Agenda and minutes

Venue: Park Suite, Parkside, Chart Way, Horsham

Contact: Email: CommitteeServices@horsham.gov.uk  Direct Line: 01403 215465

Items
No. Item

CO/26

Minutes pdf icon PDF 74 KB

To approve as correct the minutes of the meetings of the Council held on:

(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.)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the meetings of the Council held on 21st June and 5th July 2017 were approved as correct records and signed by the Chairman.

CO/27

Declarations of Members' Interests

To receive any declarations of interest from Members

Minutes:

Councillors Andrew Baldwin, Liz Kitchen, Paul Marshall and Christian Mitchell all declared personal interests in the notice of motion in support of a new Horsham Parkway railway station, by virtue of them also being Members of West Sussex County Council.

 

Ann-Maria Brown also declared an interest in the notice of motion as she was an officer of Crawley Borough Council and had been in attendance at a meeting of that Council when a motion supporting a new railway station at Kilnwood Vale had been considered.  She indicated that she would withdraw from the meeting for the consideration of this item.

CO/28

Announcements

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

Minutes:

The Chairman advised Members that he had, the day before, attended a ceremony for the presentation of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise to Mindtools of West Grinstead.

 

The Cabinet Member for Waste, Recycling and Cleansing commented on a recent report by the Local Government Ombudsman which highlighted an increase in the number of complaints it had upheld in respect of council waste and recycling services across England in the last year.  The report highlighted that many of its upheld complaints related to councils who had outsourced their waste services.

 

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Public Protection reported that she and the Chairman would be attending the opening ceremony for Burstow Court, the new temporary accommodation development in the Bishopric, on Thursday 7th September.

 

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets reminded Members that there would be a joint meeting of the Finance and Assets and Local economy Policy development Advisory Groups on 11th September and of items on the Forward Plan including business rates relief and the Gigabit West Sussex project.

CO/29

Questions from the Public

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

 

Minutes:

Mrs Sheila White asked the following question:

 

With regard to these so-called minor application categories, research by your residents (and supplied to the Planning Director, Dr Lyons) has unsurprisingly shown that the number of such cases "called for Committee determination" by either residents, Parish Councils or Councillors is extremely small.  Since 2010 the average has been one case per year.

 

Please explain, therefore, why you feel it is necessary to remove that right, which is clearly only judiciously used when, rarely, such an application is causing concern.  This "right" has obviously no relevance to the purported objective of the changes, so why are you restricting it?

 

Councillor Michael Willett, the Chairman of the Governance Committee replied as follows:

 

I would like to thank Mrs White for her question.

 

As the Local Planning Authority, we are obliged to ensure that we make the best possible decision in each and every case and that we do so in a timely manner.  Given the volume of planning applications and related submissions that we receive it is vitally important that every aspect of our planning administration and decision making is as efficient and effective as possible.  A key part of this is to ensure that the more routine and less controversial matters are dealt with by the Director under a scheme of delegation that has been approved by Council.  This, in turn, allows the planning committees to concentrate on cases of wider and greater significance.

 

It is also important to stress that whoever is making the decision on a planning application – whether that is the Director or a Planning Committee – letters of representation from neighbours and others are carefully considered and taken into account.

 

The changes to the scheme of delegation that the Governance Committee debated and agreed to recommend to Council today were framed with those points very much in mind.

 

Turning to the specifics of this question, it is important to recognise that the categories referred to all concern developments of a very minor nature which are not normally controversial.  Indeed the rarity of requests to refer these matters up to committee in the past underlines that point.

 

Failure to make decisions in a timely manner has consequences.  Some years ago we came close to being placed into special measures because the speed of our decision making was not meeting the standards required by Government.  We have come a long way since then thanks to a lot of hard work by the Director and his team.  We need to ensure that we continue to run a tight ship and do not risk introducing unnecessary delays.

 

In addition to the special measures risk, we could also run the risk of non-determination appeals and if the scheme of delegation enabled prior approval and prior notification submissions to be referred to committee for decision we would face the very real prospect of running out of time to determine them.  In those circumstances the law states that the applicant would benefit from a deemed  ...  view the full minutes text for item CO/29

CO/30

Recommendation from Governance Committee of 16th August 2017 pdf icon PDF 128 KB

To receive and, if approved, adopt the recommendation of the Governance Committee of 16th August 2017 on changes to Parts 3.2.2 and 3.6.2 of the Constitution.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Two members of the public addressed the Council in objection to the recommendation regarding proposed changes to the Constitution relating to the delegation of certain planning functions.

 

The Council received the minutes of the meeting of the Governance Committee held on 16th August 2017 and Councillor Michael Willett, the Chairman of the Committee, moved the recommendation contained in Minute GO/18 – Changes to the Constitution of Horsham District Council.  Councillor David Coldwell seconded the proposal.

 

Members debated the proposal, with particular reference to the proposed exceptions to Part 3, Paragraph 3.2.2 (c) 5 in respect of the ability of Members to refer applications to planning committee for determination.

 

It was moved by Councillor Brian O’Connell and seconded by Councillor Peter Burgess that the proposed changes be amended by the removal of exception clauses v (Applications for works to trees in a Conservation Area) and vi (Applications for works to trees covered by a Tree Preservation Order) from Part 3, Paragraph 3.2.2 (c) 5.  On being put, the amendment was declared CARRIED.

 

It was then moved by Councillor Tony Hogben and seconded by Councillor Nigel Jupp that Part 3, Paragraph 3.2.2 (c) 5 of the Constitution, as amended by the above motion, be further amended by the removal of exception clause viii (Applications for a non-material amendment).  On being put, this amendment was declared LOST.

 

The substantive motion was then put and it was

 

            RESOLVED

 

            That the amendments to the Constitution, as set out in the Appendix to these minutes, be approved.

 

            REASON

 

            To comply with Article 13, Review and Revision of the Constitution.

CO/31

Pay Policy Statement 2017/18 pdf icon PDF 115 KB

To receive the report of the Chief Executive (Head of Paid Service)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chief Executive reported that the Localism Act 2011 required local authorities to prepare and publish a Pay Policy Statement annually.  

 

The Pay Policy Statement for 2017/18 had been updated in order to comply with the requirements of the Act and to incorporate changes to pay bandings as a result of increases in the Living Wage (Foundation), the National Living Wage and the various bands of the National Minimum Wage (applicable to casual employees below the age of 25 in some grades only).  

 

The statement set out the Council’s policies relating to: Chief Officer remuneration; remuneration of the lowest paid employees; and the relationship between Chief Officers’ remuneration and that of other employees.

 

The publication of this information was a statutory requirement, ensuring transparency and, once approved, the Pay Policy Statement for 2017/18 would be published on the Council’s website.

 

            RESOLVED

 

            That the Pay Policy Statement 2017/18 be approved for publication.

 

            REASON

 

            To comply with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011.

CO/32

Notice of Motion

To consider the following Notice of Motion, submitted by Councillor Claire Vickers in accordance with Rule 4a.26 of the Council’s Constitution:

 

“Motion in support of a new Horsham Parkway railway station at land north of Horsham and the maintenance of rail services at Littlehaven Halt”.

 

Background Summary

1.     Two new rail stations are proposed between Littlehaven and Ifield stations, on the railway line between Horsham and Crawley. Both proposed stations are within Horsham District. One is at Kilnwood Vale adjacent to the district’s boundary with Crawley and the other is a “Parkway” station on the Land North of Horsham development. Business cases have been submitted to the Department for Transport (DfT) by the developers of both these sites.  The DfT has however indicated that only one new station could be allowed and this would require the closure of Faygate station. The final decision lies with Network Rail and the  DFT.

2.     On 19 July 2017, Crawley Borough Council (CBC) passed a notice of motion to adopt a formal position of support for the construction of a new railway station at Kilnwood Vale. CBC agreed to write to Network Rail to make a formal submission in support of Kilnwood Vale and to WSCC requesting that it also adopts a position of support for this site.

3.     Both developments are located within Horsham District and so the Council is informing the DfT, before it  makes a decision, which option it believes would bring the greater benefits.

4.     Where  to locate something as important to the population and the district as  a new railway  station is very much a  decision that has long term implications. It is clearly important therefore to look at a minimum 7-10 year and beyond  horizon and try to judge the long term difference the geographical position  of a new station would make  based on a number of factors a) the future predicted homes numbers  and businesses within reasonable distance likely to use a station b) ease of access c) parking availability d) the effect on existing rail station provision.

 

a) The immediate potential catchment would be:

 

For Horsham Parkway

Land West of Horsham, Broadbridge Heath, Southwater, land North of Horsham (both residential & business park), existing residents in northern Horsham and along the A264 to the west of Crawley.

 

For Kilnwood Vale

The Kilnwood Vale development itself, existing and future residents in western Crawley and north Horsham.

 

b) ease of access:

Both stations would be reached from the A264. Horsham Parkway access would be located immediately off the road close to its roundabout junction with A24 and attract commuters off the A264 at an earlier point than Kilnwood Vale which is approximately 4 miles further along the road and where access to a station would be through roads that serve residential areas.

 

c) Parking availability

Parkway would have 600 places and Kilnwood Vale 200 places.

 

d) Existing stations

In June 2014 Network Rail completed a project costing £4.5m improving Littlehaven Halt station and extending  ...  view the full agenda text for item CO/32

Minutes:

(Councillors Andrew Baldwin, Liz Kitchen, Paul Marshall and Christian Mitchell all declared personal interests in this item, by virtue of them also being Members of West Sussex County Council.

 

Ann-Maria Brown, Interim Monitoring Officer declared an interest in this item as she was an officer of Crawley Borough Council and had been in attendance at a meeting of that Council when a motion supporting a new railway station at Kilnwood Vale had been considered.  She withdrew from the meeting for the consideration of the item.)

 

A member of the public addressed the Council in opposition to the notice of motion.

 

The following Motion, of which notice had been given in accordance with Rule 4a.26 of the Council’s Constitution, was then moved by Councillor Claire Vickers and seconded by Councillor Paul Clarke:

 

Motion in support of a new Horsham Parkway railway station at land north of Horsham and the maintenance of rail services at Littlehaven Halt”.

 

Background Summary

1.     Two new rail stations are proposed between Littlehaven and Ifield stations, on the railway line between Horsham and Crawley.  Both proposed stations are within Horsham District.  One is at Kilnwood Vale adjacent to the district’s boundary with Crawley and the other is a “Parkway” station on the Land North of Horsham development.  Business cases have been submitted to the Department for Transport (DfT) by the developers of both these sites.  The DfT has however indicated that only one new station could be allowed and this would require the closure of Faygate station. The final decision lies with Network Rail and the DFT.

2.     On 19 July 2017, Crawley Borough Council (CBC) passed a notice of motion to adopt a formal position of support for the construction of a new railway station at Kilnwood Vale.  CBC agreed to write to Network Rail to make a formal submission in support of Kilnwood Vale and to WSCC requesting that it also adopts a position of support for this site.

3.     Both developments are located within Horsham District and so the Council is informing the DfT, before it makes a decision, which option it believes would bring the greater benefits.

4.     Where to locate something as important to the population and the district as a new railway station is very much a decision that has long term implications.  It is clearly important therefore to look at a minimum 7-10 year and beyond horizon and try to judge the long term difference the geographical position of a new station would make based on a number of factors a) the future predicted homes numbers and businesses within reasonable distance likely to use a station b) ease of access c) parking availability d) the effect on existing rail station provision.

 

a) The immediate potential catchment would be:

 

For Horsham Parkway

Land West of Horsham, Broadbridge Heath, Southwater, land North of Horsham (both residential & business park), existing residents in northern Horsham and along the A264 to the west of Crawley.

 

For Kilnwood Vale

The Kilnwood  ...  view the full minutes text for item CO/32

CO/33

Members' Questions on Notice

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

Minutes:

No questions had been received.

CO/34

Urgent Business

To consider matters certified by the Chairman as urgent

Minutes:

There was no urgent business.

Appendix to Council Minutes pdf icon PDF 56 KB