To receive questions from members of the public who may wish to ask a general question of the Mayor, Advisory Cabinet Member or the Chairman of a Committee.
Minutes:
(1) Mr. R. Bartle asked was the Leader aware that Whiston Brook, which had been a brook for hundreds of years, had been reclassified as a river and had had its name changed to Whiston Brook River. Why were the people of Whiston not asked if they wished this reclassification and name change to take place?
Councillor Roche, Advisory Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health, replied that Whiston Brook was designated as a ‘Main River’ by the Environment Agency in 1999. However, this did not involve a name change, it was still called Whiston Brook.
In 1996 the Environment Agency informed the Council that a review was being undertaken by the Agency for the reclassification of Whiston Brook.
In January, 1999 the Council received a Notice under Section 194(5) of the Water Resources Act, 1991 that the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries and Food was in the process of reclassifying Whiston Brook as a main river.
In a supplementary question Mr. Bartle referred to the changes and the powers that had transferred to the Environment Agency allowing Yorkshire Water access under certain conditions. This had led to frequently finding raw sewage being released into the Brook, floating debris and due to flooding some pollution to residents’ gardens. He found this unacceptable and asked what the Council proposed to do about this.
Councillor Roche, Advisory Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health, expressed his concern about any form of pollution and asked that details be forwarded on and he would endeavour to follow this up with the Environment Agency.
(2) Mr. M. Eyre stated he was glad to see that all parties agreed that protests by pressure groups should be regulated with an aim to prevention. However, he asked what restrictions would the Council like to see?
The Leader thanked Mr. Eyre for his question.
The Council and the Police recognised that people had a right to legitimate peaceful protests and free speech, but the best case scenario for restrictions would be for the Home Office to allow more powers for legal matters to be taken into account when the right to protest was being used repeatedly to the detriment of the local community.
In a supplementary question Mr. Eyre expressed his sorrow at the extreme right groups coming into the town causing disruption to local businesses and asked whether the restrictions would apply to ad hoc protests as well as the repeated protests as Rotherham businesses had had enough and need to be able to move forward.
The Leader pointed out that the restrictions should only apply to repeated protests as any group was entitled to come and protest as a one off event.
(3) Mr. B. Cutts referred to the corridor from the Mushroom Garage to Canklow and asked how many registered Mosques (Religious Community Discounts) there were and in the remainder of the Borough?
The Leader reported there were eleven mosques or educational religious establishments in the borough, nine of which were mosques located in Holmes, Moorgate, Eastwood, Masbrough and Wellgate respectively.