Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the annual and ordinary meetings held on 27 May 2015 were presented and the Mayor was authorised to sign them as a correct record.

1. The Council observed a minute’s silence in memory of Honorary Alderman and Past Mayor Beryl Healy who died recently.
2. One of the first engagements that the Mayor attended in the new Mayoral year was the Eastbourne Carnival, which took place along the seafront on 30 May 2015.
3. The Mayor was very happy to attend an Eastbourne Special Olympics Athletics Competition at Eastbourne Sports Park on 14 June.  Special Olympics Eastbourne was set up in 2002 and is part of Special Olympics Great Britain.
4. On 14 June the Mayor and her Consort were very pleased to attend the annual Spring Festival at Upperton United Reformed Church. 
5. The Aegon International Tennis Final was held on 27 June at Devonshire Park.  Belinda Bencic beat Agnieszka Radwanska in three sets and the Mayor was pleased to present the winner with her trophy.
6. On the evening of 7 July, the Mayor attended the Ratton School Awards at the Winter Garden.  The event was packed with proud parents and the Mayor was very happy to celebrate the achievements of all the prize winning pupils.
7. The Mayor attended the opening ceremony of the 999 Emergency Services weekend on 11 July.  This year’s event was organised by the fire service and was very well attended.
8. The Willingdon Trees Community Games took place on 19 July and the Mayor was very happy to attend.  The event which took place in Holly Park featured human table-football, a bungee run, archery, donkey rides and rock climbing and was attended by hundreds of local residents.  Holly Park is a community park, created on Council land 5 years ago by Places for People in conjunction with the Council and was funded by a £500,000 Big Lottery Green Spaces grant.
9. On 22 July the Mayor presented the cheque to her chosen charity for 2014/15, Care for the Carers.  The Mayor’s Charity Committee raised just under £9,000 during the course of the year, with events such as the Mayor’s Charity Masked Ball, Sponsored Swim and Quiz Nights all contributing to the fundraising efforts.  The funds will be used to support Young Carers in Eastbourne.
10. The Mayor’s Charities for this year will be RNLI Eastbourne Lifeboats and The JPK Project and the Charity Committee are busy organising fundraising events.  The events coming up in the next few months include a Car Washing Day on 19 August in the Town Hall Car Park – come along and have your car washed for £5.00, a Quiz Night in the Court Room with Fish and Chip Supper on 18 September and The Story of Eastbourne Lifeboats with Cheese and Wine takes place on 25 September at the Town Hall.

Apologies for absence were reported from Councillors Holt, Murray and Smethers.

Declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) by members as required under Section 31 of the Localism Act and of other interests as required by the Code of Conduct (please see note at end of agenda).

Councillor Bannister declared a disclosable pecuniary interest and withdrew in respect of item 29 below by virtue of her spouse’s employment with the East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.

The Mayor reported the submission of an emergency motion to be considered regarding the Eastbourne District General Hospital. 

The reason for this matter being presented as an urgent item was that information regarding the resignation of the Chief Executive of ESHT came after the deadline for the submission of motions and to leave it until the next scheduled meeting would be too late to influence the future process.

Resolved: (Unanimously) That Council procedure rules be suspended in order that an emergency motion can be moved on the subject of the management of East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust as a matter of urgency on the grounds as set out above and in accordance with Section 100B4 of the Local Government Act 1972.

Report of Senior Head of Regeneration, Planning and Assets.

Council considered the report of the Senior Head of Regeneration, Planning and Assets on progress to amend the cycling-related promenade byelaw. 

Council at its meeting on 7 May 2014 had authorised officers to obtain approval from the Secretary of State for an amendment to the current byelaw to enable the Council to allow, where appropriate, both un-segregated and segregated shared use of the seafront promenade by cyclists and pedestrians. 

Council was advised that approval was now sought for the continuation of the legal process and proceed with the formal amendment of the byelaw which had been granted provisional approval by the DCLG.  It was noted that confirmation by the DCLG would be required following a statutory one month consultation period. The DCLG would take account of representations made and the Council’s responses, and if satisfied give a commencement date, which would usually be a calendar month after the date of confirmation.

Council had received for consideration three representations from local residents received after the publication of the agenda.  These would be passed to the DCLG as part of the consultation process.

Council was advised that the amended byelaw would enable the implementation of the proposed new seafront route along the promenade between the Wish Tower and Fisherman’s Green.  There were no plans to change existing cycling arrangements from the Wish Tower to Holywell or from Fisherman’s Green to Sovereign Harbour.  It was noted that the subsequent detail and design of how this route would be implemented falls under the remit of East Sussex County Council and would have full regard to safety issues.

The DCLG had acknowledged that changes to its provisional approval procedures had made the process more complex and generated additional work for officers.  Council took the opportunity to thank officers for their considerable work to get to this stage of the process

Ms Felicity Goodson on behalf of Bespoke cycle group and Mr Stephen Kittoe, resident of Eastbourne addressed the Council on this matter.

It was proposed by Councillor Wallis, seconded by Councillor Tutt and:

Resolved: (By 15 votes to 8 with 1 abstention) (1) That the Assistant Director of Corporate Services (Legal and Democratic) for the shared Lewes and Eastbourne Legal Services be authorised to make and seal the Amending Byelaw in the Department for Communities and Local Government’s (the ‘DCLG’) provisionally approved format.

(2) That the Senior Head of Regeneration, Planning and Assets be granted delegated authority to respond to any queries that may be raised with the Council by the DCLG, following any representations being made to the DCLG during the period of public consultation after the byelaw is made by the Council and before it is confirmed by the DCLG.

Note: As a result of a proposal from Councillor Taylor and seconded by Councillor Tutt, it was agreed that the above vote should be named. The voting record was as follows:

For: Councillors Bannister, Choudhury, Dow, Hearn, Mattock, Miah, Rodohan, Sabri, Salsbury, Shuttleworth, Swansborough, Tester, Tutt, Ungar and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

The following motion was proposed by Councillor Swansborough and seconded by Councillor Murdoch:

"Eastbourne Borough Council welcomes the decision of the Chief Executive of our District General Hospital to resign following mounting pressure, including a motion by this Council at the last meeting.

This Council renews its concerns at the ongoing tenure of Stuart Welling and calls upon the NHS Trust Development Authority and ESHT to engage with our Hospitals Champion, Liz Walke and all interested parties to ensure the right Chief Executive is in position to secure a sustainable, fully functioning hospital. Eastbourne Borough Council pledges to support that process."

With the consent of the Council, the NHS Trust Development Authority was added in addition to ESHT as an engagement partner. 

Honorary Freeman Liz Walke, the Council’s Hospitals Champion addressed the meeting in support of the motion.

Resolved: That the motion as amended be approved.

Members of the Council who wish to raise items for discussion (council procedure rule 14) on any of the minutes of the meetings of formal council bodies listed below must submit their request to the Senior Head of Corporate Development and Governance no later than 10.00 am on Wednesday 22 July 2015. A list of such items (if any) will be circulated prior to the start of the meeting.

The following are appended to this agenda:-

The minutes of the following Council Bodies were submitted to this meeting:

No items for discussion were raised on the above minutes.  In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 14 it was:

Resolved: That the minutes of the above Council Bodies be accepted.