Minutes of Council Wednesday 14 December 2011 at 7.30 P.M
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Council Meeting Wednesday 14 December 2011 Crawley Borough Council Minutes of Council Wednesday 14 December 2011 at 7.30 p.m. Present: Councillor C R Eade (Mayor) Councillor B K Blake (Deputy Mayor) Councillors M L Ayling, S A Blake, Dr H S Bloom, N Boxall, K Brockwell, B J Burgess, R G Burgess, A L I Burke, L A M Burke, R D Burrett, C A Cheshire, A C W Crane, D G Crow, V S Cumper, C L Denman, J I Denman, L R Gilroy, I T Irvine, M G Jones, S J Joyce, P K Lamb, R A Lanzer, C C Lloyd, B MeCrow, C Oxlade, B J Quinn, A J E Quirk, D J Shreeves, B A Smith, G Thomas, K J Trussell, L A Walker and K Williamson. Also in Attendance: Mr P Nicolson – Independent Member (Chair of the Standards Committee). Officers Present: Lee Harris Chief Executive Ann-Maria Brown Head of Legal and Democratic Services Peter Browning Director of Environment and Housing David Covill Director of Resources Kevin Eason Head of Arts Phil Rogers Director of Community Services Roger Brownings Democratic Services Officer 66. Apologies for Absence Councillors S Kaur and J L Millar-Smith. 67. Statement by the Mayor In referring to instances of speakers being interrupted during debate and other procedural matters at the Council’s last meeting in October, the Mayor reminded Members generally (for this and future Council meetings) of the appropriate code of conduct and rules of debate, when proceeding with Council business. In response to the Mayor’s reminder that Members should clearly indicate which Council procedure rule or law had been breached on occasions when raising a point of order, some Members requested that a summary of the rules and laws concerned, which could be 1 Council Meeting Wednesday 14 December 2011 quickly associated with the point of order being made, be produced for Members’ future guidance. 68. Members’ Disclosures of Interests The disclosures of interests made by Members were set out in Appendix A to the minutes. In having provided advice at the meeting on issues raised by Members regarding disclosures of interests generally, the Head of Legal and Democratic Services indicated that she would continue to encourage any Member of the Council to consult with her if, for any reason, they had any associated doubts. 69. Communications South and South East in Bloom Awards 2011 Councillor Walker as Cabinet Member for Leisure and Cultural Services was proud to confirm Crawley’s significant achievements arising from these awards. Councillor Walker, on behalf of the Council, conveyed his congratulations to all involved, including the staff concerned and the many people involved within the community, for their magnificent effort and commitment in achieving these successes. As a result of this outstanding performance, Crawley had been nominated by South and South East in Bloom to compete at national level in Britain in Bloom 2012. This nomination had since been accepted by the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) Britain in Bloom. 70. Public Question Time No questions were asked. 71. Appointments (a) Crawley Arts Council - Nominations for replacement representative for Councillor Cumper. The Conservative Group had proposed the nomination of Councillor S A Blake. RESOLVED That Councillor S A Blake be nominated as the replacement representative for Councillor Cumper to serve on the Crawley Arts Council. (b) Overview and Scrutiny Commission It was reported that, in accordance with the power delegated to her and in concurrence with the wishes of the political group, the Head of Legal and Democratic Services had with effect from 8 November 2011, appointed Councillor Cumper to replace Councillor B J Burgess as a Conservative Group Member on the Overview and Scrutiny Commission. 2 Council Meeting Wednesday 14 December 2011 72. Minutes The minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 19 October 2011 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor. 73. Items for Debate (Reserved Items) Members indicated that they wished to speak on a number of items as set out in the following table: Minute Committee/ Subject Subject Book Minute no. Page (Decisions previously (Recommendation to no. (and the Member taken under Council, reserved for reserving the item for delegated powers, debate) Debate) reserved for debate only). Agenda Item 5 (b) Appointments – Overview and Scrutiny (Labour Group) Commission. 41 Overview and Scrutiny Public Question Time Commission 7 November 2011 Minute 51 (Labour Group) 41 Overview and Scrutiny Tree Scrutiny Panel – Commission 2nd Annual Update 7 November 2011 Minute 53 (Labour Group) 42 Overview and Scrutiny Update on Coping with Commission Snow and Icy 7 November 2011 Conditions – 2nd Minute 54 Update (Labour Group) 44 Overview and Scrutiny Portfolio Discussion Commission with the Deputy Leader 7 November 2011 and the Vice Chair of Minute 57 the Cabinet (Labour Group) 45 Overview and Scrutiny Scrutiny Panels – Commission Youth Provision 7 November 2011 Scrutiny Panel Minute 60 (Labour Group) 3 Council Meeting Wednesday 14 December 2011 Minute Committee/ Subject Subject Book Minute no. Page (Decisions previously (Recommendation to no. (and the Member taken under Council, reserved for reserving the item for delegated powers, debate) Debate) reserved for debate only). 50 General Purposes Changes to the Committee. Constitution 14 November 2011 Minute 17 (Recommendation 1) (Councillor Burrett and Labour Group ) 51 General Purposes Changes to the Committee. Leader’s Scheme of 14 November 2011 Delegation Minute 18 (Councillor Burrett (Recommendation 2) and Labour Group ) 71 Standards Committee The Future of 15 November 2011 Standards – Localism Minute 30 Bill 2010 (Labour Group) (Recommendation 3) 92 Overview and Scrutiny Portfolio Discussion Commission with the Cabinet 28 November 2011 Member for Leisure Minute 71 and Cultural Services (Labour Group) 97 Cabinet Treasury Management 30 November 2011 Mid Year Review Minute 50 2011/2012 (Councillor Lanzer and (Recommendation 4) Labour Group) 99 Cabinet Statement of 30 November 2011 Community Involvement Minute 52 – Revised (Councillor Lanzer and (Recommendation 5) Labour Group) 100 Cabinet 30 November 2011 *Land West of the High Minute 54 Street: Potential Use of Compulsory Purchase (Councillor Lanzer and Powers Labour Group) (Recommendation 6) 4 Council Meeting Wednesday 14 December 2011 Minute Committee/ Subject Subject Book Minute no. Page (Decisions previously (Recommendation to no. (and the Member taken under Council, reserved for reserving the item for delegated powers, debate) Debate) reserved for debate only). 102 Cabinet 30 November 2011 *The Hawth Theatre: Minute 55 Future Management (Councillor Lanzer and (Recommendation 7) Labour Group) Mayor’s Announcement - *Part B items The Council was reminded that as was the usual practice, the minutes of all meetings were recorded in Part A. On this basis, when the minutes came before the Council they could be debated in open / public session unless exempt information was likely to be discussed. In view of the nature of the business to be transacted in terms of the items on the Land West of the High Street and The Hawth Theatre (both Part B Items and asterisked in the Reserved Items list above), it was considered likely that exempt information would be disclosed. With this in mind, the Mayor announced that she was intending to defer the debates on both those items until the end of the meeting and in closed session. In response to this matter, and with particular reference to the Hawth item, Members of the Labour Group considered that this item should be discussed in open session and that this could be undertaken without exempt information being disclosed. Whilst acknowledging the views of those Members, the Mayor confirmed that bearing in mind the commercial sensitivity of the information associated with both items, and the advice received at this meeting from the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, she intended to move the discussion of those items until the end of the meeting, which would then be in closed session 74. Reports of the Cabinet, Overview and Scrutiny Commission and Committees Moved by Councillor B K Blake (as the Deputy Mayor) and RESOLVED That the following reports be received: (a) Development Control Committee – 10 October 2011 (b) Development Control Committee – 31 October 2011 (c) Licensing Committee – 2 November 2011 (d) Overview and Scrutiny Commission – 7 November 2011 (e) Cabinet – 9 November 2011 (f) General Purposes Committee – 14 November 2011 (g) Standards Committee - 15 November 2011 (h) Development Control Committee – 21 November 2011 (i) Overview and Scrutiny Commission – 28 November 2011 (j) Cabinet – 30 November 2011 5 Council Meeting Wednesday 14 December 2011 Recommendations to Council not Reserved for Debate (Unreserved Items) Whilst at this point (and as indicated in the agenda) it was to be moved that the recommendations to Council, which had not been reserved for debate be adopted, this was not now necessary as all the recommendations to Council had, on this occasion, been reserved for debate. 75. Reserved Items The matters identified in Minute No. 73 above were debated by the Council. These included: (a) Matters raised under the report of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission – 7 November 2011 (i) A matter was raised in relation to Public Question Time (Minute no. 51). Councillor Ayling referred to the fact that the 7 November Commission meeting was held at the Bewbush Centre with a view to taking meetings into the community and thus seek to encourage greater public attendance. Whilst bearing in mind these objectives, and in response to questions from Councillor Ayling, the Chief Executive indicated that whilst he was not aware of the precise details at that time, he would ensure that information would be made available to Members regarding what arrangements had been made to promote the meeting, including whether additional funds had been invested for that purpose.