A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Council and councillors

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Catmose, Oakham, Rutland, LE15 6HP

Contact: Kit Silcock 

Items
No. Item

1.

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed all parish representatives to the Parish Council Forum.

2.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Apologies were received from the following:

 

 

Cottesmore Parish Council

Mrs R Powell

Ward Member for Whissendine

 

3.

NOTES OF THE LAST MEETING

To confirm the Notes of the Parish Council Forum held on 15 July 2019.

Minutes:

The notes of the Parish Council Forum held on 15 July 2019 were confirmed as a correct record by parish representatives and were signed by the Chairman.

4.

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE LAST MEETING

To discuss any matters arising from the Parish Council Forum held on 15 July 2019.

Minutes:

There were no matters arising from the last meeting.

5.

"TALKBACK"

To receive updates from parish representatives on organisations they represent which might be of interest to other members of the Forum.

Minutes:

The Chairman stated he had organised a visit to the Oakham Fire Station for county councillors and a small number of parish representatives. The visit was a success and the Chairman felt a further visit could be organised for more parish representatives.

 

Mr Gordon Brown, Chairman for Barrowden Parish Council reminded the Forum that in 2018 the Parish Council Forum agreed for Barrowden Parish Council to make an application to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government regarding the relationship between Building Control and Planning during the construction of property.

 

After 12 months, rather than the required 6 months, and chasing from the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), Barrowden Parish Council received a response from the then Minister for Housing, Kit Malthouse. However, Barrowden Parish Council thought the response was not satisfactory and missed the point of the proposal.

 

Barrowden Parish Council would appeal the decision and resubmit the application to government asking that interaction between planning officers and building control inspectors needed to be made a statutory obligation.

6.

CONDUCT COMMITTEE

Phil Horsfield – Deputy Director Corporate Governance (Monitoring Officer) – wishes to present an item regarding the Conduct Committee at Rutland County Councillor, detailing the role of the Committee and to remind parishes that they have been invited to nominate a representative.

 

An invitation to Town and Parish Councillors to express their interest in the vacancies went out with a closing date of 14 August 2019 but only one nomination, which was subsequently withdrawn, was received by the deadline. The deadline for receipt of nominations has now been extended until the end of October. Those who express an interest will be invited to complete an application form and candidates will be shortlisted by the committee for interviews to take place in November.

 

(20 minutes, including 10 minutes for questions)

 

Minutes:

Mr Phil Horsfield – Deputy Director Corporate Governance (Monitoring Officer) presented an item regarding the Conduct Committee at Rutland County Council, detailing the role of the Committee.

 

The Conduct Committee is responsible for the promotion and maintenance of high standards of conduct within the Council, including:

 

·         To advise the Council and parish councils on the adoption or revision of their Code of Conduct;

·         To monitor and advise the Council and parish councils about the operation of their Code of Conduct; and

·         To assess, consider and determine complaints of breaches of a Code of Conduct.

 

The input of parishes was essential to ensure the good operation of the conduct framework. There were currently two parish representative vacancies on the Conduct Committee.

 

Mr Horsfield highlighted that the Code of Conduct was the work of members (who are the ones that enforce it) rather than the Monitoring Officer.

 

7.

HIGHWAYS UPDATE pdf icon PDF 365 KB

Councillor Lucy Stephenson – Portfolio Holder for Culture and Leisure, Highways, Transportation & Road Safety – to present an item regarding the following in relation to Highways in Rutland:

 

·         Hedge/Vegetation cutting – A follow up from issues raised over the summer – how Parishes can help in the first instance and what has been done by the Highways team to improve the situation.

·         Winter Maintenance – Reminder of policy including the snow warden scheme and communications with key organisations.

·         Community Speed Watch – Introducing plans to have one in Rutland, the work involved, and what the next steps are.

 

(35 Minutes, including 15 minutes for questions)

 

Minutes:

A presentation was received from Councillor Lucy Stephenson, Portfolio Holder for Highways. A copy of the presentation would be appended to the minutes.

 

During discussion the following points were noted:

 

      i.        Mr G Brown noted that the Council was looking into bringing all digital services into one location on the website, making it easier for residents to access the services of the Council.

    ii.        The Council would grit the main roads, along with roads in and out of villages.

   iii.        You can clear snow and ice from pavements yourself. It is unlikely you would be held responsible if someone is injured on a path or pavement if you have cleared it carefully. 

   iv.        If further grit bins were needed, this would need to go through Parish Councils and they would pay for them. Rutland County Council would fill the bin for free twice.

    v.        Community Speed Watch schemes were a great way for the community to work in partnership with the police and authority to tackle speeding.

   vi.        If interested in joining, Parishes should send their interest to governance@rutland.gov.uk and list possible locations that would benefit from data being collected.

  vii.        RCC would provide the training and equipment for those that are part of the Community Speed Watch.

8.

TRANSFER OF LAND

Councillor Gordon Brown, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Environment, Planning, Property, and Finance, to provide information regarding land owned by the County Council in villages, that may be of more use to the Parish Councils.

 

(10 minutes, including 5 minutes for questions)

 

Minutes:

Mr Gordon Brown, Portfolio Holder for Environment, Planning, Property, and Finance notified the Forum that there were small parcels of land that currently belonged to RCC, including open spaces, play areas, and verges. If there were any pieces of land in a village or town in Rutland that the Parish wishes to take over control they should contact landcharges@rutland.gov.uk. There would be no cost for the transfer of ownership.

9.

ST GEORGE'S BARRACKS AND LOCAL PLAN UPDATE

To receive an update regarding St George’s Barracks and the Local Plan from Councillor Gordon Brown.

Minutes:

Councillor Gordon Brown, provided the Forum with the following statement regarding St George’s Barracks and the Local Plan:

 

“Colleagues will recall that the last Parish Forum I reported on the background and progress of the St George’s site and the Local Plan.

 

Officers are reaching a conclusion on the Sustainability Appraisals covering social, economic and environmental assessments of the individual sites which have been put forward by landowners and developers along with reviewing their viability and deliverability. All of this work is required to develop an appropriate Spatial Strategy as laid out in the Government’s Planning Policy Guidance.

 

The two larger sites, SGB and Woolfox, which have been put forward required a more detailed assessment for their viability and the ability of the developers to deliver new homes during the Plan period. This is because when the Examiner comes to consider these sites he will need to be provided with evidence to this effect.

 

SGB has almost been completely assessed based on the November 2018 Evolving Masterplan. This has confirmed that SGB is viable but does require the Housing Infrastructure Fund funding of £30m. To date that bid, submitted in February 2019, has been fully scrutinised by Homes England, both of their external consultants, MHCLG and against the Treasury’s Green Book. Over 200 questions have been asked and the answers provided seem to have been satisfactory although that is difficult to conform. However the bid still lies in the “to be decided” pile.

 

We continue to lobby government to make a decision, either way, so that we can decide whether SGB can be considered as part of the Local Plan or not. This lobbying has included contact with MOD, Homes England, MHCLG and via the Mayor of the Combined Authority, Cambridge and Peterborough as well as the Chair of the LGA who meets with the Secretary of State on a weekly basis. I met with the Housing Minster Ester McVey and her adviser and they confirmed that our bid was not her desk but somewhere else. I also met with the MHCLG Secretary of State Robert Jenrick in his constituency in Newark, Notts last week. To date no news has been forthcoming. Six bids have been announced as successful but these were on average for about £100m. No bids have been rejected since our bid was submitted in February of this year. The best indications we have is that the remaining bids are with the Treasury for final vetting. We await their decision and we will continue to lobby for a decision.

 

Woolfox also continues to be assessed based on the information provided by their Agent, most recently a traffic assessment. This information has been on a drip feed basis from their consultants since last September.

 

The Planning Policy Team will continue to finalise all of the evidence and come to a conclusion on an appropriate spatial strategy

 

It is still our intention to commence the Pre-submission consultation on all the elements of  the Plan including the Spatial Strategy,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

PARISH BRIEFING PAPER pdf icon PDF 2 MB

To receive the Parish Briefing Paper on issues currently affecting Rutland (to be circulated at the Forum).

 

Parish Clerks and Representatives are asked to display the document on parish notice boards.

Minutes:

The Parish Briefing Paper was circulated at the meeting and would be distributed by email to all parish clerks.

11.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

To consider any other items of business.

Minutes:

No other business was received.

12.

DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS

Parish Council Forum (7.00pm – Council Chamber)

 

·   Monday 13 January 2020

·   Monday 23 March 2020

 

Parish Council Working Group

 

·   Wednesday 11 December 2019

·   Wednesday 19 February 2020

 

 

Potential agenda items for the Parish Council Forum should be sent to the Governance Team at governance@rutland.gov.uk

 

Minutes:

Monday 13 January 2020

Monday 23 March 2020

 

Potential agenda items for the Parish Council Forum should be sent to the Governance Team at governance@rutland.gov.uk for consideration by the Parish Council Working Group.