Meeting documents

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Clark, Hesketh, Mrs Moon, O'Hare, Titherington and C Tomlinson.

[Any specific declarations of interest are included under the relevant minute below].

RESOLVED (unanimously):

That the minutes of the meetings held on 17 April 2013 and 15 May 2013 be approved as correct records and signed by the Mayor.

In response to a question from Councillor Coulton about the ?Keep Britain Tidy? campaign roadshow referred to in paragraph 3 of minute 104, Councillor Forrest confirmed that he had not attended the meeting personally.
Councillor Howarth noted that his name had been omitted from the list of those members present on 15 May and asked for this to be rectified.

The Mayor invited members to adopt the constitution which had been updated to reflect the changes agreed at the Council meeting on 17 April 2013.

RESOLVED: (YES ? 48, NO - 1)
That the revised Constitution be adopted.

Councillor Harrison subsequently explained that he had intended to vote in favour rather than against the adoption of the Constitution.
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Councillor Foster presented the report of the Governance Committee meeting held on 29 April 2013. The report was seconded.

Councillor Foster took the opportunity to thank and pay warm tribute to Councillor O?Hare for his excellent chairmanship of the Governance Committee since its creation in 2009 and said that he would be sorely missed. He had been impartial, fair, thorough and passionate throughout, and had never allowed politics to enter into the committee?s deliberations.

Councillor W Bennett said he considered Councillor O?Hare to be the finest chairman he had ever known and, should his appointment as chairman be confirmed later, he looked forward to carrying on in the same manner as Councillor O?Hare.
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Members noted the names of the members of the Cabinet and their areas of responsibility.

The Leader took the opportunity to welcome Councillors Howarth, K Jones and Ogilvie to the Council and presented the report outlining the nominations for membership of committees for 2013/14. The report was seconded.

RESOLVED (unanimously):

That the Membership of Committees 2013/14 be approved in accordance with the attached schedule.
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RESOLVED (unanimously):
That, in accordance with the Council?s Constitution, the appointments for the period until the First Business Meeting of the 2014 Municipal Year be ratified:
Central Area ? Chair: Councillor Walton; Vice-chair: Councillor Mrs Mort
Eastern Area - Chair: Councillor Marsh; Vice-chair: Councillor Nelson
Leyland Area ? Chair: Councillor J Bell; Vice-chair: Councillor Heyworth
Penwortham Area ? Chair: Councillor Mrs Hothersall; Vice-chair: Councillor M Gardner
Western Parishes Area ? Chair: Councillor Coulton; Vice-chair: Councillor Suthers

As outgoing chairmen of My Neighbourhood Areas, Councillors M Tomlinson and Yates thanked their fellow councillors and council officers for their support and wished their successors all the best in their roles as chair.
As incoming chairman of Eastern My Neighbourhood Area Councillor Marsh said that he would do his best in his new role and paid tribute to Councillor Yates for his chairmanship over the years.
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The Leader presented the report outlining the nominations to outside bodies for 2013/14. She was pleased to report that the Leyland District Nursing Association had finally been wound up and the funds divided between SLEAP and Tender Nursing Care. Runshaw College had confirmed that nomination of four members from this Council onto Outside Body number 29, Runshaw College Community Liaison Committee, was appropriate and the nominees would therefore be as presented in the report. Mr Marsden had resigned from Outside Body number 33, Trustees of Alice Rowlinson?s Charity, and Councillor Mrs Mary Green was being nominated in his place. Councillor Otter informed Council that the title of Outside Body number 6 was now Lancashire West Citizens? Advice Bureaux.
The report was seconded.?
RESOLVED (unanimously):
That the representation on Outside Bodies for 2013/14 be in accordance with the attached revised schedule.?

In response to a request from Councillor Forrest, the Leader pointed out that there were no individuals or companies currently seeking to drill for shale gas in the South Ribble area. As such it would not be appropriate for her to make representations to government ministers in support of fracking. Any future applications would be within the remit of the county council and at that stage this council would comment as and when appropriate.

Borough Councillors who were also County Councillors acknowledged that they might shortly be appointed to the county council?s Development Control Committee and so would potentially need to declare personal interests.

The Leader agreed to a request from Councillor Green for council officers to seek clarification from the Electoral Commission on whether the use by voters of certain symbols on ballot papers should be allowed or not, even if they constituted a clear mark against one candidate only.

In response to a request from Councillor Martin about increasing the availability of defibrillators in public buildings, the Leader confirmed that all the borough?s leisure centres were equipped with defibrillators and relevant members of staff were trained in their use.

The Leader declined to respond to a number of questions from a member of the public, saying that discipline within political groups was a matter for the group leaders.

Neighbourhoods and Street Scene

Councillor Forrest spoke of a recent incident where a dog had been seriously injured by sharp debris in the River Lostock and sought clarification over which body was responsible for rivers. Councillor Mullineaux pointed out that responsibility for rivers probably lay with the Environment Agency and the local water board.

In response to ongoing concerns expressed by Councillors Hanson, Higgins and Foster about irresponsible parking in Bamber Bridge, Councillor Mullineaux said that he had spoken to the traffic wardens on a number of occasions and they were certainly trying their best. He would be happy to provide details of timings and locations of patrols but suggested that it would be better to do so once local members and residents had provided specific details of locations of concern. This might allow resources to be targeted in different locations if considered appropriate.

Councillor Suthers spoke of his concern about a vehicle which was constantly parked at a particular location on Golden Hill Lane with the result that some residents could not park outside their own property. Councillor Mullineaux said he shared the frustration but parking at this location was legal and, although the vehicle?s owner had been spoken to on several occasions, he seemed to be reluctant to move it. Councillor Mullineaux indicated that he would look into whether anything could be done from a licensing perspective.

Strategic Planning and Housing

Councillor Prynn had submitted a written question in advance enquiring whether, in view of the fact that Sainsburys had now pulled out of the proposed development at the top of Cop Lane in Penwortham, there were any plans to approach alternative developers in the area to improve the amenities available in the village.

Councillor Hughes thanked Councillor Prynn for giving him advance notice of the question and explained that Telereal Trillium was actively promoting the site and was confident of attracting interest from supermarket operators other than Sainsburys. He would keep members informed. Councillor P Smith confirmed that a Section 106 agreement had been signed.

Regeneration, Leisure and Healthy Communities

In response to a question from Councillor Martin about responsibility for the borough?s leisure centres, Councillor P Smith explained that this council owned the fabric of the leisure centres themselves and was responsible for exterior repairs and some internal repairs. Serco also had a responsibility to keep them in a good condition. The Leisure Trust was responsible for the running of the leisure centres themselves. In relation to the complaint from a member of the public that Councillor Martin had referred to at the meeting in April, Councillor P Smith reported that one of the issues raised had been a lack of heating on the squash court. This was currently being worked on and other issues raised had been successfully resolved.

Councillor Harrison said that residents had been happy with the regeneration around Leyland Market but it was regrettable that the area was being let down by the poor state of repair of the premises on either side of the entrance to the market. Councillor P Smith assured the Council that owners and leaseholders had been spoken to and were being encouraged to maintain their property and keep it clean.

Councillor Howarth said he did not believe that regeneration had to be funded solely from developments in the area and enquired what regeneration funding had been spent in Penwortham. Councillor P Smith confirmed that no money had been spent so far but there was some in the budget process. The council?s intention had been to do quite a bit of work in the Penwortham area on the back of the Sainsburys development; hopefully new interest in the site would enable monies to come forward in due course.

Shared Services and Corporate Support

In response to a question from a member of the public, Councillor Hamman said that the Council had no objection in principle to blogging or tweeting of Council proceedings and filming of meetings was allowed, subject to permission from the Mayor. However, mobile phones caused interference with the analogue microphone and voting system that the council currently used and it was for this reason that attendees were asked to switch off their phones at the start of Council meetings. Democratic Services were currently looking at alternative systems and, should a suitable alternative be identified, and funding for it available and approved, consideration would be given to blogging and tweeting.

Councillor Martin informed Council that the Scrutiny Committee had been specially selected by the Centre for Public Scrutiny to work on an innovative national pilot commissioned by Public Health England and NHS Improving Quality, to identify the benefits and impacts of an effective NHS Health Check programme, to understand the barriers to take up and how to improve local NHS Health Check delivery and outcomes. He believed that this was recognition of the merits of the chair and vice-chair of this Council's Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor M Gardner, as the Council's representative on Springfields Fuels Limited Site Stakeholder Group, said that he would be happy to arrange a tour of the site for any members who might be interested.