Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Brook, E Jordan, M Jordan, J Shaw-Wright, W Nichols and M Topping.

A copy of the Register of Interest for each Selby District Councillor is available for inspection at www.selby.gov.uk.

Councillors should declare to the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest in any item of business on this agenda which is not already entered in their Register of Interests.

Councillors should leave the meeting and take no part in the consideration, discussion or vote on any matter in which they have a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Councillors should also declare any other interests. Having made the declaration, provided the other interest is not a disclosable pecuniary interest, the Councillor may stay in the meeting, speak and vote on that item of business.

If in doubt, Councillors are advised to seek advice from the Monitoring Officer.

There were no disclosures of interest.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 22 July 2021.

The Council considered the minutes of the meeting held on 22 July 2021.

A query was raised regarding whether there was an update on the Selby District Community Legacy Fund. The Lead Executive Member for Communities and Economic Development explained that a design workshop had been held in August with members and community representatives and the Two Ridings Foundation were now in the process of recruiting a local grant panel of members to review applications. Council was informed that the official launch date for the new process was scheduled for 1 November 2021.

RESOLVED:

To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 22 July 2021 for signing by the Chairman.

The Chairman, Leader of the Council or the Chief Executive will deal with any communications which need to be reported to the Council.

There were no communications.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman, Leader or Members of the Executive.

There were no announcements.

To receive any petitions.

There were no petitions.

To receive and answer questions, notice of which has been given in accordance with rule 10.1 of the Constitution.

There were no public questions.

To receive and answer questions submitted by councillors in accordance with rule 11.2 of the Constitution.

Councillor Questions Process:

Councillors can ask questions in accordance with rule 11.2 of the Constitution.

·         An answer to a question submitted may take the form of:

a)    A direct oral answer;

b)   Where the desired information is in a publication of the Council or other published work, a reference to that publication; or

c)    Where the reply cannot conveniently be given orally, a written answer circulated later to all members of the Council.

·         A councillor asking a question may ask one supplementary question, without notice, of the councillor to whom the first question was asked.

·         The supplementary question must arise directly out of the original question or the reply.

One question has been submitted for consideration.

One question had been submitted for consideration.

Councillor J McCartney asked the question of the Lead Executive Member for Communities and Economic Development, which related to the current Selby Town Centre plans, including consultation with residents during the places and movement study.

The Lead Executive Member for Communities and Economic Development explained that some of the aspects that were considered when reviewing town centres included ensuring there were good public transport links, car parking, a variety of shops and clean streets.

With regard to the Places and Movement consultation, Council was informed that the consultation had cost £159k with contributions from the District Council, North Yorkshire County Council and the York and North York Local Enterprise Partnership. The Lead Executive Member for Communities and Economic Development explained that around 600 responses from residents had been received and that there would be a second phase to the consultation to consider the findings of the first phase.

Councillor J McCartney asked a supplementary question regarding the importance of speaking to residents regarding their views as they lived and therefore understood their local areas

The Lead Executive Member for Communities and Economic Development explained that during the first phase of the consultation there had been two live briefings for the public to ask questions and there had also been a Member briefing. Council was informed that face to face consultation was not possible during the first phase due to Covid however it was hoped this would be possible during the second phase.

The Leader of the Council, and other members of the Executive, will report on their work since the last meeting of the Council and will respond to questions from Councillors on that work.

Councillor M Crane, Leader of the Council

The Leader of the Council presented his update on the work he had recently undertaken as outlined in his report and added that the first meeting of the Implementation Board regarding Local Government Reorganisation had taken place however the Deputy Leader of the Council had attended as he had not been able to. 

Concern was raised regarding the lack of input from residents into the proposals for Local Government Reorganisation and that decisions were going to be made with little input from residents and local Members. The Leader of the Council explained that as a member of the Implementation Board, he would forward any views expressed to him by any local Members. It was explained that there were differing views from Members on the proposals however the Government had made the decision to proceed with the option of one unitary authority for the area therefore the proposals would be going ahead.

With regard to the number of members in the new authority, the Leader of the Council informed Council that it was proposed to have 90 members in the new authority and due to this number, local members would be representing larger wards than they currently were.

A further query was raised regarding the size of the new wards and that the proposals were being implemented too quickly which meant all considerations could not be taken into account. The Leader of the Council explained that the Government had agreed for elections in 2022 to avoid Members having six year terms in the new authority. It was noted that the Local Government Boundary Commission were unable to review boundaries before the implementation however would be undertaking a review once the new authority had commenced.

Councillor R Musgrave, Deputy Leader and Lead Executive Member for Place Shaping

The Lead Executive Member for Place Shaping presented his update on the work he had recently undertaken as outlined in his report.

A query was raised regarding the financial commitments to the work on low carbon as the majority of the budget already seemed to have been committed. The Lead Executive Member for Place Shaping explained that a report on the Low Carbon work would be going to the next Executive meeting in October and that further funding was available should there be effective business cases presented.

The following additional discussion took place:

·       Concern was raised regarding plastic sheeting being placed around newly planted trees and whether this was needed. The Lead Executive Member for Place Shaping agreed to look into this.

·       Concern around the lack of planning enforcement in an area where planning permission wasn’t followed. The Lead Executive Member for Place Shaping explained that there was a backlog of work with planning enforcement however agreed to speak to the respective Member outside of the meeting regarding the issue.

·       In response to a query regarding the removal of the requirement to send neighbours notification letters in respect of planning application, the Lead Executive Member for Place Shaping  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

To receive reports from the Council’s committees which need to be brought to the attention of Council. To receive questions and provide answers on any of those reports.

Councillor Karl Arthur, Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee

Councillor Arthur, Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee, provided an update on the work of the Committee as outlined in his report.

There were no questions for Councillor Arthur.

Councillor C Pearson, Chairman of the Policy Review Committee

Councillor Pearson, Chairman of the Policy Review Committee, provided an update on the work of the Committee as outlined in his report.

There were no questions for Councillor Pearson.

Councillor S Shaw-Wright, Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee

Councillor Shaw-Wright, Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee, provided an update on the work of the Committee as outlined in his report.

There were no questions for Councillor Shaw-Wright.

RESOLVED:

To receive and note the reports from Committees.

Motions Process:

• No speeches may be made after the mover has moved a proposal and explained the purpose of it until the motion has been seconded.

• When seconding a motion or amendment, a councillor may reserve their speech until later in the debate.

• Speeches must be directed to the motion under discussion or to a personal explanation or point of order. No speech may exceed five minutes without the consent of the Chairman.

• A councillor who has spoken on a motion may not speak again whilst it is the subject of debate, except:

a)    To speak once on an amendment moved by another councillor;

b)   To move a further amendment if the motion has been amended since he/she last spoke;

c)    If his/her first speech was on an amendment moved by another councillor, to speak on the main issue (whether or not the amendment on which he/she spoke was carried);

d)   In exercise of a right of reply (see Rule 15.9 of the Constitution);

e)    On a point of order (see Rule 15.12 of the Constitution); and

f)     By way of personal explanation (see Rule 15.13 of the Constitution).

• For amendments, please refer to Rule 15.6 of the Constitution.

One motion has been submitted for consideration. This is outlined at 11.1 on the agenda.

It was noted that one motion had been submitted for consideration as follows:

‘As we head towards COP26 it is disappointing to see the Selby District Council Executive watering down the Council’s commitment and ambitions to tackling climate change in the Selby District and cutting the funding available.

Whilst Central Government is still talking up their commitment to taking action on Climate Change, the Selby District Council Executive is simply walking away.

The all-party Low Carbon Working Group spent over two years developing a plan for the Selby District only to see the Executive turn their backs on it.

We urge the Executive to reconsider, to reflect the public’s concerns on this important issue and to accept the all-party Group recommendations in full.’

Councillor R Packham proposed the motion and stated that the Council was now aware of it’s carbon footprint therefore it was important the work of the Low Carbon Working Group was taken forward. Councillor Packham also stated that if the budget of £250k allocated to low carbon work was exceeded then it was important that further requests of funding were not brought back to Council as this would result in further delays.

The Lead Executive Member for Place Shaping responded to the motion and stated that the Executive had not turned their backs on the plan with their being progress on low carbon already taking place with the recruitment of a Low Carbon Officer and the calculation of the Council’s carbon footprint. The Lead Executive Member for Place Shaping explained that there had been un-costed actions in the plan by the Working Group and it would be better for the Group to look at the plan again to re-consider this. The Lead Executive Member for Place Shaping added that further money was available if effective business cases were presented.

Upon being put to the vote, the motion was rejected.

RESOLVED:

                        To reject the motion.

The Council are formally asked to make the Church Fenton Neighbourhood Development Plan 2020-2027 as part of the Development Plan for Selby District following the positive outcome of the referendum held on 3 August 2021.

The Lead Executive Member for Place Shaping presented the report which asked the Council to formally make the Church Fenton Neighbourhood Development Plan 2020-2027 part of the Development Plan for Selby District, following the positive outcome of the referendum held on 3 August 2021.

The Lead Executive Member for Place Shaping thanked officers for their work on the plan and stated that Church Fenton should be proud of their achievement.

RESOLVED:

To agree to make the Church Fenton Neighbourhood Development Plan 2020-2027 part of the Development Plan for Selby District, following the positive outcome of the referendum held on 3 August 2021.

The Chief Executive will report on any instances where she has acted in urgent or emergency situations under the functions delegated to her in the Constitution.

There was no urgent action to report.