Agenda and minutes

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Council dated 16 July 2018.

The minutes of the meeting held on 16 July 2018 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Apologies for absence were reported from Councillors Enever, Loraine and Wallraven.

Disclosure by councillors of personal interests in matters on the agenda, the nature of any interest and whether the councillor regards the interest as prejudicial under the terms of the Code of Conduct.

Councillor Smith declared a personal interest in agenda item 10 (Lewes District Local Plan Part 2: Site allocations and development management policies) as he had an acquaintance who owned one of the sites referenced in the report. He remained in the room and voted on the decision.

Councillor Saunders declared a personal interest in agenda item 6 (questions from members of the public) as a trustee of the CTLA. He remained in the room whilst the item was considered.

To receive any announcements from the Chair of the Council, Leader of the Council, Members of the Cabinet or the Chief Executive. A list of the Chair of the Council's engagements since the previous meeting is enclosed.

(i) Chair of the Council’s engagements

The Council received a list of the Chair and Vice Chair of the Council’s engagements carried out since the meeting of the Council held on 16 July 2018.

(ii)  Chief Finance Officer and Deputy Chief Finance Officer

The Chair and the Council welcomed Homira Javadi, Chief Finance Officer and Gareth Robinson, Deputy Chief Finance Officer to their first meeting of the Council.

Given that the majority of questions from members of the public were in relation to agenda item 10, the Chair agreed to consider agenda item 6 (Questions from members of the public) after agenda items 7 to 9.

To consider the recommendation from the meeting of the Scrutiny Committee held on 13 September 2018.

The Chair of the Council moved, and Councillor Denis seconded the motion, that the recommendations of Scrutiny Committee on the 13 September 2018, relating to the scrutiny annual work programme 2018/19 be approved.

Resolved (Carried):

That the annual work programme, as set out at appendix A of the report be approved.

Reason for decision:

Decision is in accordance with scrutiny procedure rule 7.

To deal with questions which members of the public may wish to put to members of the Cabinet in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11 (if any).

The following questions were submitted by members of the public. Copies were circulated to all councillors at the meeting and made available to the public attending the meeting.

Questioner: Paula Woolven

Question One:  I would like to ask if the administration consider that CTLA meets the criteria set out in their policy statement and are therefore worthy of applying for grant funding, to support the residents and communities of the whole District?

Former Coalition Local Government Secretary, Eric Pickles, said when publishing his code of practice in 2011 “Transparency and openness must underpin every decision a council makes for its residents.”

The funding scheme was not open to all the strategic voluntary sector organisations in the District who meet the criteria listed in the policy on grants to voluntary organisations and Equality and Fairness Analysis and I am asking if this could be reconsidered.

Response by Councillor Nicholson: Thank you for the information you have provided to us with about CTLA Community Transport.  You obviously provide a highly active and valued service in the area and we are sorry to hear that you had been experiencing financial challenges.

The Council recognised and valued the significant contributions that the community and voluntary sector play in delivering services to our residents.

Despite the challenging financial times, the council had continued to prioritise the allocation of grants totalling £216,840 to organisations which play a core role in the local communities of the district.

It was not currently council policy to conduct an open bidding process for grants, as we feel the organisations we currently fund are those which most closely meet our objectives and complement council services.

This policy was periodically reviewed, and we may in future choose to take a different approach. However, we intend that our grant decisions this year (which we would be making in February 2019) would follow the current policy and practice.

When considering the giving of grants, the council must always be mindful whether it is the most appropriate public body to support a particular cause or activity.  It was clearly the County Council who was the lead agency for matters of public transport, under which we would consider community transport to fall. We also note that you had previously received funds from the NHS for providing services.

In these times of diminishing resources, we must focus our spending on those areas which were within our own jurisdiction, and not on services which are for others to fund.  It was unlikely, therefore, even if we should establish a grants application process, that funding of community transport would command a high priority.

Question Two: Could I please ask how much of the development levies charged on new housing and other properties was dedicated to supporting Community Transport in the District?  There were considerable developments approved and were currently being built where residents may not be able to access public transport through a variety of reasons including disability, poor mobility, isolation and many other access barriers and I would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

Report of Director of Regeneration & Planning

The Council considered the report of the Director of Regeneration and Planning regarding the representations received to the Pre-Submission Local Plan Part 2. Council approval was sought to formally submit the Local Plan Part 2 to the Secretary of State for examination.

Councillor Jones moved, and Councillor Merry seconded the motion that the recommendations contained in the report be approved.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Smith and Cabinet member for Planning, Councillor Jones made a personal commitment to extend the consultation, detailed at resolutions two to four below, to all group leaders, on any minor modifications or editorial changes to the Plan that are made by the Director of Regeneration and Planning under delegated authority.

Councillors requested a named vote on the motion, in accordance with the council procedure rules.

For: Barnes, Bikson, Boorman, Catlin, Davy, Franklin, Gardiner, Giles, Harrison-Hicks, Jones, Linington, Maskell, Merry, Nicholson, Peterson, Sheppard, Smith, Turner (18)

Against: Amy, Botting, Carr, Chartier, Denis, Elliott, Gauntlett, Honeyman, Ient, Lambert, Murray, Neave, O’Keeffe, Osborne, Robertson, Rowell, Saunders (17)

Abstentions: Carter (1)

Resolved (By 18 votes to 17, with 1 abstention):

(1) To approve the submission of the Local Plan Part 2 to the Secretary of State under Regulation 22 of the Town & Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations for examination, along with the other submission documents required by the regulations as referred to in Paragraphs 7.2 and 7.3 of the report;

(2) To authorise the Director of Regeneration & Planning, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, to make minor editorial changes to the Local Plan Part 2 prior to submission to the Secretary of State;

(3) To authorise the Director of Regeneration & Planning, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, to prepare a schedule of minor modifications to the Local Plan Part 2 prior to submission to the Secretary of State;

(4) To authorise the Director of Regeneration and Planning, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, to respond to issues arising during the examination and to agree any further or revised minor modifications to the Local Plan Part 2 during the examination process;

(5) To approve and publish a revised Local Development Scheme with effect from 26 November 2018.

Reasons for decisions:

To ensure that the Local Plan Part 2 is progressed towards adoption in a timely manner, thereby supporting the implementation and delivery of the Local Plan Part 1: Joint Core Strategy through the allocation of additional development sites and up-to-date planning policies to assist in the determination of planning applications.

(N.B. Councillor Barnes withdrew for the remainder of the meeting following this item.)

Report of Director of Regeneration and Planning

The Council considered the report of the Director of Regeneration and Planning seeking approval for the further development and refinement of the Lewes District Council Plan as it moved into its third year.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Smith moved, and Councillor Catlin seconded the motion that the recommendations contained in the report be approved.

Councillor Rowell moved, and Councillor Denis seconded, an amendment as follows:

“To approve the officer recommendations, subject to the removal of the final bullet point under the success criteria for Housing and Development (Southern part of Newhaven Port area made accessible to development).

The amended motion was put to the meeting and:

Resolved (Carried):

That the design changes and updates to the Council plan, appended to the report be approved, subject to the removal of the final bullet point under the “Measuring our success” criteria for Housing and Development.

Reasons for decision:

During the period of a four year Council Plan, adjustments and refinements may need to be made to respond to changed circumstances and emerging opportunities. In acknowledgement of this an annual review is a helpful way of ensuring that the Plan remained focused on delivery of the organisations overall strategic objectives.

Report of Monitoring Officer

The Council considered the report of the Monitoring Officer to consider interim appointments of Independent Persons for Eastbourne Borough and Lewes District Councils to support the statutory standards regime.

The Chair of the Council moved, and Councillor Denis seconded the motion that the recommendations contained in the report be approved.

The motion was put to the meeting and:

Resolved (Carried):

(1) That Mr Neal Robinson and Mr Vic Kempner be confirmed as interim Independent Standards Persons across both Eastbourne Borough and Lewes District Councils until July 2019.

(2) That an updated recruitment be held in 2019 to confirm two appointments for the next 4 years with aligned job descriptions and remuneration packages across both Councils.

(3) That the specific remuneration of the Independent Persons appointed by the Councils be delegated to the Monitoring Officers.

Reasons for decision:

(1) To provide each Council with sufficient Independent Person cover.

(2) To align the terms, across both Councils, on which Independent Persons are engaged.

To agree the proposed draft calendar of meetings for 2019/20.

Please note: (1) Following member consultation, the proposed number of Planning Application Committee meetings has remained at 17 for 2019/20 with no reduction. (2) The calendar will be subject to final approval at the annual meeting of the Council on 15 May 2019.

The Chair of the Council moved, and Councillor Catlin seconded the motion that the draft calendar of meeting for 2019/20 be provisionally approved.

It was requested and agreed that the option of a fifth Council meeting be added to the final proposed calendar that would be considered by Council on 15 May 2019.

The motion was put to the meeting and:

Resolved (Carried):

That the draft calendar of meetings for 2019/20 be approved, subject to final ratification at the Council’s next annual meeting.

Reason for decision:

To facilitate the running of the Council’s business in the municipal year 2019/2020.

To note the appointments to the following committees, outside bodies and advisory boards:

·         Sussex Rural Community Centre (Action in Rural Sussex) - Councillor Linington replaces Councillor Nicholson

The Council noted the following appointment to an outside body:

·         Sussex Rural Community Council (Action in Rural Sussex) – Councillor Linington replaced Councillor Nicholson

Resolved:

That the appointment be noted.

To deal with questions (if any) which councillors may wish to put to the Leader of the Council. It will be at the Leader’s discretion to re-direct questions to relevant Members of the Cabinet. A councillor wishing to raise a question must notify the Chair of the Council of the text of the question prior to the commencement of the meeting. (NB This item is limited to a maximum of 5 questions, with no more than 1 question being asked per councillor. If a question requires a detailed or technical response, the Leader may decide that a written response is more appropriate).

To receive any reports from the Council's representatives who serve on outside bodies in respect of meetings they have attended.

The Council considered the reports submitted by the Chair of the Council (3VA) and Councillor Catlin (GTR Stakeholder Forum).

Councillor Catlin advised the Council that the date of line closures referenced in his report was the 7-10March 2019.

Resolved:

That the written reports submitted, be received and noted.