Agenda and minutes

Councillor M. Cope moved and Councillor I. Walker seconded that Councillor R. Crowe be elected Chairman of Newark & Sherwood District Council for the 2019/20 municipal year.

AGREED (unanimously) that Councillor R. Crowe be elected Chairman of Newark &  Sherwood District Council for the 2019/20 municipal year.

(Councillor R. Crowe signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office and received the Chain of Office from the Retiring Chairman).

Councillor R. Crowe presented the past Chairman’s badge to Councillor K. Walker and thanked him for the way he had carried out his duties as Chairman of the District in 2018/19. 

(As the newly elected Chairman, Councillor R. Crowe took the Chair for the remainder of the meeting).

Councillor Mrs S. Michael moved and Councillor B. Laughton seconded that Councillor Mrs P. Rainbow be elected Vice–Chairman of Newark & Sherwood District Council for the 2019/20 municipal year.

AGREED (unanimously) that Councillor Mrs P. Rainbow be elected Vice-Chairman of Newark & Sherwood District Council for the 2019/20 municipal year.

(Councillor Mrs P. Rainbow signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office and received the Vice-Chairman’s Chain of Office).

AGREED that that minutes of the meeting held on 7 March 2019 be approved as a

                correct record and signed by the Chairman.

There were no declarations of interest.

In addition to the Council recording in accordance with usual practice, Councillor L. Goff declared his intention to record parts of the meeting.

The Chief Executive advised of the mandatory training which had been arranged for the Members appointed to the Licensing/General Purposes Committee and the Planning Committee as part of the Members induction programme.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 15 the Council received three questions. Details of the questions submitted by Jennifer Harding, John Samye, and Wendy Baird and the subsequent replies are detailed in Appendix A to the minutes.

‘Save the trees bordering the site of the Bearings and Lime Grove, Newark’ – to be presented for debate by the Council by Katie Greenfield In accordance with the Council’s Statutory Petitions Scheme.

‘CCTV on the Winthorpe Estate‘ – to be presented by Cllr Mrs Dawn in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10.

In accordance with the Council’s statutory petition scheme, Katie Greenfield presented a petition to the Council in relation to ‘Saving the Trees bordering the site of the Bearings and Lime Grove, Newark’.

The petition called upon the developers to reverse their decision to cut down these trees in respect of the recently approved planning permission 18/00973/FULM for the erection of 62 residential dwellings at the site. The written petition, containing 56 signatures, was presented to the Council. This was supported by an online petition which had 689 ‘signatures’ at the latest count.

In opening the debate, the Leader of the Council welcomed the content of the petition, acknowledging the flaws in the statutory process for consulting on planning applications and frustration with work taking place to remove trees outside of the planning permission. In respect of the unauthorised removal of trees he advised that the Council had issued a Temporary Stop Notice to stop all works and it was likely that replacement would be secured. He added that a revised planning application was likely to be submitted to the Planning Committee on 4 June 2019 which would contain the full detail of the enhanced ecology likely to be proposed for the site.

Councillor D. Lloyd moved and Councillor K. Girling seconded that ‘the petition be referred for consideration alongside the planning application which was likely to be considered by the Planning Committee on 4 June 2019’. Thus proposed, on being put to the meeting, was declared carried unanimously.

AGREED (unanimously) that the petition be referred for consideration alongside the planning application which was likely to be considered by the Planning Committee on 4 June 2019

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 10, Councillor Mrs G Dawn presented a petition to the Council on behalf of the residents of the Winthorpe Road Estate. This petition called for the installation of permanently fitted CCTV for the safety and security of the community. The petition, signed by 141 people, was presented to the Chairman. 

AGREED that the petition be referred to the Planning Committee alongside consideration of the planning application.

Councillor P. Harris left during the consideration of this item.

The Council considered the report of the Chief Executive concerning the allocation of seats on Committees to Political Groups, as required by Council Procedure Rule No. 17.6, following the District Council elections held on 2 May 2019.

Section 15 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 required the Council to consider the political composition of the Council at each Annual Meeting.  This Act, together with the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990, required the Council to allocate seats on committees on a proportional basis in accordance with the number of seats held on the Council by each political group.  The proposed allocation of seats was set out in Appendix B to the report.

AGREED (unanimously) that the allocation of seats to Political Groups (as set out in Appendix B to these minutes) be approved.

(To appoint the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council, Committee Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen, Major Opposition Group Spokespersons, Members to Committees and Substitute Members to Committees etc)

The Council considered the report of the Chief Executive which sought to make  the appointments of the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council, Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of Committees, Major Opposition Spokespersons, Members and Substitute Members to Committees. 

AGREED (unanimously) that the appointments as set out in the schedule, at Appendix C to these minutes, be approved.

The Council considered the report of the Chief Executive which sought to make appointments to Outside Bodies for the 2019/20 municipal year. The Newark and Sherwood Health Forum and Patrol Adjudication Joint Committee had been removed from the schedule as representation of these bodies was no longer required.

AGREED (unanimously) that the appointments of representatives on outside bodies for 2019/20, as set out in the schedule at Appendix D to these minutes, be approved.

The Council considered the report of the Chief Executive concerning Council Procedure Rule No. 4.8, which required Council to appoint a panel of at least four Members in order to be in a position to call an Extraordinary Meeting of the Council should the offices of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Council be vacant, or if both the Chairman and Vice-Chairman were unable to act for any reason.

AGREED (unanimously) that the Leader of the Council, Deputy Leader of the Council, together with the Leaders of the Labour, Independent Group and Liberal Democrat groups, be appointed to the Panel established in accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 4.8.

The Council considered the report of the Monitoring Officer, Director of Governance & Organisational Development which sought to approve the appointment of Paul Cox and Sarah Britton as the Independent Person to Newark and Sherwood District Council.

The appointments for the two current Independent Persons, Richard Dix and Sharon Jones came to an end as from this meeting. Following advertisement for the role, applicants were shortlisted by the Monitoring Officer, Deputy Monitoring Officer and the interview panel. Following interview, the interview panel had unanimously recommended the appointment of Paul Cox and Sarah Britton as the Council’s two Independent Persons. Suitable references had also been received for both applicants.

AGREED (unanimously) that:

a)           the Council approve the appointments of Paul Cox and Sarah Britton as Independent Persons to Newark & Sherwood District Council pursuant to Section 28 of the Localism Act 2011 be approved, with immediate effect for a four year term until May 2023; and

b)          a letter of thanks be sent to the retiring Independent Persons, Richard Dix and Sharon Jones.

Minute No 60- Protecting and Enhancing England’s Trees and Woodlands- Consultation response

Councillor Mrs Y. Woodhead raised concerns about what she perceived to be the private sale of woodland in the District. Councillor K Girling agreed to seek further information regarding parts of this.

Councillor Mrs G. Dawn also sought clarification as to the purpose of the discs place on various trees around the Bridge Ward. Councillor K Girling stated that he believed that these related to Tree Protection Orders but he would seek further clarification.

Minute No. 59 – Homelessness Prevention Strategy 2019-2024

Councillor L. Goff requested figures as to the current number of homeless people in the District. Councillor T. Wendels agreed to provide Councillor Goff with this information.

The Chairman of the Audit and Accounts Committee, Mrs S. Michael, invited members of the Committee to attend a Statement of Accounts training session to be held on 5 June 2019.