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.

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

50.1          Apologies for absence were received from Councillors E M Dimond-Brown, M A Gore, C E Mills, E C Skelt and M R Stewart.  

Pursuant to the adoption by the Council on 24 January 2023 of the Tewkesbury Borough Council Code of Conduct, effective from 1 February 2023, as set out in Minute No. CL.72, Members are invited to declare any interest they may have in the business set out on the Agenda to which the approved Code applies.

51.1          The Committee’s attention was drawn to the Tewkesbury Borough Code of Conduct which was adopted by the Council on 24 January 2023 and took effect on 1 February 2023. 

51.2          The following declarations were made:

51.3          There were no further declarations made on this occasion.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 25 July 2023.

52.1          The Minutes of the meeting held on 25 July 2023, 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 Wednesday 20 September 2023).

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

53.1          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 by 5:00pm on Monday 25 September 2023.

(Any questions must be submitted in writing to Democratic Services by, not later than, Monday 18 September 2023 at 10:00am ).

54.1          The following question was received from Councillor Cody to the Lead Member for Built Environment, Councillor Mary Jordan.  The answer was given by the Lead Member for Built Environment and was taken as read without discussion. 

Question 1

At the Council meeting on 22 June 2021, I asked a question regarding the removal of the hedgerow at Coombe Hill (new housing next to the Swan public house). For reference, please see my original question and the answer that followed:

Question from Cllr Cody 22/06/21

“Specifically referring to Planning Application 21/00039/ENFB - Part Parcel 8917, Tewkesbury Road, Coombe Hill, Gloucester, planning permission was given to this application with the specific condition that ancient hedgerow was not to be removed. 

Following the removal of the hedge, the council’s response that the situation is disappointing - but that it has been satisfactorily appeased by the promise of planting a new hedge - surely misses the point. 

Ancient hedges cannot simply be replaced by new - not only do these take years to establish, but the current wildlife is stripped of its habitat and quite often these hedges and trees are not watered or cared for properly and die anyway. In addition to the ecological damage, there is also the immorality and the avoidance of any sanction which set precedent for others to do the same elsewhere.

The approved plans indicate that the eastern hedgerow running parallel with the A38 was due to be altered in order to incorporate the new highway access and its visibility splays and the relocation of the existing north bound bus stop. Altered does not mean removed.

QUESTION: What is the point of planning permission and conditions associated with them if they can just be blatantly ignored?”

Answer:

“Where appropriate, Officers will seek the retention of trees and hedgerows on development sites through the application process although this is not always possible. The approved plans for the development adjacent to the Swan public house indicated that the eastern hedgerow, running parallel with the A38, was due to be altered in order to incorporate the new highway access and its visibility splays and the relocation of the existing north bound bus stop. The County Archaeologist was consulted as part of the application and did not identify any ancient hedgerows on the site.

Given the proximity of the pre-existing hedgerow to the carriageway this could only realistically be achieved by removing the hedgerow. A replacement hedgerow will be secured through the approval of the landscaping plan – this new hedge will enjoy protection for at least five years following completion of the development. The clearance of the site was overseen by a qualified ecologist. Officers were advised that vegetation and boundary hedgerows were thoroughly checked but no nesting birds were discovered. Other wildlife checks were also carried out.”

Referring to the answer to my question in 2021, I quote, “this new hedge will enjoy protection for at least five years following completion of the development”. The majority of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54.

To consider the progress made against the 17 recommendations from the gateway review report, in particular the new approaches to engagement with communities and robust programme management; to approve the new governance arrangements, including revised programme monitoring and reporting designed to improve visibility and transparency; and to agree that the Council, as promoter, explores opportunities with developers and landowners within the Garden Town area to align their proposals for development with the developing vision and aspirations for Tewkesbury Garden Town. 

55.1          At its meeting on 6 September 2023, the Executive Committee considered the progress made against the 17 recommendations from the gateway review report, in particular the new approaches to engagement with communities and robust programme management, and recommended to Council that progress be noted; that the new governance arrangements, including revised programme monitoring and reporting designed to improve visibility and transparency be approved, subject to amendments to Page No. 135, Paragraph 4.1 - Membership of the Tewkesbury Garden Town Assurance Board to be updated to include three Members from the Members Engagement Forum, Page No. 136, Paragraph 4.3.1 – Reference to the Programme Board to be changed to the Project Board, and Page No. 136, Paragraph 4.6.1 – Members Engagement Forum to meet once a month for the first six months following which meeting frequency would be reviewed by the Tewkesbury Garden Town Assurance Board; and to agree that the Council, as promoter, explores opportunities with developers and landowners within the Garden Town area to align their proposals for development with the developing vision and aspirations for Tewkesbury Garden Town.

55.2          A report had been circulated with the Agenda for the current meeting at Pages No. 17-36.

55.3          As Chair of the Executive Committee, the Leader of the Council proposed that Members had already received a briefing in relation to the progress made against the 17 report recommendations but, in terms of the governance arrangements, it had been a lengthy process to reach this point and, along with the Chief Executive, he had met a number of Parish and Town Councils where it had quickly become apparent that they wanted to be part of a governance board in order to have oversight of the project which, up until now, had been missing.  The Executive Committee had recommended some minor amendments which would make the governance arrangements more robust and that had been shared with other Parish and Town Councils who had attended a meeting at the Council Offices.  He recognised that the governance structure would not restore their faith or confidence in the authority but it was an important first step to show it was intent on involving them and giving them that oversight.  The third part of the recommendation related to the need to continue to explore and work with landowners and developers and be open and transparent in relation to that.  In seconding the proposal, the Lead Member for Built Environment felt it was important to recognise the amount of work that had been done in a relatively short space of time.  The proposal would ensure that a sound framework was in place going forward and working closely with the community would be essential to the success of the project.

55.4          A Member sought clarification as to whether Ward Councillors would be invited to attend future meetings between the Chief Executive, Leader of the Council and Town and Parish Councils.  He indicated that the governance structure had been presented to Ashchurch Rural Parish Council for comment and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55a

To ratify the appointment of the Chief Executive as the Returning Officer for Borough Council elections; to appoint the Chief Executive as the Returning Officer for Parish and Town Council elections within the Tewkesbury Borough area; to ratify the decision taken under urgency powers to appoint the Chief Executive as the Council’s Electoral Registration Officer; and to appoint the Executive Director: Resources, Director: Corporate Resources and Head of Service: Democratic and Electoral Services as Deputy Electoral Registration Officers.

56.1          The report of the Executive Director: Resources, circulated at Pages No. 37-40, asked Members to ratify the appointment of the Chief Executive as the Returning Officer for Borough Council elections as previously agreed as part of the report taken in closed session at the Council meeting on 24 January 2023 but not specifically included within the public Minutes of such meeting; to appoint the Chief Executive as the Returning Officer for Parish and Town Council elections within the Tewkesbury Borough area; to ratify the decision taken under urgency powers by the Executive Director: Resources, following consultation with (and with support of) the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council, to appoint the Chief Executive as the Council’s Electoral Registration Officer; and to appoint the Executive Director: Resources, Director: Corporate Resources and Head of Service: Democratic and Electoral Services as Deputy Electoral Registration Officers.

56.2          The Executive Director: Resources advised that Members would recall the report taken to Council in January 2023 seeking approval of the management restructure which proposed the appointment of the Chief Executive as Returning Officer.  At that time, no formal recommendation had been made to approve the appointment so confirmation of that was now being sought.  In addition, the Council was required to appoint an Electoral Registration Officer and Deputy Electoral Registration Officers.  Prior to this meeting, use had been made of the Council’s urgency powers to appoint the Chief Executive as the Electoral Registration Officer in order to mitigate the risk of running the annual canvass which had commenced a few weeks earlier and Members were being asked to ratify that appointment.  In addition, appointment of a number of Deputy Electoral Registration Officers was recommended as set out in the report.

56.3          The report recommendation was proposed by the Leader of the Council and seconded by the Lead Member for Finance and Asset Management.  A Member noted that the report stated that fees would be met from the election fund and he asked what the fees were.  The Executive Director: Resources indicated that he did not know the exact figure and undertook to circulate this information following the meeting.  He stressed that all roles were needed to carry out an election and the Returning Officer had a major role in the successful running of an election. 

56.4          Upon being put to the vote, it was

RESOLVED          1. That the appointment of the Chief Executive as the Returning Officer for Borough Council elections be RATIFIED.

2. That appointment of the Chief Executive as the Returning Officer for Parish and Town Council elections within the Tewkesbury Borough area be APPROVED.

3. That the decision taken under urgency powers to appoint the Chief Executive as the Council’s Electoral Registration Officer be RATIFIED.

4. That appointment of the Executive Director: Resources, Director: Corporate Resources and Head of Service: Democratic and Electoral Services as Deputy Electoral Registration Officers be APPROVED.

Councillor Hegenbarth will propose and Councillor Stanley will second:

That the Council notes:

-        There are over 800 children in the care of the County Council, and approximately 250 in-house foster carers in Gloucestershire - but many more carers are needed to meet growing demand.

-        Nationally and locally, recruiting and retaining sufficient foster carers is an enormous challenge.

-        That all elected Members, as representatives of our communities, should be encouraged to help promote fostering and support potential carers to come forward so that we can create a resilient, diverse, and caring foster parent network that can meet the needs of all children in our care.

-        That, whilst the responsibility for recruiting and retaining foster carers sits with the County Council, Tewkesbury Borough Council can assist by signposting prospective carers to where they can find relevant information, including a dedicated page on the Borough Council’s website.

That the Council supports:

-        Borough Councillors in promoting fostering and encouraging them to begin sharing information on foster carer recruitment across all networks so that we can ensure the message gets out boroughwide across a variety of platforms. This can include:

o   Sharing information about foster recruitment on social media.

o   Adding a link to https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/fostering/ onto email signatures.

o   Adding a section on foster recruitment to our local newsletters/ updates if this is appropriate, and not attached to any party-political messaging.

o   Sharing information on foster recruitment with Parish and Town councils, local schools and community organisations so that these groups can also help to disseminate information.

Additional information:

GCC_2786 Fostering Generic A4 Poster_AW.pdf (govdelivery.com)

57.1          The Mayor referred to the Notice of Motion, as 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 bring a recommendation back to Council.

57.2          Upon being proposed and seconded, it was

RESOLVED           That the Motion would be discussed at this evening’s Council meeting.

57.3          The Motion, as set out on the Agenda, was proposed and seconded.  The proposer of the Motion advised that this Motion had also been considered by Gloucestershire County Council earlier this month and he felt that it was necessary to take a proactive approach to promoting fostering and to put on record the Council’s appreciation for the hard work of foster carers and what a difference they made to children’s lives.  As representatives of the community, it was necessary to ensure that Councillors had all of the necessary resources available to help. 

57.4          The seconder of the Motion indicated there was a crisis in Gloucestershire with children being moved outside of the county to Worcestershire due to a lack of foster carers.  This had a significant impact on children who had to change schools and move away from friends and family and support networks.  He felt that anything which could be done to keep them within the county should be done and that Gloucestershire County Council colleagues should be supported to ensure that foster carers were respected and valued.  The Council could play its part by promoting fostering on social media and acting as a facilitator in the community to encourage as many people as possible to come forward as foster carers.

57.5          During the discussion which ensued, a Member questioned what financial support was available for foster carers and the seconder of the Motion indicated that was not relevant to this particular Motion which was about doing as much as possible to promote fostering on behalf of the County Council; however, whilst foster carers did receive a full package of support, which contained elements for the foster carer themselves and to meet the needs of the child, it was not a job which was done for financial gain.  A Member sought clarification as to whether “adding a section on foster recruitment to our local newsletters/updates if this is appropriate, and not attached to any party-political messaging” was encouraging Borough Councillors to include information in leaflets or suggesting that it was not done on the basis that it was a political newsletter.  In response, the proposer of the motion confirmed it was the former as the intention was to encourage anyone to actively promote fostering in any material, whether that be leaflets or online; rather than making a political point, the purpose of the Motion was about coming together to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.

The Chair 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.

58.1          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.       

To approve the separate Minutes of the meeting on 25 July 2023. 

59.1          The separate Minutes of the meeting held on 25 July 2023, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.