Agenda and minutes

To approve as correct the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 1 September 2021

(Note: If any Member wishes to propose an amendment to the minutes they should submit this in writing to committeeservices@horsham.gov.uk at least 24 hours before the meeting.  Where applicable, the audio recording of the meeting will be checked to ensure the accuracy of the proposed amendment.)

The minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 1 September were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any declarations of interest from Members

Item 6(c) The Drill Hall:  Councillor Martin Boffey declared a personal interest because he is a member of the Royal British Legion, as well as a Local Member for Trafalgar Neighbourhood Council.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman of the Council, the Leader, Members of the Cabinet or the Chief Executive

Councillor David Skipp, Chairman of the Council, invited Members to join him at the Civic Service on Sunday 17 October.  It was an opportunity to acknowledge the Council and to meet socially after a period when this has not been possible.

Councillor Paul Clarke, Leader of the Council, paid tribute to Roy Cornell who had passed away on 23 September.  As a Councillor, he had been patient, helpful and honest, and always did his best for his constituents.  Other Councillors joined the Leader in honouring his memory.

Councillor Claire Vickers, Cabinet Member for Community & Wellbeing, announced that she had written to GP practices regarding the difficulty some residents had in making appointments, and confirmed that GPs were doing their utmost to help patients.  The ongoing Covid booster jab programme meant that they continued to be exceptionally busy.  In order to ensure residents understood the pressure the surgeries were under and the measures put in place to manage the demand on their services, she will be working with GPs on an awareness campaign in the local media.

Councillor Chris Brown, Cabinet Member for the Local Economy, gave an update on the recovery of businesses following the unprecedented challenges of recent times. He outlined some of the initiatives the Economic Development Team were working on, which were largely made possible by funding from government, including the ARGs (Additional Restrictions Grants) and the Welcome Back Fund, which supported the safe return to high streets.  He thanked the Economic Development Team and those involved in partnerships across the district for their work in supporting local businesses.

Councillor Philip Circus, Cabinet Member for Environment, Waste, Recycling & Cleansing, announced that the Director of Waste Services at WSCC had attended a WSCC Climate Change Board meeting where he gave assurance that DEFRA had confirmed there would be financial support for local authorities for introducing food waste collections.

The Chairman of the Council advised that the Council was taking legal advice on the water neutrality issue raised by Natural England and further information would be given to Members once available.

To receive questions from the public under Rules 4a.2(f) and 4a.8-18

No questions relevant to the business of the meeting had been received.

To receive the recommendations from the meetings of Cabinet held on 23 September and 7 October and, if approved, to adopt the recommendations therein:

Horsham District Council Housing and Homeless Strategy 2021 – 2026 (report of the Cabinet Member for Housing & Public Protection online at: Agenda Item 6 )

Local Enforcement Plan and CIL Enforcement Policy (report of the Cabinet Member for Planning & Development online at:  Agenda Item 8 )

Drill Hall (report of the Cabinet Member for Leisure & Culture online at: Agenda Item 5 )

(a)        Horsham District Council Housing and Homeless Strategy 2021-2036

Councillor Tricia Youtan, Cabinet Member for Housing & Public Protection, stated that the proposed Housing and Homeless Strategy would build on the Council’s excellent record on delivering affordable homes, and support local residents in housing need in a number of ways. 

The strategy would be delivered in a phased way, setting out a clear pathway to achieving its objectives.  The first phase would be a review of the key service areas, followed by detailed action plans with measurable outcomes, and then the implementation of these proposed actions.

The Cabinet Member was asked what percentage of affordable rented homes provided in recent years had been for social rent, and she agreed to provide this information after the meeting.   

The proposal was seconded by Councillor Kate Rowbottom, who congratulated the Cabinet Member and officers on the proposal.

RESOLVED

i)          That the Council’s Housing and Homelessness Strategy 2021-2026 be adopted.

REASON

i)        To ensure the Council fulfils its statutory responsibility of having a current Housing and Homelessness Strategy.

ii)       To give the Housing and Homelessness Service clear direction and objectives that will guide decision-making, projects and priorities over the next five years.

(b)       Local Enforcement Plan and CIL Enforcement Policy

Councillor Lynn Lambert, Cabinet Member for Planning & Development, outlined the reasons why the Council needed to update its Local Enforcement Plan and introduce a new Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Enforcement Policy.  The motion to adopt the polices was seconded by Councillor Tim Lloyd.

The proposed Local Enforcement Plan took into account current legislation and the recent review of the Council’s Planning Compliance Service.  It set out how the Council monitors the implementation of planning permissions, investigates alleged cases of unauthorised development and takes action where appropriate.  The Cabinet Member confirmed that the Plan had been updated to reflect comments made at the Cabinet meeting on 23 September.

The CIL Enforcement Policy would publicise the penalties for non-payment of the CIL charges and help to ensure the collection of funds runs smoothly by making it clear to those liable to pay the levy the likely consequences for non-payment or late payment.  The Chief Executive confirmed that there wasn’t a large outstanding debt as the policy was being introduced when collections are about to start.

RESOLVED

i)        That the Local Enforcement Plan be adopted.

ii)       That the CIL Enforcement Policy be adopted.

REASON

i)        Local Enforcement Plan

It is necessary to update the adopted March 2016 Local Enforcement Plan to take account of current legislation and the review of the Planning Compliance service which was undertaken by the Planning Advisory Service in 2019.

ii)       CIL Enforcement Policy

In order to publicise the penalties for non-payment of the CIL charges and to ensure that the Council does not lose out financially by non-payment and having to carry out additional tasks as a result of non-payment.

(c)        The Drill Hall

A representative of the Royal British Legion (RBL) addressed the Council on the proposal to lease the Drill Hall  ...  view the full minutes text for item CO/42

To receive reports from representatives on outside bodies

Councillor Diana van der Klugt, the Council’s representative on the South Down National Park, reported on three items:

·         The SDNP was producing an Area Action Plan regarding the future of the Shoreham Cement works, which proposed the site as an exemplar of sustainable mixed-use development.  There would be public consultation at a later stage.  

·         A nature recovery campaign had been launched in July called ReNature.  The SDNP were working with partners with a view to increasing the amount of the National Park that was managed for nature from 25% to 33%.

·         Councillor van der Klugt outlined the implications of the position statement by Natural England on water neutrality for Pulborough Brooks and the Arun valley.

Governance Committee:  Louise Potter in place of Frances Haigh

Environment, Waste, Recycling & Cleansing PDAG:  John Milne in place of Louise Potter

The changes were noted.

To consider three Notices of Motion, submitted in accordance with Rule 4a.26 of the Council’s Constitution by:

(a)        Liz Kitchen

(b)        Mike Croker

(c)        Louise Potter

The Chairman of the Council stated that three notices of motion had been received in accordance with Rule 4a.26 of the Council’s Constitution. In order to dispose of each motion, Council agreed that the time allocated to this item be extended beyond the 30 minutes allowed in the Constitution.

The following Motion was moved by Councillor Liz Kitchen, Cabinet Member for Planning & Development, and seconded by Councillor Mike Croker:

‘I move that this Council repeats its previous decision to object to the use of the emergency runway at Gatwick as a second runway, on the grounds of more noise and pollution not only from the extra flights but added congestion on the already struggling infrastructure.

‘Until most aeroplanes are zero carbon, which is many years away, any extra flights from Gatwick would set back our efforts to reduce carbon emissions, which are already at exceptionally high levels in some areas of our District. HDC is already committed to tackling climate change.

‘Whilst acknowledging the undoubted economic benefits the existing airport brings to the area and the extra 20,000 jobs it promises, it will cause yet more strain on our already overstretched housing numbers.

‘To support the expansion of Gatwick Airport would be a contradiction to the climate change objectives of this Council.’

The Cabinet Member for Planning & Development echoed the proposer’s comment that any economic benefits had to be weighed against the resulting strain on infrastructure and the need to improve the district’s environment.

Members debated the motion with comments of support and, on being put the motion was declared CARRIED.

The following Motion was moved by Councillor Mike Croker, and seconded by Councillor Philip Circus, Cabinet Member for Environment, Waste, Recycling & Cleansing:

‘In 2018, at COP24, the UK Government signed up to having ‘domestic institutional

arrangements, public participation and engagement with local communities’ so localities can play their part in delivering the UKs ‘Nationally Determined Contributions’ in the Paris Climate Agreement.

‘In May 2021 Alok Sharma MP, President of COP26 said Collaboration would be a key objective of the climate summit: "Governments, business and civil society (sometimescalled ‘non-state actors’ and including local government) need to work together totransform the ways we power our homes and businesses, grow our food, developinfrastructure and move ourselves and goods around"

‘Despite these agreements and statements there is still no formal relationship allowing a joint partnership working between Local and National Government on climate action.

‘This Council therefore resolves to:

- add our voice in this year of COP26 to calls by the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport & others for a joint local & national government Task Force to plan action to reach ‘net zero’ emissions. Such a partnership could propose appropriate regulations, establish benchmarks and targets and propose the much needed long-term funding mechanisms to enable local communities and economies to decarbonise whilst remaining resilient and sustainable.

- write to Alok Sharma MP, President for COP26 , the Prime Minister  ...  view the full minutes text for item CO/45

To receive questions from Members under Rules 4a.20(b)-25

No questions had been received.

To receive the recommendation from the meeting of the Cabinet held on 7 October and, if approved, adopt the recommendations therein:

Budget for Consultancy Support for the Gatwick Development Consent Order (report of the Chief Executive is online at: Agenda item 6 )

The Chairman advised that this item had been considered as an urgent by Cabinet because of the tight timescales involved.

Councillor Paul Clarke, Leader of the Council, introduced this item on behalf of the Cabinet Member for Finance & Assets.  The consultation by Gatwick Airport Ltd on the Development Consent Order (DCO) to bring the standby runway into routine use would end on 1 December.  In order to work within the legislative timescales there was a need to prepare a comprehensive consultation response quickly.  Given the complexity and scale of the consultation, a budget to pay for consultants with specialist skills and knowledge was required.  Councillor Clarke advised that other local authorities were taking similar action. 

The proposal for a reserve budget was seconded by Councillor Stuart Ritchie. 

RESOLVED

i)       To set up an earmarked reserve of £100,000 for use on consultants for the Council’s response to the Development Consent Order;

ii)      To delegate to the Director of Place in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Development the uses of this budget/reserve.  

REASON

i)        A budget is needed to ensure the Council gains the advice it needs to ensure optimal outcomes for the Development Consent Order.

ii)       The delegation is needed because we do not yet know the full detail of the work involved and the Consultation process has a tight set legislative timeframe to work within.