Venue: The Anglia Room, Committee Suite, Elizabeth House, Dereham
No. | Item | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Minutes (Agenda item 1) To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 26 June 2007. Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 26 June 2007 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
|
||||||||||||||||
Apologies (Agenda item 2) To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Mr S Chapman-Allen, Mr M Fanthorpe, Elizabeth Gould, Mr J Gretton, Mr M Griffin, Mr D Myers, Mr M Spencer, Mrs P Spencer and Mrs L Turner.
|
||||||||||||||||
Declarations of Interest (Agenda item 3) Members are asked at this stage to declare any interests they may have in any of the following items on the agenda.
The Members’ Code of Conduct requires that declarations include the nature of the interest and whether it is personal or prejudicial.
Minutes: The following declarations were made:
Messrs W Smith and P Claussen declared a personal interest in Cabinet Minute No. 79/07 of the meeting held on 18 June 2007 as non-executive directors of the ARP. Mr Smith and Mr Claussen remained in the room whilst this item was being discussed.
Mr A Stasiak declared a prejudicial interest in Development Control Committee Minute No. 120/07(h) of the meeting held on 23 July 2007 as it was his own application.
Mr P Cowen declared a personal interest in Cabinet Minute No. 85/07 of the meeting held on 17 July 2007 the nature of which related to his connection with providing architectural services.
Lady K Fisher declared a personal interest in the following items:
Mr T Lamb declared a personal interest in Council Agenda item 7(a) for the reason that he was a governor of Thetford Grammar School.
Mr R Kybird declared a personal interest in the following items:
Mr S Askew, Mr J W Nunn and Mrs A Steward declared a personal interest in Minute No. 95/07 of the Cabinet meeting held on 17 July 2007 the nature of which related to their connection with agricultural businesses.
Mr P Francis and Mrs S Howard-Alpe declared a personal interest in Development Control Committee Minute No. 120/07(h) of the meeting held on 23 July 2007. The nature of their interest related to them being political colleagues of the applicant.
Mr J Rogers declared a personal interest in Minute No. 120/07(i) of the Development Control Committee meeting held on 23 July 2007 for the reason that he knew the applicant.
|
||||||||||||||||
Chairman's Announcements (Agenda item 4) (including the engagements of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman) Minutes: The following announcements were made:
A list of engagements attended by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman was tabled, for the period 26 June to 1 August 2007, which included:
|
||||||||||||||||
Committee Minutes (Agenda item 5) |
||||||||||||||||
(i) Confirmed minutes of the meeting held on 18 June 2007.
Members are reminded that the recommendation at Cabinet Minute No.
70/07 was accepted by Council on 26 June 2007. (ii) Unconfirmed minutes of the meeting held on 17 July 2007.
Additional documents: Minutes: (i) Cabinet: 18 June 2007
Members were reminded that the recommendation at Cabinet Minute No. 79/07 had been accepted by Council on 26 June 2007.
RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 18 June 2007 be adopted.
(ii) Cabinet: 17 July 2007
1) Dereham Town Centre Development (Phase 2) – Compulsory Purchase Matter (Minute No. 85/07)
A Member queried the need for the Council to be involved if it had no financial interest in the redevelopment. He asked if the Council had ever used its statutory powers to acquire land other than for itself in the past. The Member was advised that the Council had not applied this practice for the past 15 years; however, a piece of legislative practice had been included so that both parties would be treated fairly. An independent arbitrator would be used to ensure that a fair price was paid for the said land. The Order would complete the re-development and thus contribute to the commercial growth of the town.
2) Match Funding Progress Report as at 31 March 2007 (Minute No. 87/07)
The Executive Member for the Cabinet Office hoped that the Council would continue to support this initiative. He informed Members that the match funding scheme had been a great success. For every £1 of Breckland revenue match funding a further £14 had been invested and for every £1 of Breckland capital match funding a further £15 had been invested in the Breckland and Norfolk area. The total amount of Breckland revenue funding together with the total capital value of Breckland’s capital projects were highlighted.
3) Social Inclusion Strategy (Minute No. 88/07)
The Executive Member for the Cabinet Office asked Members to endorse the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) Social Inclusion Strategy for Breckland. He recognised that there was still much to be done to address social exclusion in Breckland, and that LSP partners needed to work together to achieve this. Social exclusion affects vulnerable deprived and isolated people across the District. The consultation had highlighted families at risk such as those suffering with mental health domestic violence or relationship problems. The strategy would build on Breckland’s successful record of supporting local communities. Congratulations were conveyed to the Team for all their hard work on this matter.
RESOLVED that the LSP Social Inclusion Strategy for Breckland be endorsed.
4) Young People in Breckland – Strategic Framework (Minute No. 91/07)
The Democratic Services Manager advised that Cabinet had recommended that Councillor D Irving be appointed Young People Champion.
RESOLVED that
a) a District Forum be developed that engages Young People in the work of the District Council;
b) Mrs D Irving be appointed the lead elected member asYoung People Champion; and
c) a revised planning formula through the Local Development Framework (LDF) be considered to ensure that the new housing development contributed appropriately to good quality open space and play provision.
5) Transfer of Public Conveniences to Town Councils (Minute No. 94/07)
The Democratic Services Manager pointed out that part (1) ... view the full minutes text for item 87/07a |
||||||||||||||||
Overview and Scrutiny Commission Unconfirmed minutes of the meeting held on 5 July 2007 Minutes: i) Review of Breckland Council’s CCTV System (Minute No. 75/07)
A Member expressed doubts about the usefulness of CCTV systems as, in his opinion, they never provided the necessary evidence when required. He asked if there was any real advantage in the Council continuing to support this review to which other Members disagreed. The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission pointed out that the Member should have either attended the Overview and Scrutiny Commission meeting where a very thorough debate had been held on the matter, or read the paper that had been provided by the Acting Operations Manager for Community Services. Another Member was thankful that the CCTV systems were in place, as without these, the crime and disorder incidents would not have been reduced.
ii) Adoption
RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission meeting held on 5 July 2007 be adopted.
|
||||||||||||||||
Development Control Committee
(i)
Confirmed minutes of the meeting held on 2 July 2007 (ii) Unconfirmed minutes of the meeting held on 23 July 2007 Additional documents: Minutes: i) Development Control Committee: 2 July 2007
RESOLVED that the confirmed Minutes of the Development Control Committee meeting held on 2 July 2007 be adopted.
ii) Development Control Committee: 23 July 2007
1) Item 16 of the Schedule of Applications – Carbrooke (Minute No. 120/07(i))
A Member was assured that the letters he had requested had been sent to the relevant parties.
2) Adoption
RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Development Control Committee meeting held on 23 July 2007 be adopted.
|
||||||||||||||||
General Purposes Committee Unconfirmed minutes of the meeting held on 4 July 2007 Minutes: i) Review of Polling Districts and Polling Places (Minute No. 41/07)
A Member urged all Councillors to make contributions to the debate for consideration by the Working Group.
ii) Community Safety – Domestic Violence and Hate Crime Co-ordinator (Minute No. 46/07)
The Chairman of the General Purposes Committee informed Members that he had now received sufficient information from the Safer Communities Manager to enable him to support the required two posts. The matter would be discussed in full at the General Purposes Committee on 8 August 2007.
iii) Adoption
RESOLVED that the Minutes of the General Purposes Committee meeting held on 4 July 2007 be adopted.
|
||||||||||||||||
Unconfirmed minutes of the meeting held on 11 July 2007 Minutes: RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Appeals Committee meeting held on 11 July 2007 be adopted.
|
||||||||||||||||
Unconfirmed minutes of the meeting held on 12 July 2007 Minutes: RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Standards Committee meeting held on 12 July 2007 be adopted.
|
||||||||||||||||
Strategic Alliance (Standing Item) (Agenda item 6) To receive a presentation from the Business Transformation Director Minutes: The Business Transformation Director was in attendance and provided Members with a presentation that outlined the different phases that the Council was involved in with the Strategic Alliance.
The Strategic Alliance focused on putting customers first and delivering excellent, affordable services, through:
(A copy of the presentation is attached to these Minutes for information).
Members were informed that a report with a recommendation would be presented to the next meeting of the Full Council.
At the end of the presentation questions were invited.
A Member wondered whether the Strategic Alliance could be implemented in part as there were a few services that did not require serious funding. In response, Members were informed that the Transformation Champions had come up with a number of improved suggestions and he would be discussing the best way to move forward on these matters with the Executive Support Member.
In response to a question, the Business Transformation Director assured Members that Phase 1 had incorporated a robust business plan to take forward to Phase 2.
A Member asked whether the Strategic Alliance process had been re-assessed since it was first agreed. The Chief Executive informed the Council that this had been one of the questions that he had first asked on his recent arrival. He had been wholly content with the review that the Council had achieved entering into Phase 2 and he anticipated that Phase 3-Trading- would have the desired outcome.
The Executive Member for Strategic Alliance thanked the Business Transformation Manager for his sterling work. He was pleased that the Council was moving forward into Phase 2. Phase 2 would involve much more detailed negotiations and he assured Members that much of the risk element would be shared with the Council’s partner Capita.
|
||||||||||||||||
Nominations for Committee and Other Seats (Agenda item 7) To receive nominations for any changes to Committee and other seats from political groups. Minutes: RESOLVED that the following changes be noted:
1) Development Control Committee
Alec Byrne to replace Kate Millbank
2) General Purposes Committee
Shirley Matthews to replace Theresa Hewett
|
||||||||||||||||
Representatives on Outside Bodies 2007-08: Thetford Grammar School Charity Report of the Interim Deputy Chief Executive Minutes: RESOLVED that Derek Mortimer be reappointed as the Breckland Representative.
|
||||||||||||||||
Thetford Youth Council (additional item) Minutes: At the end of the meeting Tory Hill, the Chairman of Thetford Youth Council, thanked Members for the invitation to attend Full Council. He also thanked Members for accepting the application for the Youth Grant.
Members were reminded that a buffet lunch had been provided for the Youth Council and for Members who were attending the Risk Management Training at 1.00pm.
|