Agenda and minutes

to approve as a correct record and authorise the Chairman to sign the minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 6 June 2019;

The minutes of the Executive meeting held on 6 June 2019 were confirmed as a true and correct record and signed off by the Chairman.

Members are invited to declare any personal or disclosable pecuniary interests, including the nature and extent of such interests they may have in any items to be considered at this meeting;

Members and officers were invited to declare any interests in the items of business to be considered during the course of this meeting and the following were made:

Cllr Hawkins declared a personal interest in Item 9:  Dartmouth Health and Wellbeing Hub development by virtue of being the Devon County Council representative on the South Devon Health Trust and he remained in the meeting and took part in the debate but abstained from the vote because he was also the local Ward Member;

Cllr Bastone declared that he would abstain from the vote on Item 9:  Dartmouth Health and Wellbeing Hub because he was the local Ward Member, but he took part in the debate;

Cllr May declared that he would abstain from the vote on Item 7:  Ivybridge Regeneration because he was the local Ward Member, but he took part in the debate;

Cllr Hopwood declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in Item 15:  Car Parking Order Amendments by virtue of business interests and she left the room for the duration of this item.

a period of up to 15 minutes is available to deal with questions submitted to the Council in accordance with the Executive Procedure Rules;

It was noted that the following public questions had been received in accordance with the Executive Procedure Rules, for consideration at this meeting.  The responses are shown in italics.  Supplementary questions were then asked as shown.

Question 1 from Colin Luker:

Will SHDC consider a ‘Pilot Park & Ride Study' to reduce traffic congestion & air pollution in Totnes by utilising underused parking spaces in Follaton House; an initial Friday pilot trial extending to week-days once viable and an extension to other routes into Town in future?

Response from Cllr Baldry:

The principle of a park and ride may be a good one, however, the car park at Follaton house is designated as a private operational car park for the benefit of our tenants, members and staff.  It is included within the lease of our tenants and we would not be at liberty to change the operation of the car park to the detriment of our tenants without a full consultation process.  A members working group is currently reviewing the future use of Follaton House and is looking to report back in October to the Executive.  The Head of Assets does not advocate any consultation with our tenants on the change of the use of the car park until after the findings of the working group have been reported.

Supplementary:

I disagree with your statement.  You hold Follaton House for the benefit of residents and I would ask you to reconsider.

Response:

Follaton House is for the benefit of staff, tenants and the residents of the whole of the South Hams.

Question 2 from Ian Hammond:

In the plan for Ivybridge redevelopment, it would appear the Youth Venue is going. Have the executive considered the potential impact to Youth activities, Community activities and well-being especially in light of the plans for Youth for Christ and The Salvation Army to start activities in the centre next year?

Response from Cllr Bastone:

The Executive recognise the importance of youth services in Ivybridge and in fact was pleased that at a recent meeting involving multiple stakeholders, Cllr Roger Croad from DCC suggested he was going to try and raise its priority within DCC.  It is not the aim of this project to reduce services in Ivybridge and our future stakeholder engagement will shape what the final outcome looks like.

Supplementary:

Will the impact assessment be amended to include the impacts on youth, community and wellbeing in the town?

Response:

Yes, full impact assessments will be undertaken.

Question 3 from Cllr Tony Rea, ITC:

Regarding proposals to build a new supermarket in Ivybridge:

Precisely what modelling methods have been used to generate figures quoted recently in the press? ie that it would “create up to 60 jobs and bring in 2000 customers per day”.

Response from Cllr Bastone:

These figures are taken directly from the supermarket provider, who has a clear understanding of their business model and employment requirements.

Supplementary:

Regarding the 'up to 60' new jobs the development might bring to Ivybridge, what is the  ...  view the full minutes text for item E.12/19

Members were presented with the Executive Forward Plan setting out items on the agenda for Executive meetings for the next four months and noted its content without any comment. 

Members were presented with a report that presented further information, a business case and justification regarding the regeneration project in Ivybridge, following approval of the principle by the Executive in March 2019 (Minute ref: E.82/18).

The Deputy Leader introduced the report. A number of Members spoke on this item and there was a detailed debate.

During discussion, points raised included the following:

-        The importance of ensuring youth facilities were included within the scheme;

-        The need to bring additional footfall into the town and therefore site the supermarket within the town;

-        The need to provide sufficient parking;

-        That the supermarket offered 90 minutes free parking, in the knowledge that shoppers spend, on average, 20 minutes in their shop;

-        The importance of listening to residents and getting their views, not just a vocal minority who opposed the scheme;

-        That Ivybridge had changed considerably over the last 20 years and there were a number of young families who would benefit from access to a cheaper supermarket;

-        The essential need to include addressing the problems of the two footbridges as part of any scheme that came forward;

-        That this scheme would not financially benefit the District Council, and if the town did not want such a scheme the District Council would not impose it.

A number of Members spoke of the opportunity that this scheme could provide, and the Leader confirmed that consultation with residents would take place.

It was then:

RESOLVED that:

1.      The revised business case contained within Exempt Appendix A be approved;

2.      Officers be instructed to seek to finalise the land assembly and stakeholder engagement;

3.      A maximum spend of £50,000 be approved; and

4.      A further report be presented to the Executive upon the conclusion of part 2 of the recommendation.

The Executive was presented with a report that sought approval of the revised business case for the Kingsbridge Hotel development project, previously approved by the Executive in December 2018 (Minute ref:  E.62/18).

The Deputy Leader introduced the report. The Lead Member for Environment stated that he was unable to support the recommendation as written, however, he proposed an additional recommendation that was seconded and, when put to the vote, declared carried.

During discussion, the following points were made:

-        Concerns over the lack of car parking spaces, particularly in the summer months of June, July and August;

-        The benefits of the scheme to both Kingsbridge and the District as a whole;

-        Concerns that the District Council was taking all the risk, and the exit strategy;

-        The need to ensure that the community were supportive of the scheme.

The Group Manager Support Services and Customer First concluded by confirming that he and the Kingsbridge Town Council Clerk had begun discussions on the importance of consultation, designing that consultation and who to consult with.

It was then:

RESOLVED that:

1.      The revised business case for the project, as set out in the presented report and Exempt Appendix A, be approved; and

2.      Officers undertake a public consultation outside the planning process, the format of which should be discussed with Kingsbridge Town Council and local Ward Members.

Members were presented with a report that asked for consideration of the relative merits and approval of a proposal to deliver a key health facility at Dartmouth in line with the Council’s Health and Wellbeing theme.

The Deputy Leader introduced the report.  Members were generally supportive of the proposals and each of the local Ward Members spoke in support.  The benefits of the scheme to the surrounding parishes was discussed.  The Leader did advise that the facilities to be included within the Hub would be decided by the NHS Trust and would not be a matter for the District Council.

It was then:

RESOLVED that:

1.      The project to deliver a Health and Wellbeing HUB in Dartmouth and associated business case in exempt Appendix A be approved;

2.      The borrowing identified in the business case under the delegation provided by the Commercial Investment Strategy be approved;

3.      Authority be delegated to the Head of Assets Practice to enter into leases (and associated legal agreements) associated with the project with a term longer that the delegated limit of 15 years; and

4.      The minimal impact that the proposals may have on total parking capacity in Dartmouth be recognised and officers instructed to bring forward proposals for consideration by local members to mitigate that loss.

Members were presented with a report that sought to update the Commercial Property Acquisition Strategy with the relaxation of the geographical investment restriction on the inclusion of renewable energy generation assets, and to update the name of the Strategy.

The Leader introduced the report and the Head of Assets responded to questions.

It was then:

Members were presented with a report that asked the Executive to consider the proposed Air Quality Action Plan for Totnes, it having been consulted on and subsequently reworked.

The Lead Member for Environment introduced the report.  The Senior Specialist Environmental Health responded to questions of clarity.  One of the local Ward Members asked that the Executive consider two minor amendments to the Action Plan as follows:

-        Firstly, that the final sentence on Cost Effectiveness of Option 2:  Medium be amended to read “Due to the potential cost, impact to the environment, and unquantifiable benefit to air quality it is not felt appropriate to explore this option further” (ie. remove ‘at this time’ from the end of the sentence; and

-        Secondly, the second action in the Action Plan table amends the Key Performance Indicator to read “Install a minimum of two electric vehicle charging points within the Totnes Public Car Parks”.

The proposed amendments were agreed.  Members debated air quality mitigation measures in more detail.

It was then:

RESOLVED

1.    That the proposed Air Quality Action Plan for Totnes (at appendix 1), had been considered and the above amendments included; and

Members were presented with a report that presented a starting point for developing a meaningful five year strategy that set out the strategic intention for all of the different strands of funding available to the Council.

The Leader introduced the report, and the s151 Officer responded to questions of clarity.

Member discussion included the following points:

-        Central Government was being lobbied to provide more information to local government in time for the budget setting process on key issues such as business rates, new homes bonus and negative revenue support grant;

-        The savings due from the waste and recycling contract and how they were presented within the budget papers;

-        Progress with the issue of some second homes being business rated.  The Leader confirmed that discussions took place with Leaders from similarly affected councils at the recent LGA Conference and the appropriate Minister was aware of the issue. The Councils will be jointly lobbying the Minister on this ‘business rates loophole’.

It was then:

RESOLVED that:

1.     The forecast budget gap for 2020/21 of £0.45 million be noted;

2.     The current options identified and timescales for closing the budget gap in 2020/21 and in future years, to achieve long term financial sustainability as set out in Section 7, be noted; and

TheDeputy Leader introduceda reportthat informed Members of thedebtwrittenoff forrevenuestreamswithinthe Revenueand Benefitsservice.  Debtsupto thevalueof £5,000werewrittenoffby the s151Officerunderdelegatedauthority.  Permissionwassoughtto writeoff individualdebts witha valueof morethan £5,000.  

Itwasthen:

RESOLVED

That it be noted that, in accordancewithFinancialRegulations,the s151Officerhasauthorisedthe write-offofindividualSouth Hams DistrictCouncildebtstotalling£63,798.63as detailedinTables1 and2 of the presented agenda report.

That the write off of individual debts in excess of £5,000 totalling £67,493.14, as detailed in Table 3, be approved.

Members were presented with a report that provided an overview of how crowdfunding worked and how the Council might use an underspend from the Town and Parish (TAP) Fund to create a South Hams crowdfund.

The Lead Member for Communities introduced the report.

It was then:

RESOLVED

That the proposed creation of a South Hams Crowdfund, as detailed in paragraph 5 be approved.

Members were presented with a report that recommended that the Off Street Parking Order be amended to include reference to Electric Charging Points and to allow enforcement of the same.

The Lead Member for Environment introduced the report.

It was then:

Members were presented with a report that set out proposed South Hams Special Area of Conservation (SAC) Habitats Regulations Assessment Guidance to be used to determine whether a Habitats Regulation Assessment (HRA) Screening was required on any planning application submitted within the South Hams SAC are and provided advice on the information that applicants may need to submit with a planning application in order for the planning authority to undertake the HRA.

The Leader introduced the report, and the Specialist Place Making and Assets explained how the guidance had been amended following consultation in 2018.  He then responded to more detailed questions of clarity.

It was then:

RESOLVED

1.     That the South Hams Special Area of Conservation Habitats Regulations Assessment Guidance (as at Appendix 1 of the presented agenda report) be approved, subject to any other minor amendments of detail being delegated to the Specialist (Place Making and Assets) in consultation with the Strategic Planning Lead Member; and

2.     That the Statement of Community Involvement (at Appendix 2), summarising the comments to the consultation process, be noted.

Members were presented with a report following the request of Council at the 21 February 2019 meeting for the Chief Executive to present a report recommending a new management structure (Minute ref:  55/18).

The Leader introduced the report and confirmed that the intention of the Chief Executive was to appoint internally to these roles.

It was then RESOLVED that Council be RECOMMENDED to:

- to consider the following resolution to exclude the public and

press:-

“That in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local

Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the

meeting during consideration of the following items of business in

order to avoid the likely disclosure to them of exempt information

as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act”;

RESOLVED

That in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business as the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to the Act is involved.

Members were presented with an exempt report that considered the options available for procuring an IT platform to meet the Council’s customer satisfaction aspirations, and digital vision, and described the rationale and methodology used in arriving at a recommendation.

The Deputy Leader introduced the report and the Head of IT Practice responded to questions of clarity.

It was then:

RESOLVED

1.     That the approach for the IT Procurement as set out in the presented report be noted and the way forward proposed in paragraph 4 be supported; and

2.     That the Head of IT Practice commence development of a detailed implementation plan for a low code solution (Option 2 in paragraph 4 of the presented report).

(NOTE: THESE DECISIONS, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF E.17/19, E.18/19 (2), E.19/19(3), E.22/19, AND E.24/19 WHICH WERE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING TO BE HELD ON 25 JULY 2019, WILL BECOME EFFECTIVE FROM 5.00PM ON MONDAY 29 JULY 2019 UNLESS CALLED IN, IN ACCORDANCE WITH SCRUTINY PROCEDURE RULE 18).