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Minutes – Full Council – 25 September 2024

The agenda and papers for this meeting are available here: Full Council – 25 September 2024 – agenda and papers

The minutes of this meeting are presented below.

You can also download a PDF copy of the minutes here: Minutes – Full Council – 25 September 2024

Papers received after publication of the agenda for circulation with the minutes (PDF download only):

MEETING OF COUNCIL

Minutes

Date: 25 September 2024

Time: 6.00pm – 7.45pm

Location: The Council Chamber – The Council House • North Street • CHICHESTER • West Sussex • PO19 1LQ

PRESENT: The Mayor, Councillor Quail, the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Loxton, Councillors Apel, Butler, Chant, Corfield, C Gershater, J Gershater, Hitchman, Knight, Kondabeka, McHale, Miall and Squire.

ALSO IN ATTENDANCE: Town Clerk, Deputy Town Clerk, Council Services and Support Manager, Project Manager, Mayor’s Chaplain, West Sussex County Councillor Simon Oakley, Chichester District Councillor Jonathan Brown, Kayla Ente (Brighton and Hove Energy Services Co-op (BHESCO), one member of the public.

38. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies were noted from Councillors Pramas, Scicluna and Vivian.

Councillor Moore was absent.

39. DISPENSATION REQUESTS

No requests had been received

40. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST BY MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL IN MATTERS ARISING ON THE AGENDA FOR THIS MEETING

No declarations were made.

41. MAYOR’S ANNOUNCEMENTS

        The Mayor advised that she had written to Chichester District Council expressing the City Council’s concerns regarding lack of burial provision in the city and the anticipated problems once capacity was reached.

        42. PUBLIC QUESTIONS

        No questions were received from members of the public pursuant to Appendix 1 of Chichester City Council’s Standing Orders (September 2020).

        43. PRESENTATION ON LOCAL AREA ENERGY PLANNING

            Kayla Ente, CEO and founder of Brighton and Hove Energy Services Co-op (BHESCO gave a presentation proposing how they could work with the City Council to apply for up to £40k of government funding available to help the City develop a community decarbonisation plan. (Powerpoint slides to be distributed with the minutes)

            Members were advised that BHESCO specialised in developing community energy strategies to help provide local energy investment and decarbonisation schemes.

            They were informed that the final plan would look at developing a pathway to net zero, opportunities for community energy generation projects and finally retrofitting and improving the energy performance of existing homes.

            Ms Ente said, if Members wished to see examples of their work, that she had worked with the Marches region (including Shropshire and Herefordshire), and also Ovingdean Council.

            In response to a question about how she thought the new government’s Great British Energy (GBE) would affect her work, Ms Ente advised that GBE were not intended to be a supplier; they would be an infrastructure funder and enabler for external funding, so this could be seen as a huge opportunity for local community energy schemes due to the additional funding opportunities it was expected to open up.

            Ms Ente was asked about her thoughts on including hydrogen in the energy mix. She expressed the opinion that hydrogen was good for large industrial processes and energy storage, but trials had shown it was not really viable for home heating with issues, including how it could be safely deployed at scale, which had not yet been resolved.

            Members asked about the ownership of the community energy schemes and how they retained a community benefit. Ms Ente responded that they would propose ownership vehicles that would allow the Council and community to invest and receive a return on their investment.

            Ms Ente advised that implementation, in particular funding, for the schemes was a challenge as there was no government funding for this at the moment. She also advised that people did want to invest when they understood the benefits it would bring them and that was still an area that they were working on. She gave the example of Brighton where they were working on a model which would create an investment fund so that people could take loans to finance improvements. These would then be paid back via Brighton City Council with a return rate on the investment.

            Members were informed that BHESCO could work with the City Council to optimise the funding that would be available to benefit the people that needed it the most.

            They were also informed that the rental market was very hard to reach and that BHESCO were still working on how to tackle this issue.

            Council RESOLVED that the Planning and Conservation Committee prepare a paper for the Council on the opportunities of a decarbonisation project, including other potential local partners we could work with (other than BHESCO).

            44. PRESENTATION ON CITY CENTRE PAVEMENTS

              The Town Clerk informed Council that, due to unforeseen circumstances, West Sussex County Council (WSCC) were unable to send an Officer to present to the City Council. They were further informed that a copy of the proposal had been supplied prior to the meeting and also reminded that WSCC had previously presented the request to the Planning and Conservation Committee on 12th September 2024.

              The Town Clerk shared the briefing document that WSCC had sent (attached as an appendix to the minutes) and advised that WSCC were requesting an additional commitment of £300K from the City Council to deliver the public realm elements of the preferred scheme. This would bring the total investment from the City Council to £400K.

              Councillor Miall joined the meeting at 6:38pm in advance of the vote.

              Councillor Apel left the meeting at 6:52pm in advance of the vote.

              Council RESOLVED to agree in principle to allocate up to £400K of CIL funds towards the scheme subject to Chichester City Council approval of the public realm elements within the final design scheme.

              45. MINUTES OF COUNCIL

                Proposed by Councillor C Gershater, seconded by Councillor Miall and RESOLVED to accept and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Meeting of Council held on 26 June 2024 and the minutes of the Extra Ordinary Meetings of Council held on 3 July 2024 and 31 July 2024.

                46. UPDATES ON ITEMS FROM THE LAST MEETING NOT COVERED BY THIS AGENDA

                  a) Diversity training (minute 19 refers)

                  The Town Clerk advised Members that she had arranged some dates for the diversity training being delivered in person by Chichester College and that sessions on 9 October, 26 October and 1 November from 9.30 to 3.30 were being made available.

                  She informed the meeting that all Councillors and Officers were expected to attend and that one of the sessions was on a Saturday to accommodate those who could not make it during the week.

                  The Town Clerk asked that those Members who had been mandated to attend by the Monitoring Officer should confirm their availability with her as soon as possible in case dates needed to be altered to allow their attendance.

                  Members were further informed that a booking link would be sent round to everyone so they could choose their preferred date.

                  48. MINUTES OF COMMITTEES

                  a) Planning and Conservation Committee

                  Councillor Butler, as Chair of the Committee, gave Members an update on the actions arising from the minutes of the meetings held on 18 July 2024 and 15 August 2024.

                  She advised that the minutes of the meeting held on 12 September were still in draft and would be presented at the next meeting of Council.

                  RESOLVED to note the receipt of the minutes and the updates given.

                  b) Community Affairs Committee

                  Councillor Chant, as Vice-Chair of the Committee, gave Members an update on the actions arising from the minutes of the meeting held on 2 September 2024.

                  RESOLVED to note the receipt of the minutes and the updates given.

                  c) Finance Committee

                  Councillor Miall, as Chair of the Finance Committee, presented the minutes of the meeting held on 4 September 2024.

                  He highlighted some of the matters raised, including the kitchen upgrades and cemetery capacity.

                  RESOLVED to note the receipt of the minutes of the meeting held on 4 September 2024.

                  Property Sub-Committee

                  Members noted receipt of the minutes of the Property Sub-Committee meeting held on 11 July 2024

                  Business Plan Sub-Committee

                  Councillor Miall, as Chair of the Sub-Committee commented on some of the points raised, including the replacement of the City Council’s tipper truck, the nascent proposal for a mini golf course in the city and the proposed public Town Hall meeting being planned for the 22 October 2024

                  Members noted receipt of the minutes of the Business Plan Sub-Committee meetings held on 30 July, 13 August and 10 September 2024.

                  Council then voted on the two items that had been highlighted for consideration:

                  RESOLVED to delegate final approval of the Business Plan Update Newsletter to the Town Clerk with agreement from the Chair of the Business Plan Sub-Committee.

                  RESOLVED to delegate final approval of the format and content of the Business Plan Update event on 22nd October 2024 to the Town Clerk with agreement from the Chair of the Business Plan Sub-Committee.

                  48. TO CONSIDER THE RESPONSE TO THE DRAFT CHICHESTER REGENERATION STRATEGY

                  Council considered the draft response that had been prepared by the Town Clerk following the workshop held on Friday 20th September 2024.

                  Chichester District Councillor Jonathan Brown explained the process that the strategy would go through at the District Council’s Cabinet and subsequent meeting of the full District Council.

                  RESOLVED to submit the response, as drafted, to Chichester District Council.

                  49. TO CONSIDER THE CHICHESTER DISTRICT COUNCIL DRAFT INFRASTRUCTURE BUSINESS PLAN (IBP)

                  The Town Clerk explained the purpose of the list of City Council items on the IBP.

                  After a short discussion it was RESOLVED to delegate authority to finalise the up to date list of projects to the Business Plan Sub-Committee.

                  50. REVIEW OF DELEGATION ARRANGEMENTS FOR COMMITTEES, SUB-COMMITTEES AND WORKING GROUPS, EMPLOYEES AND OTHER LOCAL AUTHORITIES

                  In response to questions from Members, the Town Clerk explained that, despite the scheme of delegation having been adopted less than 12 months previously, the review was part of the annual processes outlined in the City Council’s Standing Orders.

                  RESOLVED to make no changes to the scheme of delegation as adopted in March 2024.

                  51. REVIEW OF TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR COMMITTEES, SUB-COMMITTEES AND WORKING GROUPS

                  Further to the Town Clerk’s explanation in minute 50 above, RESOLVED to make no changes, at this time, to the terms of reference for the City Council’s Committees, Sub-Committees and Working Group as adopted in March 2024

                  52. REPORTS FROM REPRESENTATIVES ON OUTSIDE BODIES

                  The Chair advised that no reports had been received in advance of the meeting and any late updates would be circulated with the meeting minutes.

                  The Town Clerk reminded Members that she had circulated slides from the Chichester District Council All Parishes meeting held on 23 September 2024, prior to the meeting.

                  53. WARD REPORTS FROM CHICHESTER CITY COUNCILLORS

                  The Chair advised that no reports had been received in advance of the meeting and any late updates would be circulated with the meeting minutes.

                  54. REPORTS FROM CHICHESTER DISTRICT AND WEST SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL’S WARD MEMBERS

                  The Town Clerk noted receipt of the report from West Sussex County Councillor Simon Oakley and advised that that any late updates from Councillors would be circulated with the meeting minutes.

                  Chichester District Councillor Brown advised that he would send a report after the meeting, to be circulated with the minutes.

                  55. QUESTIONS

                    The Chairman noted that no questions had been received pursuant to Standing Order 8.

                    56. PUBLIC BODIES (ADMISSION TO MEETINGS ACT) 1960

                    RESOLVED that the public and press be excluded from this meeting for agenda item 20 (NOTE: agenda incorrectly referenced agenda item 19) due to the confidential nature of the business to be transacted namely financial and business affairs of third parties.

                    57. MATTERS RELATING TO THE MARKET HOUSE

                    The Council noted the update from the Clerk and, after a short discussion about the matters raised, RESOLVED to delegate authority to the Town Clerk to proceed with the reassignment of the head lease to Elswick Developments.

                    58. ITEMS FOR INCLUSION ON THE NEXT AGENDA

                          • Draft budget – 2025-2026
                          • Feedback on the Chichester District Council regeneration strategy meeting outcomes
                          • Town Hall meeting update

                          59. COMMON SEAL

                          RESOLVED that the Common Seal be affixed to any documents necessary to give effect to the resolutions passed at this meeting.

                          DATE OF NEXT ORDINARY MEETING: 18 December 2024 at 6.00pm

                          The meeting closed at 7.45pm

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