Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber

Contact: Email: committees@midsussex.gov.uk 

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Opening Prayer.

Minutes:

The opening prayer was read by the Vice-Chairman.

2.

To receive questions from members of the public pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 9.

Minutes:

The following question was received from Ms Wilcock

 

Please clarify how the Agents appointed in relation to Clair Hall are to be paid.

The BOP stated this would be a percentage of the capital receipt received by the Council. The Council has repeatedly said that Clair Hall would be leased and not sold or disposed of. A capital receipt is the funds received on the disposal of a fixed asset, and recorded on the balance sheet, whereas rental income from a lease is recorded in income accounts. So if Clair Hall is leased how does a capital receipt arise, and thus how are the Agents to be paid?

 

The following response was provided by the Leader:

 

Thank you for your question. As you know the Cabinet in October agreed to continue our ambition to seek an investment partner and cultural anchor tenant for a modern fit for purpose venue on the Clair Hall site. 

Currently, officers are working to commission a specialist broker/agent to develop proposals on how to take two agreed models to the market in order to improve the chances of successful delivery of this project.

The question of how an agent will be paid for such work is premature and will clearly be subject to the proper procurement process. The commissioning work will be reported back to the Cabinet in the New Year. 

 

I can confirm that the strategic success criteria agreed in July included the commitment that the Council will not sell the site and that remains the case.

 

Ms Wilcock asked a supplementary question noting that it appeared to be a question of semantics. She stated that ‘selling is disposing and if you are proposing to receive a capital receipt from selling off Clair Hall, that is a disposal and you are misleading the public by referring to it as leasing. A long lease for a premium is a disposal.’

 

The Leader responded, rejecting the characterisation of the Council’s work or intentions, stating that it is untrue. No decision has been made other than to take forward 2 options – to seek an investment partner and cultural anchor tenant and to take that to market.  The commissioning of the agent is still to be done and we haven’t gone to market so to infer that an outcome has been agreed is incorrect.

 

The following question was received from Ms Weinstein

 

The Mid Sussex Climate Coalition welcomes the commitment of Council to set net zero targets. Many national governments, including our own,  have had net zero targets in place for several years but the UN has been warning us that the limited action being taken to reach those targets means that the planet will warm to a very dangerous level of above 1.5 degrees before 2030.  We would therefore ask the Council why they are not following the example of other local authorities such as Worthing  and setting targets for 2030 to ensure that the necessary action is taken urgently.

 

The following response was provided by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

3.

To confirm Minutes of the meeting of Council held on 12 October 2022. pdf icon PDF 112 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the extraordinary meeting of Council held on 12 October 2022 were agreed as a correct record of the meeting and signed by the Chairman.

4.

To receive declarations of Interest from Members in respect of any matter on the Agenda

Minutes:

In respect of item 7, Councillor Eggleston declared an interest related to DPH7 where the tenant is Burgess Hill Town Council and he is Leader of the Town Council. He also listed the following Councillors who are also Members of Burgess Hill Town Council; Councillors Eves, Cornish, Henwood, Cartwright, Allen, Gibbs and Chapman.

 

Councillor Gibson and Councillor Jackson declared an interest in item 7 as West Sussex County Councillor for Imberdown and Member of Hurstpierpoint and Sayers Common Parish Council, respectively.

 

Councillor Andrew Lea declared an interest in item 8 of the agenda as he has a personal project on the subject and agreed to leave the meeting prior to discussion on the item.

 

Councillor Bradbury declared an interest in item 10 as Chairman of West Sussex County Council and Chairman of the ‘Building Heroes’ charity. 

 

5.

To consider any items that the Chairman of the Council agrees to take as urgent business.

Minutes:

None.

6.

Chairman's Announcements.

Minutes:

The Chairman highlighted two engagements in December to which Members are invited; the Annual Civic Service on Sunday 4 December at St Swithun’s Church, East Grinstead and the next Council meeting on 7 December which will be followed by refreshments.

7.

Consultation Draft District Plan - Regulation 18. pdf icon PDF 158 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Solicitor to the Council clarified the decision that the Council was being asked to take and how the 4 appendices were set out in the Council report pack.

 

Councillor Salisbury moved the item with an amendment to clarify the position around DPH7, noting that the wording under policy requirements in DPH7 on p155 of the Consultation Draft District plan, should be read “in the round” with DPI5 on p214. The  9th bullet point on p155 of the Council reports pack about re-provision of allotments will now read:

 

            “Secure the provision of an equal number of allotments in Burgess Hill in line      with Policy DPI5.”

 

He noted that the document had been considered by 4 cross-party workshops and 2 Scrutiny Committees, and endorsed by these groups to go out to a Regulation 18 consultation for stakeholders to put forward their comments. This was seconded by Councillor Ash-Edwards.

 

An amendment was proposed by Councillor Eggleston and seconded by Councillor Henwood. The amendment was to the start of first recommendation to include the wording:

 

             ‘Save for the removal of site DPH7 in the draft District Plan.’

 

In proposing, Councillor Eggleston highlighted the fragile nature of the lease arrangement between Burgess Hill Town Council and Network Rail regarding the site which is used for allotments. Noting that the Town Council allotment sites are set out in the Neighbourhood Plan, he acknowledged that the Town Council has a statutory duty to provide allotment sites but has no land of its own. Should Network Rail not renew the lease, there would be no requirement for allotments to be re-provided and it would represent a loss of 24% allotment sites with no alternative provision available.

 

In seconding the amendment, Councillor Henwood noted that the methodology for all sites was approved but that Burgess Hill Station was not addressed specifically in the working groups. She also drew attention to the need to support the health and wellbeing policies of the Council noting that allotments have a significant impact for residents in this regard. There are 63 allotments on this site with an extensive waiting list and no alternative option within 20 minutes’ walk.

 

Significant discussion was held on the amendment. Several Members agreed with its sentiment, noting that allotments were important for the community in terms of health, wellbeing and supporting the ability to grow local produce. Two Members requested that alternative allotment sites are urgently sought, and residents are kept informed of the proposed alternatives, reiterating both the human impact, and effect on wildlife of the potential allotment loss.

 

Discussion was held on the impact of the amendment on the oversupply for resilience. The Cabinet Member acknowledged Councillor Eggleston’s position but noted that removing the site would take 300 properties out of the Draft Plan, leaving an excess of only 2. It also gives the potential for those 300 properties to be built on greenfield land, both of which are not acceptable. He noted that the site is not a statutory allotment site, it is brownfield  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

Mid Sussex Net Zero Targets. pdf icon PDF 84 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Hillier moved the item noting that the work began with the approval of the Sustainable Economy Strategy and highlighted objectives 6, 8 and 13 of that strategy. He confirmed that the Scrutiny Committee has considered and endorsed the recommendations and Members have received a presentation on the subject.

 

He acknowledged that the proposed dates are long-stop dates and are heavily reliant on the Government for getting enabling legislation through, particularly around planning, and for achieving the huge tasks of decarbonising the energy sources and transport system. The Council also must balance the need for speed with keeping services affordable to the lower income council taxpayers.  He encouraged Members to play their part by holding the Council to account as the pathways to net zero emerge. To assist this there will be periodic independent carbon re-baselining of both District wide and Council only carbon emissions with Council-only (directly controlled) happening once a year, Council-only (indirectly influenced) happening every two years and District-wide happening every three years. It is also important to continue to inform and support communities in what they can do as their part in reducing emissions.

 

Discussion was held on mitigation measures that are not within the Council’s control such as solar technologies and road transport reductions as well as the need for assurance on the timeline for delivery of the Net Zero Carbon Programme. A Member requested a range of further items that they wish to see included such as a cycle path between Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill, e-bike and e-scooter schemes and workplace parking levies.

 

In seconding the item, Councillor John Belsey highlighted that the Council has been addressing the issue in several ways recently including the food waste trial, which is currently underway, work carried out by the local cycling panel, rewilding schemes and ongoing work to move towards greener methods of transport in the vehicles used by both the Council and contractors.

 

The Chairman took Members to a vote on the recommendations as set out in the report which were approved.

 

RESOLVED

 

Council:

(i)      Approved the following recommended net zero targets:

a.       A District-wide net zero target aligned to the national target.

b.       A Council-only net zero target of 2040 for emissions the Council can directly control.

c.       A Council-only net zero target aligned to the national target for emissions the Council can only indirectly influence.

 

9.

To receive the Leader's Report.

Minutes:

The Leader noted that as part of the cost-of-living initiatives, the Council has secured funding to improve efficiency of homes. Up to £25k is available per home for insulation, solar and air source heat pumps if the property has an energy rating of ‘E’, ‘F ‘or ‘G’ and household income is under £30k or in receipt of a benefit. An assessment will be made on the most appropriate measures in each case. He encouraged Members to promote this within the community and promotion materials will be released.

           

In response to a query on the current position of investment zones, since the recent change in Prime Minister, the Leader noted that there had not been a formal announcement by the Government, though it may be included in the Autumn Statement. He maintained the importance of making a case for investment within Mid Sussex.

10.

Report of Cabinet Members, including questions pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 10.1.

Minutes:

Deputy Leader

 

The Deputy Leader highlighted a recent press release confirming that 29 tonnes of food waste had been collected in the past 4 weeks, noting that feedback on the scheme has been good. In answer to a question from Councillor Gibson, he agreed to feedback statistics on how the food waste amount collected is benchmarked against other Districts.

 

He provided an update on the Centre for Outdoor Sports as a meeting with England Athletics has now taken place. They do not support any new running tracks unless they are direct replacements, but they would support a running loop around the centre. This is being discussed further as well as discussions to maximise facilities at a local school. He noted a Member’s comment that Burgess Hill Rugby Club wish to be involved in any discussion regarding the Centre and another Member’s comments regarding the popularity of Park Runs, highlighting that there is one in East Grinstead as well as Haywards Heath. Should volunteers wish to start a Park Run in Burgess Hill he acknowledged that the Council would be happy to support it should it be held on Council owned land.

 

He noted that consultations for Hemsley Meadow, Finches Field and Hollands Way play areas have taken place and were well attended. The Hollands Way play area will be next to the Quarry Café which will be an exciting scheme providing a valuable and fresh community space in East Grinstead. He also welcomed a new bonfire society in Ashurst Wood.

 

Cabinet Member for Economic Growth and Net Zero

 

The Cabinet Member had nothing further to report at this time.

 

Cabinet Member for Community

 

The Cabinet Member began by noting the positive result of a 94% submission rate so far for the Annual Electoral Canvas. He also noted that following the Electoral Review of Mid Sussex, the Parliamentary Order was made on 14th July and came into effect on 15 October. The Council’s Electoral Services team has prepared the maps, prepared and checked  polling districts boundaries and are prepared produce the new Electoral Register by the end of the month.

 

He noted that the Local Land Charges Registry was migrated to the Government’s Land Registry on  21 March and searches to enable property completion are now by an online self-service portal with instant results. He also reported that the Council’s  legal practice has been assessed and awarded an Excellence in Legal Practice Management and Client Care mark by the Law Society.

 

The Cabinet Member welcomed the Director for Resources and Organisational Development and highlighted details of grants awarded at the October Cabinet Grants Panel. These include a grant to Foresight Vision Support to fund the production of newsletters in an accessible format, a grant for Careers Support West Sussex for a project to identify and engage with male carers in Mid Sussex, a Microbusiness grant for staff training and registration for the installation of solar panels and two sets of funding to support the hiring of apprentices.

 

He also highlighted that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

11.

Motions on Notice.

 

MOTION A:     FRACKING

 

Proposed by:   Cllr Alison Bennett

Seconded by: Cllr Benedict Dempsey

 

This Council notes that:

 

·       The government has lifted the moratorium on shale gas production (“Fracking”) in England, and confirmed its support for a new oil and gas licensing round

·       The government has stated that fracking will only take place where there is local support, and therefore the public position of this Council is important.

·       The Weald Basin is known to hold shale gas deposits and 45% of Mid Sussex (constituency) is already licensed for oil and gas exploration

·       The economic benefits of Fracking in the UK is uncertain, but that there are clear environmental concerns which have been well documented.

·       Whilst exploitable reserves in the Weald Basin may not be economically viable to extract, the lifting of the moratorium poses a risk to the environment of Mid Sussex.

Accordingly, this Council resolves to oppose any oil and gas exploration, including fracking, in the District of Mid Sussex.

 

Minutes:

The proposed motion was withdrawn by Councillor Alison Bennett who reserved her right to bring it back to a future meeting.

 

The Council agreed to the motion’s withdrawal.

12.

Questions from Members pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 10.2.

Minutes:

No questions received.