Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - The Guildhall, Marshall's Yard, Gainsborough, DN21 2NA

Contact: Katie Coughlan  Governance and Civic Officer

Media

Items
No. Item

44.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 103 KB

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the previous meeting.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

(a)       Minutes of Meeting held on 4 September 2017

 

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meeting held on 4 September 2017 be confirmed and signed as a correct record, subject to it being noted that Councillor Bruce Allison had been in attendance and that this should therefore be reflected within the Minutes

 

 

 

45.

Members' Declarations of Interest

Members may make any declarations of interest at this point and may also make them at any point during the meeting.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Ian Fleetwood declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to the Motion regarding EMAS as he had a close friend who was senior within the organisation.

 

46.

Matters Arising pdf icon PDF 57 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer noted that all items due for completion were showing black, as having been completed.

 

The one remaining green item, was not yet due for completion and progress was being made with a number of parish council consultation events being held in November.

 

Reference the black action entitled, “motion re SWW referral to PC Cttee”, in response to a Member’s concern regarding the delay, Officers indicated it was intended this matter would be considered by the Prosperous Communities Committee at its meeting in December.

 

RESOLVED that the Matters Arising be noted.

 

 

47.

Announcements

i)              Chairman of Council

ii)             Leader of the Council

iii)            Head of Paid Service

Additional documents:

Minutes:

i)          Chairman of the Council

 

The Chairman addressed Council advising it had been a very busy period.  Over recent weeks she had had the pleasure of attending a number of Events and Civic Services, including her own for which she thanked those Councillors who had attended.  Reference was also made to the following: -

 

·         Attendance at the Scampton Airshow, which had proven to be a great success

·         The Annual Remembrance Service at Hemswell Cliff, which was very well supported

·         Lincolnshire County Council’s Civic Service

·         An opportunity to view the promotional film for the Wolds at the Kinema in the Woods in Woodhall Spa

·         Gainsborough Town Council’s Civic Service

·         The Annual Aero Club Presentations at Hemswell

·         The dedication of a cross to commemorate the Beechey Brothers, at Freisthorpe.  These were eight brothers, five of whom had died in WW1, this had been particularly moving.

·         The Annual Armistice Commemoration in Gainsborough Market Place, thanks were again offered to those Councillors who had supported the event.

·         The Remembrance Service and Parade in Caistor.  Organisations from Beavers and Brownies through to the Royal British Legion were present in force

 

It was also with sadness that the Chairman advised that she had represented the Authority at two funerals, those of former District Councillors Stuart Curtis and Roy Schofield.

 

ii)      Leader of Council

 

The Leader addressed Council and advised that he too had had the pleasure of attending Scampton AirShow, an event which the Council had sponsored.  He shared his personal view of how he felt the event had gone but indicated the sponsorship would now be reviewed in terms of benefits realised.

 

The Leader also advised he had undertaken two days training regarding the Local Government Pension Scheme and the pooling of funds across 12 counties/districts in a bid to create efficiencies and access new investment markets.

 

The Leader had also attended the Remembrance Service at Hemswell making reference to the act of children laying a single flower. He had been proud to be part of the community and this had been a touching and heart-warming experience. 

 

The Leader had also participated in the re-signing of the Armed Forces Covenant by invitation of RAF College Cranwell.  The Lincolnshire Armed Forces Covenant was a voluntary statement of mutual support between local civilian communities and local armed forces communities.  The Leader outlined the contents of the Covenant and its intentions.  During his discussion with Officers at RAF Cranwell the Leader advised he had learnt of plans in the future to bring more facilities to the site at Cranwell.

 

The Leader made reference to his attendance at the Chairman’s Civic Service which he considered had been very successful.

 

He had also attended the launch of a Joint Venture Company in Bassetlaw, aimed at building council housing on council and privately owned land.

 

The Leader had also attended a meeting of the Lincolnshire Leaders at which the CNN Member and 4 MP’s had been present in order to progress the fairer funding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.

48.

Public Question Time

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no questions from members of the public.

 

49.

Questions Pursuant to Council Procedure Rule No. 9

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Giles McNeill submitted the following question to the meeting:

 

The Department for Transport is looking at implementing changes to the Section 19 & 22 permit legislation. If realised this would dramatically affect the operation of community transport providers, such as Lincoln Area Dial-A-Ride, a group I represent the Council on as an outside body.

The proposed changes, if realised, will likely mean that Lincoln Area Dial-A-Ride, and groups like it, may not be able to continue to operate under the current permits and be forced to become licensed as either Private Hire or Passenger Carrying Vehicles.

The difficultly with this change is that Private Hire Vehicles are limited to carrying 8 passengers and therefore the current Lincoln Area Dial-A-Ride fleet would require modification to conform and for groups currently in excess of 8 passengers would now need more than one vehicle. The second difficulty is that with Passenger Carrying Vehicles all drivers would need the corresponding licence, which would not be viable for a service reliant on volunteers.

Will you undertake to consider this matter and use your good office to ensure that an important community service like Lincoln Area Dial-A-Ride is not disadvantaged and forced to cease operations because of these proposed changes in legislation?

 

Note:         Councillor Owen Bierley declared a non-pecuniary interest as the Councils representative on the merged Age UK Lindsey and Age UK North Lincolnshire, as they owned mini-buses and therefore would be affected by any changes.

 

The Leader of the, Councillor Jeff Summers, responded:-

 

The Department for Transport are proposing changes to Section 19 and 22 permit legislation which may considerably affect community transport providers across the country.

 

The changes would mean that the permits could not be used by transport providers that make anything other than a token payment for their transport services. As a result many transport operators will need to license their vehicles as private hire vehicles or passenger carrying vehicles.

 

Private hire vehicles are limited to carrying 8 passengers so would not be appropriate for minibuses. Licensing vehicles as PCV vehicles would require all drivers (including volunteer drivers) to have a PCV license which may not be viable for operators with large numbers of volunteer drivers.

 

We continue to work closely with Lincoln Area Dial-a-Ride and transport colleagues from Lincolnshire County Council to monitor the proposed changes and provide support where appropriate.

 

This is a very serious issue for an area of sparsity and I therefore propose we contact Councillor Martin Tet of the LGA to garner his support for a review of the proposals.”

 

Councillor McNeill welcomed the Leader’s response and clarified there would be a raft of community transport schemes across the District, not just Dial-a-ride, affected by these proposed changes, referencing potential in Market Rasen and other communities, it was on that basis it was hoped the suggested approach would be made in the widest sense for all affected community transport schemes.

 

Several other Members shared with Council local schemes, they knew of, which would be affected and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

50.

Motions Pursuant to Council Procedure Rule No. 10

1.         “Chairman

 

Many areas of our district including the highly populated centres of Market Rasen and Gainsborough are becoming increasingly marginalised amid money saving practices of the police, the NHS and the ambulance services, in favour of the city centre of Lincoln.

I hope that this council shares my deep concerns that the latest episode in this catalogue of neglect comes with the news that only one ambulance unit will be stationed in Gainsborough and most of the time will not even be there but could be anywhere in the East Midlands, potentially many miles away from life threatening situations.

Given that we are already half an hour from the nearest trauma unit even when the emergency services get on the scene - then it could be anything to an hour or more before an emergency is treated with the same quality of care that you would expect to receive anywhere else in this United Kingdom.

Why should our residents be at serious risk of losing their lives when in other places risk is minimised.

I call on this Council to support my motion condemning East Midlands ambulance service management for taking a step too far in withdrawing local ambulances to the Lincoln station and thus compromising public safety in West Lindsey. I ask that all Councillors sign a document condemning this decision and ask the ambulance service for its immediate reconsideration.

I know that Members from all parties are equally worried and therefore will be prepared to stand up and be counted by supporting my motion at this critical time.

I so move. “

Cllr Matthew Boles
Gainsborough

 

 

2.         “Chairman

 

Councilnotesthat:

 

·         In October 2015 aPeer review was undertakenof thePlanning service with the aimofidentifying longrunning issues and a meansto addressthem.

 

·         A follow-upreview wasundertaken after six monthsandthat goodprogresswasindicated,neverthelessthere were areasto addressand actions to be implemented

 

·         In the previouscivic year the Governance and Audit Committee formally requested that an auditbe undertaken, however thiswasdelayed pending the appointment of a permanentmanager for the department, neverthelessin January 2017 the Committee resolvedthat the audit be undertaken

 

·         That atthe meeting of theGovernance and Audit Committee on Tuesday, 7th November the internal auditreport regarding ofDevelopmentManagementwasconsidered

 

Councilresolvesto:

 

·         Welcome theoutcomesofthe internal audit ofDevelopment Management. Particularly the positive substantial assurancesgiven to thePlanning Service (Development Control) and the Monitoring of Section 106Agreements

 

·         Acceptthe outcome of the internal auditof Development Management.Noting thelimitedassurance given to PlanningEnforcementand to commit to supporting the actionsidentifiedin the report particularly with continued additional resources.

 

Iso move “

Cllr.GilesMcNeill

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Matthew Boles had submitted the following motion:-

 

“Chairman

 

Many areas of our district including the highly populated centres of Market Rasen and Gainsborough are becoming increasingly marginalised amid money saving practices of the police, the NHS and the ambulance services, in favour of the city centre of Lincoln.

 

I hope that this Council shares my deep concerns that the latest episode in this catalogue of neglect comes with the news that only one ambulance unit will be stationed in Gainsborough and most of the time will not even be there but could be anywhere in the East Midlands, potentially many miles away from life threatening situations.

 

Given that we are already half an hour from the nearest trauma unit even when the emergency services get on the scene - then it could be anything to an hour or more before an emergency is treated with the same quality of care that you would expect to receive anywhere else in this United Kingdom.

 

Why should our residents be at serious risk of losing their lives when in other places risk is minimised.

 

I call on this Council to support my motion condemning East Midlands Ambulance Service management for taking a step too far in withdrawing local ambulances to the Lincoln station and thus compromising public safety in West Lindsey. I ask that all Councillors sign a document condemning this decision and ask the ambulance service for its immediate reconsideration.

 

I know that Members from all parties are equally worried and therefore will be prepared to stand up and be counted by supporting my motion at this critical time.

I so move.

Cllr Matthew Boles
Gainsborough

 

The Leader responded to the Motion as follows: -

 

Thank you for bringing this concerning matter to our attention. The challenge of rural disparity and accessibility of health services in this area has, for some time, been of concern and consideration for this Council and a keen focus of the Health Commission.

 

It is important that we explore the evidence and information available about the proposals being considered by EMAS, and that we understand the specific considerations made about this area and the local impact.

 

Enquiries made with EMAS have shown that staff consultation is currently underway in respect of the proposed changes.

 

We have contacted EMAS with specific questions:

 

·         What is the reasoning behind the proposals to withdraw one of the two ambulances from Gainsborough?

·         What geographical area do they currently cover?

·         Will the coverage be affected by the new arrangements?

·         Has the rural nature of West Lindsey been adequately considered when this decision was taken?

·         Who was consulted about it?

·         How is it envisaged that the new arrangement is going to improve things for our residents?

·         Are there any alternatives?

A Gainsborough specific response has not been provided by EMAS at this stage. I agree that the East Midlands Ambulance Service should be asked to provide this further information and also evidence of the relevant equality impact assessments and safety assessments that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

51.

Modern.Gov - Demonstration and Presentation

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman advised that a new Committee Management System was to be shortly launched and this changed the way in which Elected members received their agendas and reports.  James Welbourn, Democratic and Civic Officer, was in attendance to give Members a short presentation.

 

During the presentation, Members received information on the tasks which could be undertaken using the new system, noting all of the other Local Authorities across Lincolnshire used the software.

 

Members were advised of the three main ways by which they would able to access their papers going forward, dependent on the device they used, and of the alert notification they would receive when papers became available.

 

It was noted that All Chair’s Briefings’ agendas would also be provided through Modern.gov as well, located in the ‘West Lindsey Private’ publisher on the app, or through the Extranet;

 

Once the system was fully rolled out to all Members, paper copies would generally no longer be available, except to members of the public. A paper agenda would be provided for Chairs of Committees should they want one.

 

Further details were provided regarding the App which was available for Windows devices and Ipads, and would be the main way Councillors would access their papers. The registration process was briefly summarised to Members together with information regarding the Apps functionality.

 

As this software would now provide a format by which exempt papers could be published Members were reminded by the Monitoring Officer of the requirements on Members regarding confidentiality and the need to treat the electronic documents, with the same regard as those previously issued on pink paper.

 

In conclusion Members were advised that to facilitate registration onto the new system a number of drop-in sessions had been arranged, details were provided.  Furthermore, Councillors were invited to book an individual session with any of the Democratic Officers over the coming weeks in order to complete their registrations.

 

The first meeting to solely use Modern.gov for the issuing of papers would be Full Council in January 2018. Until then, Modern.gov alerts would go out alongside the usual email.

 

The Chairman thanked Mr Welbourn for his presentation.  It was acknowledged that Members may have a number of questions specific to their own needs however it was suggested these would be best addressed through the individual sessions being offered or by contacting the Democratic Team direct.

 

A number of Members across the Chamber indicated that they had already registered to the system and had found it to be user friendly.  MAC book users confirmed it was compatible with their devices and in response to a question it was confirmed that the App was available in an android version.

 

 

 

 

 

52.

Adoption of Brattleby Neighbourhood Plan pdf icon PDF 149 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members were asked to give consideration to a report to fully ‘make’ (adopt) the Brattleby Neighbourhood Plan following a successful referendum.

 

Representatives from Brattleby Parish Council were in attendance and prior to Members debating the matter the Chairman invited them to make a short address to Council and present their successful Neighbourhood Plan.

 

Chairman of Brattleby Parish Council, Mike Spencer described the process gone through in the preparation of the Neighbourhood Plan and thanked a number of people for their hard work and support in the production of the Plan, and all those residents who had contributed. There was concern expressed regarding confusion as to the status and weight applied to Plans in their development stages, in relation to planning applications under consideration.  Reference was made to a particular application within the parish however Members indicated the presentation of the Plan was not a forum in which to discuss issues pertaining to a specific planning application.

 

Parish Councillor Spencer then formally presented the Plan to the Chairman.

 

It was moved, seconded and duly

 

RESOLVED that the Brattleby Neighbourhood Plan be adopted and made.

 

53.

Recommendation from Prosperous Communities Committee - Adoption of the CIL for West Lindsey pdf icon PDF 136 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members were asked to give consideration to a report which recommended that the Authority adopt a Community Infrastructure Levy.

 

The report was presented by the Chairman of the Prosperous Communities Committee and in doing so she advised the adoption of the Community Infrastructure Levy was a joint project between West Lindsey, North Kesteven, City of Lincoln and Lincolnshire County Council and had been ongoing for a number of years.

 

The purpose of the Community Infrastructure Levy was to support the implementation of the new Local Plan through the provision of strategically important infrastructure such as the Lincoln Eastern By-pass and Secondary Education which promoted the proposed growth targets for the plan period.

 

This report had been subject to scrutiny at Challenge and Improvement Committee and subsequently considered at Prosperous Communities Committee, as a result, there had been no changes to the content or recommendations in the report.

 

It had been accepted that Community Infrastructure Levy was quite a technical area therefore, appended to the report was a Frequently Asked Questions Fact sheet which provided basic information on the operation of CIL.

 

Additionally a series of training sessions for Members and Parish Councils would be hosted in the Spring of 2018.

 

Councillor Cotton as a member of the Joint Strategic Planning Committee spoke in support of the report and outlined the significant amount of work that had been undertaken to reach this stage of the process.

 

Members as whole were supportive of the proposal however Councillor Darcel wish to place on record that he considered far too much money was being directed towards the Lincoln Eastern Bypass.

 

Having being moved and seconded it was

 

RESOLVED that the RECOMMENDATION from the Prosperous Communities Committee be accepted and that the: -

 

 

(a)       modifications set out in the West Lindsey Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Examination Report (Appendix A to the report) to the Draft Charging Schedule be approved and incorporated into the West Lindsey CIL Charging Schedule;

 

(b)       West Lindsey CIL Charging Schedule, (Appendix B to the report), which had been amended to reflect the Examiner’s modifications, be adopted;

 

(c)       position statement provided by Lincolnshire County Council, as requested by the Prosperous Communities Committee, be accepted;

 

(d)       supporting policies Instalments and In-Kind and Regulation 123 List (Appendix C, D & E to the report), that were consulted upon alongside the Draft CIL Charging Schedule consultation, be approved;

 

(e)       CIL Charging Schedule be implemented on a date as soon as is practicable on or after 1 January 2018 and in alignment with the other Central Lincolnshire authorities;

 

(f)        The Chief Operating Officer be authorised to:

                       -set the implementation date as per resolution 5           above

                       -make minor changes to improve the presentation of   the CIL Charging Schedule

                       -improve the presentation, and where necessary,         clarification of supporting policy documents; and

 

(g)       a maximum 5% administration charge be applied when CIL is adopted.

 

 

54.

Recommendation from Prosperous Communities Committee - Amendment to Constitution - Delegations regarding Neighbourhood Planning pdf icon PDF 128 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Sheila Bibb, Chairman of the Prosperous Communities Committee, introduced the report and advised that at a meeting on 24 October 2017 her Committee had considered a report relating to Neighbourhood Plans: Priorities and Work Programme

 

One section of the report had detailed proposed amendments to the delegated powers of the Chief Operating Officer in relation to Neighbourhood Plans, in order to further streamline their journey through the Committee process, specifically to allow Neighbourhood Plans to proceed to Referendum without being considered by the Prosperous Communities Committee.

 

Constitutionally only Full Council could agree such amendments hence Prosperous Communities Committee had made a recommendation to Council, as set out in Section 1.4 (e)

 

The rationale for the change was detailed in Section 2 of the report.

 

Council was therefore requested to accept the recommendation from Prosperous Communities Committee and agree that the Constitution be amended in order to permit Neighbourhood Plans to proceed to referendum without the need for approval by Prosperous Communities Committee. 

 

In concluding her presentation Councillor Mrs Bibb moved the paper.

 

The Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee indicated he had been consulted on this proposed amendment and considered it a sensible and reasonable one.

 

Members were supportive of the proposal and it was duly seconded.

 

However Councillor Darcel expressed concern that the proposal would see a Councillor’s power to air concerns eroded and for this reason indicated he would be voting against the proposal.

 

RESOLVED that the RECOMMENDATION from Prosperous Communities Committee be accepted and the Constitution be amended as follows, in order to permit Neighbourhood Plans to proceed to referendum without the need for approval by Prosperous Communities Committee :-

 

“Part IV Page 40/ 41- Chief Operating Officer – Delegated Powers

 

The following delegated power be included:-

 

To accept the Examiner’s report and approve a neighbourhood plan may advance to Public Referendum following a successful independent examination in accordance with the Localism Act 2011 and the Neighbourhood Plan Regulations 2012”

 

Note:         Councillor Darcel requested that his vote against the above decision be recorded.

 

 

 

55.

Amendment to Committee Membership and Revised Appointments to Outside Bodies pdf icon PDF 132 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

The Chairman introduced the report which set out a number of amendments to the membership of Committees and representation on outside bodies which had been requested through the Administration.

 

The report set out the reasoning for each amendment.

 

Members were asked to agree the changes, as detailed in the recommendation box of the reports and in concluding her presentation the Chairman moved the paper.

 

Having being seconded and put to the vote it was: -

 

RESOLVED that: -

 

(a)    in accordance with the provisions of section 16 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and the wishes expressed by political groups, the Members set out below be appointed to serve on the Council’s Challenge and Improvement committee for the remainder of the 2017/18 civic year: -

 

Councillor Bruce Allison

Councillor David Bond

Councillor Paul Howitt-Cowan

Councillor Jessie Milne

Councillor Malcolm Parish

Councillor Roger Patterson

Councillor Di Rodgers

Councillor Lesley Rollings

Councillor Tom Smith

Councillor Lewis Strange

Councillor Anne Welburn

Councillor Angela White

 

(b)    Councillor Ian Fleetwood be appointed as the Council’s representative on Central Lincolnshire Joint Strategic Planning Committee (having formerly been the reserve) and Councillor Owen Bierley be appointed as the reserve representative.

 

(c)    Councillor Angela White be appointed as the Council’s representative on West Lincolnshire Domestic Abuse Service, in place of Councillor Pat Mewis.