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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Tewkesbury Borough Council Offices, Severn Room

Contact: Democratic Services Tel: 01684 272021  Email:  democraticservices@tewkesbury.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

22.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

22.1           Apologies for absence were received from Councillors L A Gerrard and P N Workman.  

23.

Declarations of Interest

Pursuant to the adoption by the Council on 26 June 2012 of the Tewkesbury Borough Council Code of Conduct, effective from 1 July 2012, as set out in Minute No. CL.34, Members are invited to declare any interest they may have in the business set out on the Agenda to which the approved Code applies.

Minutes:

23.1           The Committee’s attention was drawn to the Tewkesbury Borough Council Code of Conduct which was adopted by the Council on 26 June 2012 and took effect from 1 July 2012.

23.2           The following declarations were made:

Councillor

Application No./Item

Nature of Interest (where disclosed)

Declared Action in respect of Disclosure

R A Bird

Item 7 – Pre-Submission Tewkesbury Borough Plan.

Is a Gloucestershire County Councillor.

Had received a dispensation to speak and vote on this item.

K J Cromwell

Item 7 – Pre-Submission Tewkesbury Borough Plan.

Is a Gloucestershire County Councillor.

Had received a dispensation to speak and vote on this item.

M A Gore

Item 7 – Pre-Submission Tewkesbury Borough Plan.

Councillor owns a share in land that may benefit from a proposed policy within the Plan.

Would not speak or vote and would leave the meeting for the consideration of the item.

A Hollaway

Item 7 – Pre-Submission Tewkesbury Borough Plan.

Close family members own land adjacent to proposed development but neither the Councillor, nor any family members, own any land which is proposed for development.

Had received a dispensation to speak and vote on this item.

P W Ockelton

Item 12a – Spring Gardens/Oldbury Road Regeneration.

Is a member of a local, national and international charity that has land holdings that could be affected by the development process.

Would not speak or vote and would leave the meeting for the consideration of the item.

V D Smith

Item 7 – Pre-Submission Tewkesbury Borough Plan.

Is a Gloucestershire County Councillor.

Had received a dispensation to speak and vote on this item.

P D Surman

Item 7 – Pre-Submission Tewkesbury Borough Plan.

Is a close friend of a landowner who has land allocated within the Pre-Submission Tewkesbury Borough Plan.

Would not speak or vote and would leave the meeting for the consideration of the item.

R J E Vines

Item 7 – Pre-Submission Tewkesbury Borough Plan.

Councillor jointly owns land which is allocated within the Pre-Submission Tewkesbury Borough Plan.

Is a Gloucestershire County Councillor.

Would not speak or vote and would leave the meeting for the consideration of the item.

23.3          There were no further declarations made on this occasion.

24.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 309 KB

To approve the Minutes of the meetings held on 21 and 28 May 2019.

Minutes:

24.1           The Minutes of the meetings held on 21 and 28 May 2019, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as correct records and signed by the Mayor.  

25.

Announcements

1.   When the continuous alarm sounds you must evacuate the building by the nearest available fire exit. Members and visitors should proceed to the visitors’ car park at the front of the building and await further instructions (during office hours staff should proceed to their usual assembly point; outside of office hours proceed to the visitors’ car park). Please do not re-enter the building unless instructed to do so.

 

      In the event of a fire any person with a disability should be assisted in leaving the building.  

 

2.   To receive any announcements from the Chair of the Meeting and/or the Chief Executive.

Minutes:

25.1           The evacuation procedure was advised to those present.  

26.

Items from Members of the Public

a)   To receive any questions, deputations or petitions submitted under Council Rule of Procedure.12.

 

(The deadline for public participation submissions for this meeting is 24 July 2019).

 

b)   To receive any petitions submitted under the Council’s Petitions Scheme.

Minutes:

26.1           There were no items from members of the public on this occasion.  

27.

Member Questions properly submitted in accordance with Council Procedure Rules

To receive any questions submitted under Rule of Procedure 13. Any items received will be circulated on 30 July 2019.

 

(Any questions must be submitted in writing to Democratic Services by, not later than, 10.00am on the working day immediately preceding the date of the meeting).

Minutes:

27.1           There were no Member questions on this occasion.  

28.

Pre-Submission Tewkesbury Borough Plan pdf icon PDF 232 KB

To approve the Pre-Submission version of the Tewkesbury Borough Plan under Regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 as the version to be submitted, following consultation, to the Secretary of State for independent examination.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

28.1           The report of the Head of Development Services, circulated at Pages No. 18-24, attached the report of the Tewkesbury Borough Plan Working Group and the Pre-Submission Tewkesbury Borough Plan for approval. Members were asked to consider the Working Group report, and Officer advice; determine whether or not site SHU4 should be included within the Pre-Submission Tewkesbury Borough Plan; to approve the version for submission to the Secretary of State for independent examination; and to delegate authority to the Head of Development Services, in consultation with the Lead Member for Built Environment, to make any necessary minor amendments prior to the publication of the Plan and its submission for independent examination. 

28.2           The Head of Development Services explained that the Tewkesbury Borough Plan was the Borough’s second tier plan which sat beneath the adopted Joint Core Strategy. It was being prepared to compliment the Joint Core Strategy and to provide more detailed and locally specific policies to guide development and propose non-strategic allocations for housing and employment growth. The Borough Plan provided an appropriate planning policy framework to ensure Council policy on development was effectively implemented alongside ensuring that reasonable aspirations could be achieved whilst giving protection to its communities and built and natural environment against harmful development. The Plan contained a range of policies in relation to housing; economy and tourism; the Green Belt; town centres and retail; the creation of quality places; the natural environment; communities; health and recreation; and transport and accessibility. It contained a suite of policies along with a number of plans to identify allocations of land for particular uses. The Pre-Submission Tewkesbury Borough Plan had been progressed following extensive work by Members and Officers and was the version the Council intended to submit to the Secretary of State for independent examination following a minimum consultation period of six weeks.

28.3           The Member Working Group report, attached to the Officer report at Appendix 1, sought Council approval for the publication of the Pre-Submission version of the Borough Plan. As detailed within the Officer report, there was Officer support for the recommendations of the Working Group report with the exception of the proposed inclusion of site SHU4: land south of Badgeworth Lane, Shurdington and the consequent changes to the Green Belt boundary. This was because the site was located within the Green Belt and the National Planning Policy Framework stated that exceptional circumstances were required to justify the removal of sites from the Green Belt through the plan-making process, furthermore, there was a requirement for the local planning authority to demonstrate that it had fully examined all other reasonable options for meeting its identified need. It was the opinion of the Working Group that SHU4 should be allocated, along with the other sites in Shurdington, to provide an appropriate level of growth at a sustainable location that was otherwise highly constrained by Green Belt; the Working Group considered this to constitute exceptional circumstances for removing land from the Green Belt. However, as set out at Section  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

29.

Audit and Governance Committee Annual Report 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 136 KB

At its meeting on 24 July 2019 the Audit and Governance Committee considered its annual report for 2018/19. An update on the outcome of that meeting will be provided at the Council meeting.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

29.1           The Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee for 2018/19 indicated that the report before Members, circulated at Pages No. 257-271, demonstrated that the role of the Committee was not only to look at finance which she felt was a common misconception. With that in mind, in order to raise the profile of the Committee, the name had been changed to include governance and the membership had been expanded from seven to nine. The Audit and Governance Committee received a variety of reports from different sources to give assurance that systems, procedures and policies were operating as they should be. Sources of assurance included the work of the Council’s internal audit team, reports from the Council’s external auditors, Gloucestershire Counter Fraud Unit and individual reports from Officers on governance related issues such as health and safety. During the year, the Committee had received a new risk register and she looked forward to Members getting ‘under the skin’ of those risks to gain assurance that they were being effectively managed. She explained that she was no longer the Chair of the Committee, but took the opportunity to update on a key outcome from the last meeting at which the Committee had been pleased to hear the external auditors had signed off the statement of accounts without any significant issues arising and were very complimentary of the work of the Council’s finance team. The auditors had also been satisfied that the Council had proper arrangements for securing economy, efficiency and effectiveness in its use of resources as well as referring to the implementation of a savings programme being approved within the Medium Term Financial Strategy in line with a previous audit recommendation.

29.2           Accordingly, it was

                  RESOLVED          That the Audit and Governance Committee Annual Report                                 2018/19 be APPROVED.

30.

Honorary Alderman

The Council is asked whether it wishes to recommend the award of the distinction of Honorary Alderman to appropriate immediate past Members of the Council. 

Minutes:

30.1           It was proposed, seconded and

                  RESOLVED          That an Extraordinary meeting of the Council be convened, on                          a date to be agreed, in order to confer the honour of Honorary                                Alderman upon former Councillors Allen, Awford, Berry,                                         Davies, Day, Hillier-Richardson, Stokes and Waters.

31.

Notice of Motion - Declaring a Climate Change Emergency

Councillor Cody will propose and Councillor Softley will second:

 

Humans have already caused devastating climate change, the impacts of which are being felt around the world. Global temperatures have already increased by 1 degree Celsius from pre-industrial levels.  Atmospheric C02 levels are above 400 parts per million (ppm).  This far exceeds the 350ppm deemed to be a safe level for humanity;

 

In order to reduce the chance of runaway Global Warming and limit the effects of Climate Breakdown, it is imperative that we as species reduce our C02eq (carbon equivalent) emissions from their current 6.5 tonnes per year to less than 2 tonnes as soon as possible;

 

Individuals cannot be expected to make this reduction on their own.  Society needs to change its laws, taxation, infrastructure, etc., to make low carbon living easier and the new norm;

 

Carbon emissions result from both production and consumption;

 

Tewkesbury Borough Council has already addressed the problem of single use plastics and has shown a strong commitment to recycling and sustainable transport but more needs to be done.

 

In Gloucestershire the consequences of no action include:

 

·         Increased risk of flash flooding and the resulting damage to buildings, crops, farmland and infrastructure as a result of more extreme rainfall events.

·         Health problems due to increased heat stress particularly for vulnerable adults and children.

·         Increased costs associated with changes to crops and biodiversity.

·         Higher energy costs.

·         Crop failures associated with extreme heat, such as was experienced in 2018.

The County Council has already recognised more needs to be done and has created an additional cabinet role with responsibility for overseeing the authority’s approach to prevention of, mitigation of, and adaptation of climate change.

 

The government believes that a shift to a very low carbon energy future represents the best course for the country’s economic development while lowering the risk of fuel poverty and reducing air pollution.

 

In view of the above the Council is asked to:

 

·         declare a “Climate Emergency”.

·         commit to doing all in its power to make Tewkesbury Borough Council carbon neutral by 2030, taking into account both production and consumption emissions.

·         set up a Working Group consisting of seven Members of the Council (to be nominated at this evening’s meeting) to prepare a long-term plan to achieve this, together with any initial budgetary requirements, to be reported back to the Executive Committee in October.

·         call upon central government to provide additional powers and resources to support local and national action towards the 2030 target.

·         commit to working with partners in Gloucestershire to achieve Countywide carbon neutrality aims.

Minutes:

31.1           The Worshipful the Mayor referred to the Notice of Motion set out on the Agenda and indicated that, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure, it was necessary for the Council firstly to decide whether it wished to debate and determine the Motion at this evening’s meeting, or whether it wished to refer the Motion, without debate, to a Committee for consideration with authority either to make a decision on the matter or to bring a recommendation back to Council. Upon being put to the vote it was agreed that the Motion would be deferred.

31.2           A Member suggested that the motion be discussed by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. He explained that climate change was at the forefront of everyone’s minds so it was appropriate to discuss it properly at Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider where the Council was and where it wanted to be. The Council was committed to a sustainable existence with garden communities being the epitome of sustainable living which he felt demonstrated that commitment. During the discussion which ensued, a number of Members suggested that, if the motion was deferred to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, a special meeting should be called as a matter of urgency given the topic of motion and its importance. There was disappointment expressed by some that the decision was being put off to another meeting when it could easily have been considered at the current meeting. Tewkesbury Borough Council was already the last district in the County to have signed up to the motion and now it was still not confirming the importance of tackling climate change; it was felt that residents wanted to see action rather than more words. The Borough Solicitor confirmed that a special meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee could be called to consider the motion and that the Council would need to agree whether the Overview and Scrutiny Committee could decide upon he matter or whether it should make a recommendation back to Council.

31.3           A Member suggested that the motion should have input from the relevant Lead Members and deferring it to a Committee would offer that opportunity. The Council had a long tradition of working cooperatively and he would like that to continue. The proposer of the motion was disappointed that the Council had decided not to consider the motion at the current meeting. She was of the view that the country was in the middle of a climate change emergency and she was unsure why Members could not see that putting the decision off was not appropriate. Tewkesbury Borough was the only Council in the county not to have considered this motion which aimed to try and ensure a decent future for all; Stroud District Council was already carbon neutral and she felt Tewkesbury Borough should be following that lead. With 168 Councils already taking action it was no longer time to think but instead time to act and she was ashamed that Tewkesbury Borough was not being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

32.

Separate Business

The Chairman will move the adoption of the following resolution:

That under Section 100(A)(4) Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Minutes:

32.1           The Mayor proposed, and it was  

                  RESOLVED          That, under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act                               1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following                              items on the grounds that they involve the likely discussion of                                    exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the                          Act.

33.

Separate Recommendations from Executive Committee

The Council is asked to consider and determine separate recommendations of a policy nature arising from the Executive Committee as follows:-   

33a

Spring Gardens/Oldbury Road Regeneration

To consider the formal report from MACE Group Ltd and agree the options to move forward for due diligence within the next phase of the scheme. 

Minutes:

                  (Exempt –Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 –Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information))

33.1           The Council considered the formal report from MACE Group Ltd and agreed the options to move forward for due diligence within the next phase of the scheme.