Issue - meetings

To receive any communications that the Mayor may wish to put before the Council.

The Mayor was saddened to hear of the recent passing of former Councillor and Mayor Lilian Strange, who had served as an SBC Member for the Martins Wood and Bandley Hill Wards between 1991 and May 2013, including being Mayor in 2003/04.  A number of other Members spoke in tribute to former Councillor Strange, following which the Council stood to observe a minute’s silence.

The Mayor then advised that she had accepted an urgent cross-party motion for consideration at the meeting concerning the sad and tragic situation in Israel and Gaza and that she would be varying the order of business so that the motion would be considered immediately after Agenda Item 7.

The Mayor then advised Council that since she had become Mayor in May 2023 she had attended 150 events and thanked Councillor Jim Brown, Deputy Mayor for attending many events also.  The Mayor’s highlights included her recent afternoon tea party and she thanked all those who had supported her and helped to raise money for her charities.  The Mayor reminded Council that her theme and main aim was to have Stevenage recognised as a dementia friendly Town.  The work towards this aim would hopefully culminate in an announcement soon and she would advise the Council as soon as this happened.

The Mayor was saddened to hear of the recent passing of former Councillor and Mayor Lilian Strange, who had served as an SBC Member for the Martins Wood and Bandley Hill Wards between 1991 and May 2013, including a year as Mayor in 2003/04.  The Mayor advised that Lilian’s funeral would take place on Wednesday 25 October 2023 at Weston Road Cemetery followed by a reception at the Shephall Centre, Shephall Green.   A number of other Members spoke in tribute to former Councillor Strange.

The Leader of the Council advised that Lilian had been a passionate community Councillor, very much involved in sport with the Sports Council being one of her Mayoral charities.

Councillor Simon Speller spoke of Lilian and her husband’s love for sport which showed in her Mayoral Year.  She loved travel and spending time with her family and his thoughts were with her family at this sad time.

Baroness Taylor spoke of her memories of Lilian and that she had chosen engineering for her career at a time when this was not a common profession for women and that she was a role model to other women in this field. Lilian had made a fantastic career for herself despite a number of challenges in her life including the untimely death of her son post which she set up a charity.  Baroness Taylor thanked Lilian for her contribution to Stevenage and advised that her thoughts and sincere condolences were with her family.

Councillor Phil Bibby CC on behalf of the Conservative Group sent condolences to Lilian’s family.

Councillor Stephen Booth on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Groups also spoke of the achievement of Lilian within the Engineering Sector where very few women worked at that time.  He thanked Lilian for her service to Stevenage.

A number of other Members paid tribute to Lilian.  The Council then stood to observe a minute’s silence.

At this juncture, the Mayor advised that she had accepted an urgent cross-party motion for consideration at the meeting concerning the sad and tragic situation in Israel and Gaza and that she would be varying the order of business so that the motion would be considered immediately after Agenda Item 7.

The Mayor then advised Council that since she had become Mayor in May 2023 she had attended 150 events and thanked Councillor Jim Brown, Deputy Mayor for attending many events also.  The Mayor’s highlights included her recent afternoon tea party and thanked all those who had supported her and helped to raise money for her charities.  The Mayor reminded Council that her theme and main aim was to get Stevenage recognised as a dementia friendly Town.  The work towards this aim would hopefully culminate in an announcement soon and she would advise the Council as soon as this happened.