Agenda and minutes

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.

7.1             The evacuation procedure, as noted on the Agenda, was advised to those present.

8.1             Apologies for absence were received from Councillors C M Cody, M Dean, P D McLain and C Softley. 

9.1             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.

9.2             There were no declarations of interest made on this occasion.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 12 April 2022.

10.1           The Minutes of the meeting held on 12 April 2022, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.  

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 11 May 2022).

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

11.1           There were no items from members of the public.

To receive any questions submitted under Rule of Procedure 13. Any items received will be circulated on Monday 16 May 2022.

(Any questions must be submitted in writing to Democratic Services by, not later than, 10.00am on Monday 9 May 2022).

12.1           There were no Member questions.  

To elect a Leader of the Council (who will also be the Chair of the Executive Committee) for the ensuing Municipal Year.    

13.1           Upon being proposed and seconded, it was       

                  RESOLVED          That Councillor R A Bird be elected as Leader of the Council,                            and therefore Chair of the Executive Committee, for the                                          ensuing Municipal Year.  

To elect a Deputy Leader of the Council (who will also be the Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee) for the ensuing Municipal Year.  

14.1           Upon being proposed and seconded, it was

                  RESOLVED          That Councillor J R Mason be elected as Deputy Leader of the                          Council, and therefore Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee,                               for the ensuing Municipal Year.  

Any papers available prior to the meeting will be circulated to all Members.

1.      To determine the Membership of the:

• Executive Committee including the portfolio holders.
• Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
• Audit and Governance Committee.
• Planning Committee.
• Licensing Committee.
• Standards Committee.
• Ad-hoc Committees:

o   Employee Appeals Committee;

o   Employee Appointments/Disciplinary Committee; and

·        Panels and Liaison Groups as follows (shown on Outside Bodies list):

o   Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel;

o   Shared Legal Services Joint Monitoring and Liaison Group; and

o   Shared Building Control Joint Monitoring and Liaison Group.

2.      To determine the Outside Bodies to which the Council should make appointments and the representation on those Bodies.

3.      The Council will at this stage adjourn for a brief period to allow each Committee, as set out below, to hold a formal meeting to conduct the business set out in the enclosed Agenda: 

1.    Overview and Scrutiny Committee including appointment (and reserves) to the Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Gloucestershire Economic Growth Scrutiny Committee.                    

2.    Audit and Governance Committee.                         

3.    Planning Committee.               

4.    Licensing Committee. 

5.    Standards Committee.    

NB: The Membership of Working Groups, Panels and Boards remains unchanged (unless there are resignations) until the end of the term of the Council or the Group has concluded its work.

15.1           Upon being proposed and seconded, it was

                  RESOLVED         That the following Committee Memberships be AGREED:

15.2           Upon being proposed and seconded, it was

                  RESOLVED         That the following memberships of Panels and Liaison Groups                          be AGREED:

15.3           Upon being proposed and seconded, it was

RESOLVED           That the following Outside Bodies representation be                                           AGREED:

15.4           The main Committees set out in Paragraph 15.1 took place to elect a Chair and Vice-Chair. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee also elected representatives to the County Council’s Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Gloucestershire Economic Growth Scrutiny Committee.  Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED          1. That the Chairs and Vice-Chairs for each Committee be AGREED as follows:

Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Chair – Councillor J W Murphy

Vice-Chair – Councillor K Berliner

Audit & Governance Committee

Chair– Councillor V D Smith

Vice-Chair – Councillor H C McLain

Planning Committee

Chair – Councillor J H Evetts

Vice-Chair – Councillor R D East

Licensing Committee

Chair – Councillor G J Bocking

Vice-Chair – Councillor E J MacTiernan

Standards Committee

Chair – Councillor P D Surman

Vice-Chair – Councillor M Dean

2. That Councillor J K Smith be the Council’s nominated representative on the County Council’s Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee and that Councillor K Berliner be the reserve.

                                                3. That Councillor J W Murphy be the Council’s nominated                                     representative on the Gloucestershire Economic Growth                                         Scrutiny Committee and that Councillor K J Cromwell be the                                    reserve.   

To adopt the Local Heritage List Selection Criteria For Tewkesbury Borough Supplementary Planning Document with immediate effect. 

16.1           The report of the Planning Policy Manager, circulated at Pages No. 16-33, attached the Local Heritage List Selection Criteria for Tewkesbury Borough Supplementary Planning Document which Members were asked to adopt with immediate effect.

16.2           In proposing the recommendation, the Lead Member for Built Environment explained that the purpose of the Supplementary Planning Document was to establish a robust and standardised procedure for nominating to the local list with the significance of heritage assets on the list being taken into account. This was a national initiative which was being funded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. The document had already been considered by the Executive Committee which had recommended that it be adopted by the Council, subject to no substantive comments being made during the consultation process. No substantive comments had been received during the public consultation so the document was before the Council for adoption. It was also recommended that authority be delegated to the Head of Development Services to make any necessary final corrections and minor amendments to the draft Supplementary Planning Document to enable it to be published in final form. Under that delegation, a minor revision to the wording on Page No. 3 of the Supplementary Planning Document would be made to make it clear that the responsibility for all local heritage list matters would be delegated to the Head of Development Services.

16.3           During the discussion which ensued, a Member suggested that some of the pictures of the Borough within the document were not particularly flattering and he asked if any of them could be changed. In response, the Lead Member indicated that the photographs had been submitted as part of the process but Officers could look through and see if any changes could be made. She felt it was important to note the amazing amount of work that Parishes and members of the public had put into their submissions to the list and she thanked them for their efforts. She also noted that, whilst not all heritage assets were pretty, they were still important. Referring to Page No. 7 of the document, a Member noted that the metal bridge in Norton was actually in Northway and Ashchurch Rural so that needed to be amended. There was some discussion about the assets on the list which were in a state of untidiness or disrepair and Members were advised that the Council did not have a responsibility to maintain any of the assets as they were usually in private ownership – their addition to the list signified that people felt they were important but they were not the Council’s assets. A Member questioned whether Parishes would be asked to review the list annually to see if any assets needed to be added. In response, the Lead Member indicated that Parish Councils were aware of the list and that it could be added to at any time.

16.4           Having been proposed and seconded, it was

                  RESOLVED          1. That it be NOTED that no  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

To agree the Council’s final recommendations following its Community Governance Review.  

17.1           The report of the Community Governance Review Working Group, circulated at Pages No. 34-67, set out the final recommendations of the Working Group which Members were asked to approve.  

17.2           The Chair of the Community Governance Review Working Group indicated that it had been 20 years since the last Parish review and changes as a result of the Tewksbury (Electoral Changes) Order 2018 (Review of Borough Wards) and the extensive level of development in the Borough had necessitated that a full Community Governance Review (CGR) of the Borough’s Parishes be undertaken. In June 2021, the Executive Committee had agreed to undertake a Boroughwide CGR, had approved the Terms of Reference and established a Working Group to undertake the review. The Terms of Reference covered the scope of the review which included alteration of boundaries and the number of Parish Councillors. Initial consultation had taken place from 15 June to 15 September 2021 which involved a wide range of individuals and groups being invited to make submissions including MPs, County and Borough Councillors, political parties, Parish Councils and the public via social media and website advertising. 23 submissions had been received and considered in detail by the Working Group which had then prepared draft recommendations that had been endorsed by the Executive Committee on 5 January 2022 and released for public consultation between 3 February and 31 March 2022. Again, all Members were included in the consultation on the draft recommendations as well as those groups, organisations, individuals etc. that were consulted at the initial stage. In response to the draft recommendations, 10 submissions were received from Parish/Town Councils / Parish Meetings, 68 from members of the public, local residents and organisations together with a petition containing 135 signatories.  The Chair drew particular attention to a couple of matters together with a few amendments to be included in the draft recommendations as follows:

·      Section 5.4.1 to be amended to ensure the view of the Parish Council was accurately represented as it had stated that in its submission regarding the Draft Recommendations (31 March 2022) that the Council had notexpressed support for the draft recommendation – amended from:

“It was acknowledged that there was support for, and some opposition to, the        draft recommendations, although on balance more support was received to       split Dumbleton and Wormington and that this view was shared by Dumbleton    Parish Council”.

                        to

                        “It was acknowledged that there was support for, and some opposition to, the       draft recommendations, although on balance more support was received to split Dumbleton and Wormington. Dumbleton Parish Council submitted no           objection to the draft recommendation based on the letters of         representation it had received from parishioners”.

·      The second amendment was to add a final recommendation as follows:-

“All other Parishes – the boundaries of all other Parishes to remain unchanged”.

                  In terms of the recommendations of specific note, he referred to Recommendation 4.4.2 – in relation to Coopers Edge – and explained that this was considered very carefully by the Working  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

To appoint three Members of the Council as Trustees of the Mayor of Tewkesbury’s Appeal Fund for the ensuing Municipal Year.

The Mayor and Chief Executive are automatically Trustees and as such Councillor Murphy cannot be one of the named Trustees for this year. The current Trustees are Councillors Gore, MacTiernan and Mason.

NB: The Fund is officially called the Mayor of Tewkesbury’s Appeal Fund but this does of course refer to Tewkesbury Borough. 

18.1           It was proposed, seconded and

                  RESOLVED          That Councillors M A Gore, E J MacTiernan and J R Mason be                          appointed as Trustees of the Mayor of Tewkesbury’s Appeal                                   Fund for 2022/23.