Minutes of 29.7.03 : Council on 14/10/2003

Waverley Borough Council Committee System - Committee Document

Meeting of the Council held on 14/10/2003
Minutes of 29.7.03

MINUTES of the ANNUAL MEETING of the WAVERLEY BOROUGH COUNCIL held in the Council Chamber, Council Offices, Godalming on 29th July 2003 at 6.30 p.m.

* Mr R C Terry (Mayor)
* Mr V Duckett (Deputy Mayor)

*	Mr M J D Allan	*	Mr D C Inman
*	Mr M H W Band	*	Mr P B Isherwood
*	Mr L C Bate	*	Mrs S R Jacobs
*	Mr P Betlem	*	Mrs J R Keen
*	Mr M J Blower	*	Dr M-G Lane
*	Dr J F A Blowers	*	Mr J C S Mackie
*	Captain P G Burden	*	Mrs A E Mansell
	Mr M W Byham	*	Mr C H Mansell
*	Mrs E Cable	*	Dr P M Marriott
*	Mrs S J Campany	*	Mr W M Marshall
*	Mr M A Clark	*	Mrs P N Mitchell
	Mrs C Cockburn		Mrs M Nyazai
*	Mr S D Edge	*	Mr A Rayner
*	Mr M A Edgington	*	Mr P S Rivers
*	Mr B A Ellis	*	Mr J E Robini
*	Mrs P Ellis	*	Mr J R Sandy
*	Miss G B W Ferguson	*	Mrs C E Savage
*	Mrs M E Foryszewski	*	Mr J M Savage
*	Mrs P M Frost		Mr V K Scrivens
*	Mr D R Gallacher	*	Mr B G Shelley
*	Mr R J Gates	*	Mr C C E Slyfield
*	Mr B Grainger-Jones	*	Mrs J A Slyfield
*	Mr P D Harmer	*	Mr S D Steel
*	Mr P Haveron	*	Ms M Taylor
	Mrs P Hibbert	*	Mr A E B Taylor-Smith
	Mrs L S R Hodgson	*	Mr J A Verden
*	Mrs M V M Hunt	*	Mr K Webster

* Mr R H Worby

* Present

Also present: Mr N Davies, Independent Chairman, Standards Committee

At the commencement of the meeting prayers were led by the Reverend John Fellows, Rector of the Parish of Shackleford and Peper Harow.

12. MINUTES

The Minutes of the Annual meeting of the Council held on 20th May 2003 were confirmed and signed.

13. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Mr M W Byham, Mrs P Hibbert, Mrs L S R Hodgson, Mrs M Nyazai and Mr V K Scrivens.

14. DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS

The following declarations of personal interests were made at the meeting:

Mrs P M Frost	Executive Report Item HH (as a Member of the Club involved)
Mrs P N Mitchell	Executive Report Item XX (as she is a meals-on-wheels volunteer)
Mr P S Rivers	Executive Report Item C (involved with Broadwater School)
Mr J E Robini	Executive Report Item WW (as he is an employee of Surrey Police)
Mr C C E Slyfield	Executive Report Item OO (as he is a member of the Surrey County Investment Panel administering the Pension Fund)

15. MAYOR’S ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Mayor informed the Council of recent events he had attended.

(i) the Mayor’s Civic Service at St James Parish Church, Elstead, on the 6th July, and he thanked all those who had attended the service;

(ii) the launch of three new Surrey Hills Countryside walks through Frensham, Tilford and Churt respectively;

(iii) the Ahmadiyya Muslim Convention (Jalsa) at Islamabad, Tilford.

The Mayor conveyed his congratulations to the Waverley Council Tax Team who had, for the fifth year in succession, been one of the best performing collection teams in the country, collecting an average 99.3%, compared to a national average collection figure of 97.6%.

The Mayor also reminded the Council of the forthcoming Friday Farmers’ Market at Notcutts Garden Centre in Cranleigh.

16. QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

The following question was put by the Mayor on behalf of the Godalming Community Group:-

“What standards for litter picking and street cleansing apply within the area in Godalming defined by the Council on the draft local plan as ‘town centre’ and what arrangements are operated by the Council to ensure compliance with these standards?”

The Leader of the Council replied as follows:-

“Waverley BC's cleaning contractor is required to sweep and pick all litter and rubbish such as leaves, blossom, gravel and dust etc at each visit, from the full width of the road and footways. The roads within Godalming town centre are either served by the barrow man who maintains a cleaning presence all day or by a mobile crew at a specific frequency, set to deal with the amount of litter and rubbish normally arising on each street.

Performance streets are cleaned each day between 06.00 and 08.00 in the morning to remove all litter and rubbish seven days a week and between Mondays and Fridays, inclusive, they are restored to this state of cleanliness within an hour of any deterioration, between the hours of 08.00 and 15.00. These streets include Bridge Street, Church Street, Great George Street, High Street, Lower Queen Street, part of Station Road and Wharf Street.

Frequency streets are cleaned to remove all litter and rubbish at the time of visit with the next clean taking place at the specific frequency. The frequency of cleans are listed below:

Twice a week - Lower South Street, Moss Lane and Pound Lane

Once a week - Station Approach and Station Road

Once a fortnight - Mill Lane and Mint Street

The Council monitors the performance of its cleaning contractor in Godalming town centre in three ways:

a) as part of the contract management system, a random 10% of work is inspected, using a computer generated inspection regime;

b) complaints from pedestrians, residents and shop and office managers are recorded and investigated. There have been no complaints concerning town centre cleaning standards for Godalming since 1st April 2003, the start date of the new Environmental Cleaning contract;

c) informal inspections are carried out by Waverley staff as they go about other duties.”

17. REPORTS OF THE EXECUTIVE

17.1 Meetings of 3rd and 23rd June 2003

It was moved by the Chairman of the Executive, duly seconded and

RESOLVED that the report of the meetings held on 3rd and 23rd June 2003 be approved and the recommendations contained therein adopted.

17.2 Meeting of 21st July 2003

It was moved by the Chairman of the Executive and duly seconded that the report of the meeting held on 21st July 2003 be approved and adopted.

1. A Race Equality Scheme for Waverley (Report Item KK)

It was agreed to amend the strategy by the deletion of the word “positive” from the second bullet point under the heading Employment (page 3 of Annexe 3) as proposed by the Executive.

2. Planning Delivery Grant - Proposals for Use (Report Item NN)

It was moved and seconded that the words “up to” be inserted before the words “.... three years” in line 2 of Recommendation 10.

Upon being put to the vote, the amendment was CARRIED

3. Purchase of Properties in Haslemere (Report Item QQ and (Exempt) Annexe 6)

The Mayor directed that this item be deferred and considered as the last item of the meeting, and the Council agreed to this.

RESOLVED that the report of the meeting held on 21st July 2003, as now amended and with the exception of report item QQ, be approved and the recommendations contained therein adopted.

18. REPORT OF LICENSING AND REGULATORY COMMITTEE

It was moved by the Chairman of the Committee, duly seconded and

RESOLVED that the report of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee be approved and the recommendation contained therein adopted.

19. REPORT OF DEVELOPMENT CONTROL COMMITTEE

It was moved by the Chairman of the Committee, duly seconded and

RESOLVED that the report of the Development Control Committee be approved and adopted.

20. REPORT OF STANDARDS COMMITTEE

It was moved by the (Independent) Chairman of the Committee, duly seconded and

RESOLVED that the report of the Standards Committee be approved and the recommendation contained therein adopted.

21. LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND HOUSING ACT 1989
LOCAL GOVERNMENT (COMMITTEE AND POLITICAL GROUPS) REGULATIONS 1990

21.1 Appeals Panel

RESOLVED that the following Liberal Democrat members, in addition to those five Conservative members already appointed, be appointed to serve on the pool from which appeals panels may be drawn for the Council year 2003/04.

Mr S D Edge
Mr P Haveron
Mrs S R Jacobs
Mr C H Mansell
Mr A Rayner
Mr P S Rivers

[N.B. One Conservative vacancy remains to be filled]

21.2 Standards Committee

RESOLVED that Mr A Rayner be appointed to the vacancy on the Standards Committee for the remainder of the current Council year 2003/04.

22. NOTICE OF MOTION

In accordance with Procedure Rule 12.1, the following notice of motion was submitted by Mr P D Harmer, and seconded by Mrs P M Frost.

"(i) That this Council notes the proposed European Constitution being prepared by the European Convention will have huge implications for Waverley Borough Council. The Constitution will give the European Union 'shared competence' over home affairs, transport, energy, social policy, economic and social cohesion, consumer protection and the environment, meaning overall more legislation and guidance binding on local government will be decided at a European rather than a national level.

(ii) That given that the Government has used referendums to approve other constitutional change affecting local and national government, including establishing regional assemblies and directly-elected mayors, this Council believes that the people of Waverley should be able to have their say on these constitutional changes in a referendum.

(iii) This Council therefore resolves to make a formal written submission to the Prime Minister, supporting calls for a national referendum on the proposed European Constitution."

In accordance with Procedure Rule 12.3, the Leader of the Council referred the motion to the next meeting of the Executive.

23. EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC

It was moved by the Mayor, seconded and

RESOLVED that pursuant to Procedure Rule 20 and in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during the item, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information (as defined by Section 100I of the Act) of the description specified in the following paragraphs 3, 7, 9 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972,viz:

Information relating to any particular occupier or former occupier of, or applicant for, accommodation provided by or at the expense of the authority (Paragraph 3)

Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (other than the authority) (Paragraph 7)

Any terms proposed or to be proposed by or to the authority in the course of negotiations for a contract for the acquisition or disposal of property or the supply of goods or services (Paragraph 9)

24. PURCHASE OF PROPERTIES IN HASLEMERE (Executive Report Item QQ and (Exempt) Annexe 6)

[This item had earlier been moved and seconded as part of consideration of the Executive report - Minute No 17.2 above refers]

Amendment to Recommendations 14.3, 14.4 and 14.5

It was moved and duly seconded that the recommendations numbered 14.3, 14.4 and 14.5 in the (Exempt) Annexe be amended as follows:

“To refer back recommendations 14.3, 14.4 and 14.5 concerning the purchase of properties in Haslemere, to the Executive, via Community Overview and Scrutiny Committee, for more detailed consideration”.

There followed a debate on the amendment, following which it was put to the vote, and the amendment was CARRIED.

RESOLVED that the recommendations contained in the report at (Exempt) Annexe 6, as now amended, be approved and adopted.

The meeting concluded at 8.18 p.m.

Mayor

comms/council/03-04/017