Agenda and minutes

Councillor P Harris declared an interest given that he was proposing to ask a question about the Air & Space Institute given he was an employer for engineering. This was relevant to Agenda Item No. 8 – Community Plan 2023-2027.

There were no other declarations of interest from Members and Officers and the Council noted the interests previously declared by Members in Agenda Item No. 15 – Minutes for noting.

The Chair advised the Council that the meeting was being recorded and streamed online in accordance with the usual practice.

AGREED      that that minutes of the meeting held on 17 October 2023 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The Chair promoted her raffle which had been organised to raise money for her chosen charity, Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance.

The Leader of the Council advised Members of the unsustainable annual increases in Internal Drainage Board levies.  Internal Drainage Boards were funded by a levy charge through Councils in their geographical boundary. Newark & Sherwood District had two such boards, Trent Valley and Upper Witham.  The Leader of the Council advised that the current levy was £950,000, an increase of £269,000 from the previous year, which was added to Council budgets in the absence of revenue support from the Government. 

He advised that the Local Government Association had set up a special interest group for all Councils affected and this group was now actively lobbying the Government regarding how Internal Drainage Boards could be funded going forward, whether this was either by direct funding through the Government or through a formal grant to councils.  The Leader confirmed that the Council was actively supporting this group with lobbying for change and he agreed to keep the Council appraised of progress.

The Leader also reported that on 20 November 2023, the Council was awarded Levelling Up grant funding of just under £20m to support regeneration projects in Ollerton and Clipstone. He clarified that the funding was for both areas and not just Ollerton as advised to residents by the local MP.

The Portfolio Holder for Housing informed the Council that the ICT Business Unit had been shortlisted for the User Experience Project of the Year Award at the UK IT Industry Awards event held on 8 November. This followed their successful partnership working with Lincoln City Council.

In accordance with Rule No. 3.3.3, the following question has been submitted to the Council from Councillor J Lee:

“I want to address a matter of significant concern pertaining to wildlife protection and community safety within our towns and villages. This issue was brought to my attention during recent interactions with residents in Wellow, highlighting an alarming trend that seems to be emerging across our district.

Specifically, I wish to draw your attention to two distressing incidents. The first is a recent allegation from Wellow, where an individual reportedly threatened to shoot fireworks at a peahen. The second incident, reminiscent of this, occurred last year around Balderton Lake, involving harm to wildlife. These episodes not only cause distress among our residents but also pose a serious threat to the well-being of our local wildlife.

Given these circumstances, I am compelled to ask, what proactive measures is the District Council implementing to combat such anti-social behaviour and wildlife crimes in our towns and villages? It is essential to understand the Council's strategy and the collaborative efforts with the police and other organizations in addressing these issues.

The protection of wildlife and the maintenance of community safety are paramount. I am keen to learn about the initiatives and policies the Council has in place or plans to introduce to prevent such incidents from recurring. Ensuring a safe and harmonious environment for all, including our wildlife, is a shared responsibility that I believe our Council can lead on effectively.”

In accordance with Rule No. 3.3.3 one question had been submitted by a Member to the Council.  Details of the question put forward and the full written response given by Councillor P Taylor are attached as Appendix A to the minutes.

The Council considered the joint report of the Chief Executive and Director – Customer Services & Organisational Development which sought approval for the Community Plan for the period 2023 – 2027. The Plan was the key direction setting document which outlined the priorities and vision of the Council over the course of the four year term following the May elections. It was noted that the draft plan had been presented to the Policy & Performance Improvement Committee with their comments being considered by the Cabinet.

AGREED      (with 20 votes for and 12 abstentions) that the Council approve the Community Plan to be implemented for the period 2023 – 2027.

The Council considered the report of the Assistant Director – Legal & Democratic Services which sought to approve the Schedule of Meetings for the period May 2024 to May 2025.

AGREED      (unanimously) that the proposed Schedule of Meetings for 2024-25 be approved. The schedule is attached as Appendix B to these minutes.

The Council considered the report of the Deputy Chief Executive, Director – Resources and Section 151 Officer, which sought to confirm the continuation of the Localised Council Tax Support Scheme for 2024/25 with minor changes in accordance with the annual uprating amounts applied by the Department for Works and Pensions. By applying the annual uprating the Council will continue to maintain the current level of support to all Council Tax Support claimants and ensure that the scheme continues to benefit the most vulnerable and low income households. The Cabinet considered the report at their meeting held on 31 October 2023 and had recommended approval.

AGREED      (unanimously) that the Council continues to adopt the existing Localised Council Tax Support Scheme for all potential claimants for the financial year 2024/25 and uprates the applicable amounts, premiums, state benefits and disregard criteria in accordance with the annual uprating amounts applied by the Departments for Works & Pensions.

The Council considered the report of the Director – Resources and Section 151 Officer, which provided an update on the Council’s treasury activity and prudential indicators for the first half of 2023/24.  This activity was reported to the Audit & Governance Committee at their meeting held on 22 November 2023. The Council considered the nature of the long term and short term investment activity and  whether it was possible to use some investments to secure any community benefits such as decarbonisation programmes.

AGREED      (unanimously) that the Full Council note:

(a)      the treasury management activity; and

(b)      the Prudential Indicators detailed in Sections 6 & 7 of the report.

The Council considered the report of the Director – Communities & Environment, which sought approval for the adoption of an amended Statement of Licensing Policy following a six-week consultation period and endorsement by the Licensing Committee. The Licensing Act 2003 required the Council to review the Policy every five years. The Policy provided information and guidance on the general approach that the Licensing Authority would take when assessing applications and set out expected operating standards.  

AGREED      (unanimously) that Full Council adopt the revised Statement of Licensing Policy 2024-2029 in order to allow licensing decisions to be made.

The Council considered the report of the Director – Planning & Growth, which presented the Council with an overview of the representations received following the publication of the Amended Allocations & Development Management Development Plan Document (DPD) and set before the Council modifications which sought to address the issues raised by the representations.  Approval was sought from Council to submit to the Secretary of State for examination the Amended Allocations & Development Management DPD as amended by proposed modifications. 

The Director – Planning & Growth had provided a report addendum, which addressed the issue of the results of the further noise assessment in relation to Old Stable Yard, Winthorpe Road (site NUA/GRT/12). Given  the results and the magnitude of the construction of a noise barrier on the side of the A1, it was judged that it was no longer appropriate to support the allocation of the site as a Gypsy Roma Traveller site.

In accordance with Rule 5.4, Councillor J Lee requested a recorded vote which was taken as follows::

AGREED      (with 23 votes for, 1 against and 6 abstentions) that:

(a)   the contents of the report and the addendum report be noted;

(b)   the DPD as amended by the proposals contained within Appendix B of the main report be agreed by Council;

(c)    that following a period to allow the promoters of site NUA/GRT/12 to make representations on the latest evidence in relation to their site that the DPD with the proposed modifications in Appendix B of the main report and at 3.1 of the addendum report are submitted for examination.

(d)   when asked the District Council agree to accept a binding report from the Inspector; and

(e)   the Director - Planning & Growth be given delegated authority to propose amendments to the DPD following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Economic Development and the Planning Policy Board in accordance with paragraph 3.4 of the main report.

Minute No. 56 – Revisions to the Community Grant Scheme (Key Decision)

Councillor R Jackson raised concerns about the new criteria for the community grants scheme approved by the Cabinet. He stated that by allowing up to £20,000 of grant funding only large community groups would have the capacity to submit schemes of that size with funding to match.  He considered the new criteria would no longer benefit smaller parishes and community groups.

Councillor J Lee added that he felt that Member involvement in the process had been taken away and he advocated a model such as the one used by Nottinghamshire County Council. 

Councillor P Peacock stated that parish councils could support small community groups to make applications to access this grant funding and applications would be determined by a panel of Members in a transparent manner. In addition, any changes to the scheme would be made if they were required following review.