Minutes – Full Council (Special meeting) – 24 February 2020
The minutes of this meeting are presented below.
You can also download a PDF copy of the minutes here: Minutes – Full Council (Special meeting) – 24 February 2020
Additional papers referred to in the minutes are only available for download in PDF format as follows:
MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICHESTER HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, THE COUNCIL HOUSE, NORTH STREET, CHICHESTER ON MONDAY 24 FEBRUARY 2020 AT 6.00PM
PRESENT:
- The Mayor (Councillor Plowman), The Deputy Mayor (Councillor J Hughes), Councillors Apel, Barrie, Bell, Carter, Dignum, Gaskin, Gershater, Harry, C Hughes, K Hughes, Joy, Lishman, Scicluna, Sharp
IN ATTENDANCE:
- Town Clerk, Deputy Town Clerk, Planning Adviser, Macebearer, Mayoral/Administrator Assistant
ABSENT:
- Councillors Bowden and Norrell
61. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
As recorded above
62. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST BY MEMBERS IN MATTERS ON THE AGENDA FOR THIS MEETING
The Mayor pointed out that although this item was not on the Agenda it was important to note for this meeting.
The Mayor and Councillors Apel, Barrie, Bell, Dignum, K Hughes, Lishman and Sharp, as members of Chichester District Council declared a Personal Interest.
Councillor Bell, as the Chichester District Council Cabinet Member for Growth, Place and Regeneration declared a Personal Interest. Councillor Bell also declared a Personal Interest as a representative on the Southern Gateway (Chichester Vision) Steering Group.
Councillor Lishman, as an employee of Stagecoach, declared a Personal Interest and said that she would not take part in the Basin Road debate.
The Mayor then invited members to re-locate to the Assembly Room, where the Planning Adviser would give a presentation and answer questions about the Neighbourhood Plan prior to consideration being given to the rest of the items on the Agenda.
Councillor Bell expressed concerns about the wording of the questions in the survey about the Basin Road bridge/underpass which he felt could have been framed differently to avoid being read as a yes or no answer. The Mayor said that it was important to note that the Neighbourhood Plan was a Plan for the people of the City and not a Chichester City Council Neighbourhood Plan. He said that it was essential to engage with the community and to facilitate the residents to develop their own plan.
For ease of reference a copy of the presentation would be circulated to all members after the meeting and a copy is also attached to the minutes.
63. TO AGREE THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN STEERING GROUP
The Council considered the Terms of Reference and the Town Clerk said that he had included two amendments from the version previously circulated as follows:
(i) To ensure a report on the Neighbourhood Plan was presented to each meeting of the Planning and Conservation Committee, then to Council and
(ii) Standing Orders and Financial Regulations, including the Council authorising expenditure were complied with
The Council noted the comments of Councillor Gershater about the measurement of criteria for success from information gleaned as part of the Neighbourhood Plan process.
RESOLVED that the Terms of Reference of the Steering Group be approved and adopted.
64. TO REPORT ON EXPENDITURE SO FAR
The Mayor drew members attention to the summary of expenditure to date appended to the Agenda. The Deputy Town Clerk confirmed that the figure of £9,672.34 quoted was only until the end of January 2020.
65. TO APPROVE EXPENDITURE ON SPECIFIC STUDIES TO CONTRIBUTE TO NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN
The Council discussed the Planning Adviser’s report attached to the Agenda. It was noted that references to “residents” in the percentage responses should read: “respondents”.
RESOLVED that:
(i) the Council appoints the Planning Adviser on a full-time basis for the duration of the Neighbourhood Plan preparation, over and above the previously approved Neighbourhood Plan budget; this to be reviewed annually;
(ii) the planned future work on the Neighbourhood Plan, including the following work be approved:
- £9,250 for the Trees and Green Spaces study (including involvement of the Tree Wardens)
- £1,875 for the carbon output and reduction report (to include day rates and an investigation of air quality)
- £2,500 for Feria Urbanism Planning Consultants to provide process mapping and training for the Steering Group and Working group members. They would also be asked to give a professional opinion on work done to date on the Neighbourhood Plan
- That the consultants appointed work together to an overall strategy and to ensure co-ordination of their work
(iii) that a further £20,000 be allocated from CIL funds for the Neighbourhood Plan work (making a total of £70,000) notably the payment of the salary of the Planning Adviser;
(iv) It was proposed by Councillor Bell and seconded by Councillor Dignum, put to the vote and RESOLVED that a separate report on the Basin Road Feasibility Study (bridge/underpass) be deferred to enable the Steering Group to study the report and findings commissioned as part of the Southern Gateway Study (the Peter Bretts report).
The Planning Adviser was thanked for all her work in the preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan.
The meeting closed at 7.50pm