expanding the scheme in the future.  Watford was the first place in the county to have electric bikes.

4)      Councillor Turmaine asked why the council had published the Local Plan in 2021, failing to appropriately challenge the housing targets set by the government. Councillor Turmaine then asked whether the Mayor would see this as an inadequate fulfilment of his duty seeing as the targets were being met by erecting taller buildings.

          The Mayor responded saying that Councillor Turmaine did not vote against the Local Plan when presented with the opportunity. He then went on to state that the only way to challenge the national governments housing targets was if the town had areas of outstanding beauty, green belt areas or areas of special scientific interest. The town had none of these and to date there had not been a council similar to Watford that had successfully challenged the housing targets. The Mayor also stated that there were many Labour led councils that were building upwards across the country and said that it would be better for Labour councillors to challenge the Conservative central government, who were responsible for the tripling of housing targets as opposed to challenging Liberal Democrats.