Meeting documents

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Bird, Miss Mawson, C Tomlinson and Wharton.

Councillor Howarth declared an interest in agenda item 9 The Boundary Committee - Electoral Review of Lancashire as a Lancashire County Councillor.

RESOLVED (unanimously) that:

The minutes of the meeting held on 27 May 2015 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

In moving the report of the Cabinet, the Leader was pleased to report that the City Deal Executive had recently approved a number of projects put forward by this council (including St Catherine?s and Worden parks) and we would soon be able to draw down the monies (?1.1m in total) to enable work to commence. The report was seconded.

Councillor Foster welcomed this news and asked whether the Council could expect to see a more detailed report outlining how the ?1.1m would be allocated. The Leader confirmed that the details were essentially contained in the City Deal Infrastructure Delivery Plan report which was approved at Cabinet on 18 March 2015.

RESOLVED (unanimously):
1) That the report be noted;
2) Policy C4 Site Allocations and Development Management Policies Development Plan Document (DPD) ? Cuerden Strategic Site
That the report be noted.
3) Waste Vehicle Procurement
(i) That the revised evaluation criterial as outlined in the report be approved;
(ii) the tender from Company C (Option 1) that scored second highest in the tender evaluation exercise for the six waste vehicles as shown in Table 1 of the report be accepted, and
(iii) authority be granted under Section 3.4 of the Financial Regulations to incur capital expenditure of ?1,049,284 for the purchase of six waste vehicles.

Councillor Titherington presented the report of the Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 23 June 2015. The report was seconded.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Healthy Communities, Councillor Michael Green, took the opportunity to inform Council that work was currently underway on a Housing Strategy which was expected to come before members in September.

Councillor Ogilvie presented the report of the Governance Committee meeting held on 24 June 2015 and highlighted a number of salient discussion points from the meeting. The report was seconded.

In response to a question from Councillor P Smith, Councillor Ogilvie confirmed that the new risk relating to the Future of the Waste Collection Cost Sharing Agreement with LCC had been allocated a Red Risk Rating in the 2015/16 Corporate Risk Register

The Leader presented a report which proposed some amendments to memberships of committees and representation on outside bodies. The report was seconded.

RESOLVED (unanimously) that:

1) Committee Membership
(i) Councillor Mrs Blow replace Councillor Nelson on the Scrutiny Committee, and
(ii) Councillor Nelson replace Councillor Mrs Blow on the Standards Committee;

2) Outside Bodies
(i) Councillor Bird replace Councillor Clark on the Financial and Assurance Shared Services Joint Committee;
(ii) Councillor Nelson be appointed substitute for Chairman of the Planning Committee and Vice-chairman of the Planning Committee on the Joint Planning Advisory Committee, and
(iii) Council no longer be requested to nominate representatives on the Board of Directors of Lancashire Mind Ltd. following a change to its governance structure.

The Leader presented a report recommending delegation to the Boundary Committee of the Council?s response to the consultation on the Boundary Commission?s Electoral Review of the County. The report was seconded.

Councillor Foster pointed out that the proposed delegation was unusual but understandable given the consultation timescales involved [close of consultation ? 31 August 2015] and asked for assurance that any response to the commission be brought back to full Council for discussion in September.

RESOLVED (unanimously):
That any response to the consultation on the Boundary Commission?s Electoral Review of Lancashire be delegated to the Boundary Committee.

The Cabinet Member for Strategic Housing, Councillor Hughes, presented the report on the Site Allocations Document, to be known henceforward as the Local Plan. He said that the document essentially defined South Ribble for the next decade and for generations to come. Recognising that the process of preparing the plan had taken a number of years, he clarified that ?It identifies and allocates land required over a 15 year period? on page 1, para 2 should be amended to read ?It identifies and allocates land required until 2026?.

Councillor Hughes took the opportunity to thank past and present members on all sides who had been involved in the process for their assistance and support. He also thanked all staff concerned for their commitment, effort and professionalism throughout the process.

In seconding the report, the Leader paid warm tribute to Councillor Hughes for all his efforts and hard work in bringing this key policy document forward and thanked all staff involved and members for their contribution.

The Mayor and Councillor Evans echoed these comments, acknowledging that the finalisation of this document was a major achievement.

RESOLVED (unanimously) that:
1) the South Ribble Site Allocations and Development Management Policies DPD (Local Plan) be adopted;
2) the adopted Local Plan be used for Development Management decision making purposes, and
3) the making of any minor presentational and text amendments required for the final print version of the adopted document be delegated to the Planning Manager in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning.

The Leader presented the report which recommended the establishment of an Independent Remuneration Panel to make recommendations on amendments to the Council?s Scheme of Members? Allowances. The report was seconded.

RESOLVED (unanimously) that:
1) an Independent Remuneration Panel be established to make recommendations on amendments to the Council?s Scheme of Members? Allowances;
2) the following be appointed as members of the Independent Remuneration Panel:
Peter Hyett ? Former Group Director of UCLAN, Anne Selby ? Chief Executive, the Wildlife Trust (Lancashire, Manchester and Merseyside), Julie Thornhill ? General Manager, Waitrose Regional Distribution Centre (Leyland) and Ian Wood ? BAE Systems Samlesbury Site Director, and
3) the Terms of Reference of the Panel be as set out in the report.

Councillor Martin said he recognised that the City Deal would have a dramatic impact on the borough and enquired what measures were being put in place to mitigate the impact of the Cross Borough Link Road on the residents of Charnock and Middleforth in particular.

The Leader explained that some discussions had already taken place in relation to relief requirements in the Lostock Hall, Tardy Gate and Leyland Road areas and Lancashire County Council would be putting forward proposals in due course.

Councillor Forrest recounted a recent trip to London where he had observed that facilities for the disabled at stations often included toilet facilities. He wondered whether the Leader might use her influence in this regard in her ongoing negotiations with relevant parties about improvements to Leyland railway station. Councillor Mrs Snape asked if the Leader could provide an update on developments in relation to Leyland station.

The Leader was pleased to report that it had just been confirmed that ?3.5m of improvement works to Leyland station were due to commence on 5 August. These would be carried out in phases, with some inevitable closures anticipated over the Christmas period, and a full report outlining the works would be issued in due course. She was delighted that work was finally due to start after years of negotiations and said that disabled toilet provision was on her ?radar?.

Councillor Howarth said that he had spoken recently to colleagues from some other local authorities which had clear specific criteria in place for appointing their mayors, such as length of council service, and he enquired what this Council?s policy was.

The Leader confirmed that discussions that she and Councillor Foster had had since he became Leader of the Labour Group had included this issue and they were working on a possible way forward.

Noting the mix of new and experienced members on the current Cabinet, a member of the public enquired whether council tax payers could look forward to ?even more radical policies to increase the pace of efficiency savings? whilst continuing to provide excellent services.

The Leader confirmed that the new Cabinet was working extremely hard and she fully expected that each member would be putting forward ideas in the not too distant future for how each portfolio area could continue to be efficient, effective and maintain excellent services.

Finance & Resources

A member of the public enquired whether, with the under occupancy of this building and the difficulty in letting the spare capacity, it would be more sensible to relocate South Ribble staff to a smaller building then sell or rent the building as an entirety.
The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, Councillor Bennett, confirmed that a full review of assets was currently underway and as nothing was ?off the table?, this may well be considered.
A member of the public enquired whether, in view of the council?s ?30,000 loss on parking fees, it might be timely to introduce free parking within the borough. He quoted the much publicized recent case in Cardigan, Mid Wales, where local trade (as opposed to supermarket trade) had increased after parking machines had been vandalised, resulting in free parking. He suggested that this council would save money by introducing free parking, thereby removing the need for enforcement; local trade may well increase as a result.
Councillor Bennett confirmed that this council would not be proposing to introduce free parking across the borough and pointed out that there would still be a requirement for enforcement of on street parking. In response to an observation from Councillor Forrest about free parking in Chorley, Councillor Hughes pointed out that prior to the introduction of parking charges, parking spaces in Lostock Hall had tended to fill quickly with commuters and car sharers, thereby preventing potential shoppers from short stays. Introducing parking charges had actually enabled shoppers to park in the area. Councillor Foster suggested it would be appropriate for a paper to Council outlining the authority?s policy on car parking.
Housing & Healthy Communities

Councillor Ms Bell observed that incidences of anti-social behaviour seemed to have increased as soon as schools had started breaking up for the summer holidays and she enquired how the Council could work together to assure local residents that Leyland was a safe place.

The Cabinet Member for Housing & Healthy Communities, Councillor Michael Green, pointed out that members of the Council continued to work closely with each other and with various partners and community groups on initiatives to reduce and tackle anti-social behaviour. He was pleased to say that crime levels in the borough were low and likely to remain so, according to the Police and Crime Commissioner and representatives from Lancashire Constabulary with whom he and the Leader had met recently.

Neighbourhoods & Street Scene

In response to a question from Councillor Martin about the proliferation of giant hogweed in the Middleforth area, the Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods & Street Scene, Councillor Mullineaux, acknowledged that this was a difficult issue, with giant hogweed having spread widely, mainly along the river bank. This council was working closely with neighbouring authorities in a bid to try to eradicate the problem.

A member of the public asked a number of detailed questions about the duck pond on Worden Park and Cricketers Brook.
Councillor Mullineaux said that he had been informed of these questions in advance and was in a position to hand a response to the gentleman after the meeting. As the subject matter was quite detailed in nature he did not propose to read them out but would be happy to circulate them to members outside of the meeting.
Regeneration & Leisure
Councillor Howarth enquired whether the allocation of ?50,000 to the Coach House Restoration project in Penwortham had been made because it was desirable, attainable and sustainable and, if so, why it been decided to give this amount to a volunteer group to carry out the work rather than this council.
The Cabinet Member for Regeneration & Leisure, Councillor P Smith, explained that the ?50,000 allocation was for Hurst Grange Park generally, not specifically for the Coach House Restoration project.

Referring to the ?Raising of the Coffin? ceremony in Bamber Bridge on 12 July, Councillor Watts extended his thanks to Councillor Nelson, chairman of Eastern My Neighbourhood Area, for all his hard work and to the Mayor and all who attended. He said it had been a tremendous success and members joined him in thanking Councillor Higgins in particular for his efforts in organising the event.

There were no questions.