Agenda item

The following question was received from Ms Rowan:

Could the Council please explain how they will take action to ‘drive a green recovery from Covid’ (as declared in the revised Corporate Plan Sept 2020) and how they plan to use the £85,000 (reduced from the original £100,000 it seems?) allocated to sustainability and climate change.

Response from the Cabinet Member for Environment and Service Delivery, Councillor J Belsey

Thank you for your question.

The Corporate Plan commits to developing a Sustainable Economic Strategy which will set the strategic direction for a green recovery by bringing together the Council’s sustainability and economic development work. The preparation and adoption of this Strategy will be a priority for 2021. This work will be supported by Scrutiny and a cross party Member working group.

To be clear the £100,000 reserve for sustainability has not been reduced and remains in place to be used to support the development and delivery of the Sustainable Economic Strategy.  It should also be noted that to date the Council has been successful in securing other funds for its delivery of sustainable projects. Details of this work will be reported to members and the wider public in a report to Scrutiny on 10th March 2021.

This is in addition to the annual revenue budget of £85,000 which is used to fund the operational delivery of the Council’s work in this area. For example, the Sustainability officer and community-based initiatives.

Ms Rowan asked a supplementary question noting Cllr Belsey’s comments that there will be further reports that the public will be able to see. She asked where they will be available for her to follow up further?

Cllr. Belsey will reply to Ms. Rowan’s supplementary question in writing.

The following question was received from Mr Kenward:

Concerning comments in last weeks Mid Sussex Times where Councillor Ash-Edwards was quoted as follows, 'The future of Clair Hall will be considered further when the NHS no longer need the site.' Can council give an assurance that with at least four months until the NHS consider their options and, bearing in mind the High Court ruling, that the consideration and consultation will take place expeditiously before this time to ensure a smooth transition back into community use? And would council use this time to welcome the help offered by campaigners to discuss the retention and improvement of Clair Hall?

Response from the Leader

Thank you for your question. I would like to take this opportunity to note there is no time limit for the NHS to use Clair Hall as a vaccination centre. It is likely that they may need it longer than the licence which is currently set to expire in May. The overriding priority for the Council is the pandemic and its impact on the community and economy in Mid Sussex. The Council will comply with the consent order.

Mr Kenward asked a supplementary question asking if the Leader can confirm that the Council will adhere to the conditions of the High Court order (bearing in mind that a ‘Letter Before Action’ was issued a few hours ago) and do relevant considerations within 6 months and no later than 12 months. 

Cllr. Ash Edwards will reply to Mr Kenward’s supplementary question in writing.

The following question was received from Mr Bright:

We made representation on 21st December that MSDC had failed to carry out a proper consultation as required by SCI duties but received no response.

The consultation timing (near Christmas, Covid-19) and use of only a non-user-friendly website disenfranchised a large proportion of our community; taken with other issues, the consultation is incomplete.

Will MSDC defer Masterplan decisions beyond March, and thereby seek to regain community trust and cooperation, by resuming the consultation once lockdown has finished, to permit more conventional viewing of these professionally prepared plans, with explanations and interactions at public exhibitions, to be more inclusive.

Response from the Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning, Councillor MacNaughton

Thank you for your question.

Your representation was received and registered. The Council does not respond as a matter of course to representations. Representations made to the Haywards Heath Masterplan were reported to Scrutiny Committee for Housing, Planning and Economic Growth for their consideration on the 20th of January.

The consultation was run in accordance with best practice and in line with both the Council’s Statement of Community Involvement and the Community Involvement Plan. It was run for 6 weeks which is two weeks longer than is required by legislation. The government has been clear that COVID 19 should not stop planning consultations.

The consultation was publicised on the Council’s social media feed, in the Mid Sussex Times and in the Council’s Mid Sussex Matters, which is delivered to all households.

Although you consider that the consultation arrangements were not user friendly, the online interactive map was viewed over 7,500 times and over 240 people responded with over 400 comments on the Masterplan. I was very pleased with the number of responses to the Masterplan as it was higher than other similar consultations. Recently, just over 40 people, made 230 comments, on the draft District Wide Design Guide consultation.

I am satisfied that the consultation was robust and no further consultation on the Masterplan is required.

I want to take this opportunity to clarify any misunderstanding about the role of a Masterplan. The Plan sets out planning principles to guide future development. Decisions about development on these sites would be for the landowners and dependent on the nature of the development maybe be subject to specific consultation. 

Mr Bright asked a supplementary question. He asked that taken with other things such as the decision to demolish Clair Hall made in September and the decision to change the name of Clair Hall to Perrymount Hall which was confusing; these two statutory problems along with court decision will the Council please reconsider doing proper consultation with residents to regain their trust.

Cllr. MacNaughton will reply to Mr Kenward’s supplementary question in writing.