northlincs.gov.uk

Councillors Ali, Appleyard, Armitage, Bainbridge, Barker, Barkworth, Berry, B Briggs, J Briggs, Mrs Bromby, Bunyan, Carlile, Cawsey, Clark, Collinson, Davison, Eckhardt, Ellerby, England, L Foster, T Foster, Glover, Gosling, Grant, Kirk, O’Sullivan, Poole, Mrs Redfern, C Sherwood, N Sherwood, Mrs Sidell, Mrs Simpson, Smith, Stewart, Swift, Waltham, Wardle, Wells and Wilson.

The Council met at Pittwood House, Ashby Road, Scunthorpe.

1669 MAYOR’S REMARKS – The Mayor welcomed fellow councillors, officers and members of the public to the meeting.

The Mayor then indicated that he was now more than half way through his year in office as Mayor and had enjoyed every moment. So far he had attended 248 engagements since May 2008 and there had been two civic receptions since the last full council meeting in November.

He then referred to three very special young ladies who call themselves “The Scunny Bunnies”. They had won the Humberside Police 20th Annual Lifestyle Contest. The second was the Scunthorpe Co-operative Junior Choir who had recently won the BBC Radio 3 Choir of the Year Competition. All of these young people deserved praise for all their hard work.

Finally before moving onto business the Mayor referred to the fact that the council had achieved “Member Development Charter” status. This had involved a lot of hard work and training and would ensure that all councillors give their best to the people they serve.

1670 DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL OR PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTERESTS – Declarations of personal interests were indicated as follows –

1671 MINUTES – Resolved – That the minutes of the ordinary meeting and the extraordinary meeting of the council held on 19 November 2008, having been printed and circulated amongst the members, be taken as read and correctly recorded and be signed by the Mayor.

1672 (11) HOUSING AND EMPLOYMENT LAND ALLOCATIONS DEVELOPMENT PLAN DOCUMENT PRE-SUBMISSION CONSULTATION – SECOND STAGE – The Chief Executive submitted a report informing members of the Housing and Employment Land Allocations Development Plan Document (DPD) Pre-Submission Consultation – Second Stage which had been submitted for consideration and approval for further consultation.

The Housing and Employment Land Allocations Development Plan Document was a key document for the future development of North Lincolnshire. When it is finally approved it will address where new housing and employment development will take place over the next 15 years.

The DPD also had to meet government and regional targets for providing new homes – as North Lincolnshire is an area that is growing and it is vital that the council helps to provide enough homes and jobs for people. Because the DPD will have a wide ranging impact on the area it was subject to extensive consultation at each stage of its production. The Housing and Employment Land Allocations DPD “Issues and Options” were published for public consultation for the period from 5 October to 16 November 2007. The representations made during this period had been considered by officers and a second draft of the plan had now been produced. This was the document before full council. If the plan was approved it would go out to further consultation which would include consultation with the public, key stakeholders, town and parish councils and meetings with elected members on a ward by ward basis. Following that consultation a third draft of the plan would be produced for consideration by the Planning Committee and full council and if approved would then be submitted to the Secretary of State who would make the final decision on the plan after a further period of time had been allowed for representations in relation to the “soundness” of the document.

In order to choose the sites contained in the DPD various considerations have been made. Some of the initial sites submitted as part of the Issues and Options Consultation did not comply with the regional spatial strategy and the core strategy and some had constraints that made them unsuitable for development. All these considerations were taken into account as well as a wide range of constraints including flood risk, biodiversity, nature conservation, landscape designations, agriculture land quality, accessibility of services and other relevant factors. It also had to be noted that some land had been included for the Lincolnshire Lakes but other land might come forward through the Area Action Plan (AAP). The sites had all been tested against the sustainability criteria in the Housing and Employment Land Sustainability Appraisal Report which had helped officers assess their suitability.

Through the consultation feedback Winterton and Kirton in Lindsey had been reclassified as market towns in line with the policy contained in the regional spatial strategy. In addition as part of the consultation the proposed allocation of housing for Scunthorpe and the market towns was detailed in paragraph 2.11 of the report. The main proposed employment locations were in Scunthorpe North, West and the town centre and for the market towns sites in Brigg and Barton upon Humber had been proposed. Employment sites had also been identified at the South Humber Bank, Trent Wharfs, Humberside Airport and the Sandtoft Business Park. Finally, two sites had been proposed for gypsy and travellers one of which was in Caistor Road, Barton upon Humber and the other on Normanby Road, Scunthorpe.

The report contained other information in relation to this matter.

Resolved – (a) That the information contained in the report be noted; (b) that the Housing and Employment Land Allocations Development Plan Pre-Submission – Second Stage of Consultation be approved for public consultation; (c) that the opportunity exists during the Second Stage Consultation for representations previously submitted and not included, along with new representations, to see the inclusion or removal from the final draft of sections of land and that interested parties will be informed of this, and (d) that the outcomes of further consultation be reported to the Planning Committee prior to the preparation of a final draft for approval by council.

Resolved – (a) That the recommendations contained in the report of the Service Director Finance and the calculation of the council’s tax base for the year 2009/2010 be approved, and (b) that, pursuant to the report and in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Tax Base) Regulations 1992, the amount calculated by North Lincolnshire Council as its tax base for the whole area for the year 2009/2010 shall be 50,641.3 and for the parts of the area listed below for the year 2009/2010 shall be for the Parish or area of

1675 FORWARD PLAN FOR THE COUNCIL – Councillor Mark Kirk, Leader of the council introduced his Forward Plan for the period January to April 2009, as required by the Local Government Act 2000 and the council’s constitution. He then invited and answered questions on the Plan’s contents.

1676 PLANNING COMMITTEE – Resolved – That the minutes of the meetings of the Planning Committee held on 5 November 2008 and 3 December 2008 be received, approved and adopted.

1677 LICENSING COMMITTEE – Resolved – That the minutes of the meetings of the Licensing Committee held on 14 August, 25 September, 10, 11 and 27 November and 18 December 2008 be received.

1678 STANDARDS COMMITTEE – Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 27 November 2008 be received.

1679 APPEALS COMMITTEE – Resolved – That the minutes of the meetings of the Appeals Committee held on 6, 7, 13 and 28 November 2008 be received.

1680 SAFER AND STRONGER COMMUNITIES SCRUTINY PANEL – Resolved – That the minutes of the meetings of the Safer and Stronger Communities Scrutiny Panel held on 10 and 19 November and 8 December 2008 be received.

1681 HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES AND OLDER PEOPLE SCRUTINY PANEL – Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting of the Healthier Communities and Older People Scrutiny Panel held on 24 November 2008 be received.

1682 CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE SCRUTINY PANEL – Resolved – That the minutes of the meetings of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel held on 17 November and 15 December 2008 be received with the exception of minute 54.

1683 PLAY AREAS AND OPEN SPACES IN NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE – With regard to excepted portion (a) it was –

Moved by Councillor Wilson and seconded by Councillor Mrs Bromby –

That the minute be received.

Motion Carried

1684 QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC (INCLUDING TOWN AND PARISH COUNCILS) – The Leader referred to the format for full council meetings which enabled members of the public to ask questions. The following member of the public attended the meeting and asked a question of the Leader.

Question – Mr B Duffield

“In regard to the Secretary of State’s recent decision to overturn this council’s decision regarding the width of Yorkshire Moors Bottom Road, Crowle, can the Leader of the Council please ask, on behalf of the residents of Crowle, for a full and frank apology from Councillor John England, the Cabinet member who approved this decision which has now been overturned.Furthermore, can the Leader of the Council also demand that Councillor England resigns from his position as recognition of his terrible mistake”.

The Leader responded to that question as follows –

“I understand that you are referring to the Defending the Highways Strategy which was approved by the then Cabinet member for Environment and Transportation, Councillor John England in 2003. That strategy which set priorities for dealing with complaints of highway encroachment has since been reviewed and was replaced last year by a new comprehensive enforcement policy relating to highways including rights of way.This specific matter you mention concerns the width of the byway known as Yorkshire Moors Bottom Road. The Secretary of State’s decision was that the definitive map kept by the council should be modified to show a width of 66 feet as opposed to the current 7.5 metres. That decision will be reported back to the Planning Committee for further consideration.As regards your references to Councillor England I will leave those matters for him to deal with.”

1685 NOTICE OF MOTION – ENTERTAINMENT VENUE –

Moved by Councillor Mrs Redfern and seconded by Councillor J Briggs –

“This Council acknowledges the cross-party support for an entertainment venue in North Lincolnshire but recognises the difference between the major political parties regarding the location and design of such a facility. Therefore, in order to address these differences the Council resolves to ballot the whole of the residents of North Lincolnshire to allow them to decide between the options.Such decision by the people of North Lincolnshire to be binding on all political parties who agree to work together to deliver what the people want.”

Moved by Councillor Kirk and seconded by Councillor L Foster as an amendment –

“North Lincolnshire Council calls on all 18 members of the Conservative group to resign as councillors and re-stand in by-elections on the single issue of the Baths Hall. In balloting the residents of North Lincolnshire in official by-elections it will allow them to decide between the council’s official stance and the pie-in-the-sky Tory fantasy plan for a new entertainment venue.This council is reminded that the 22 members of the Labour group have already gone to the polls on the issue of the Baths Hall during the election of May 2007 in which Labour members stood on a manifesto pledge – and won.At a time of economic global crisis, this council condemns the Conservative group’s plan to needlessly waste hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money as set out in their motion. This council instead pledges to use the money to keep council tax increases below the 4.6 per cent average of the previous Tory administration.Furthermore, this council finally welcomes the Conservative group’s U-turn in finally welcoming the need for an entertainment venue, just four years after attempting to sell the venue to the highest bidder. This council also recognises the hypocrisy of the Conservatives in calling for even more consultation on this issue. After all, this is the very same Tory group that shut the Baths Hall without any consultation, then in a panic re-opened it, before shutting it down again without ever mentioning a viable alternative.”

At the request of members and in accordance with procedure rule 23 (d) the names of members voting for, against and abstaining from the amendment are as follows –FOR: Councillors Ali, Armitage, Bainbridge, Barker, Barkworth, B Briggs,Carlile, Cawsey, Collinson, Davison, Ellerby, L Foster, Gosling, Grant, Jawaid, Kirk, O’Sullivan, Poole, Mrs Simpson, Smith, Swift and Wilson.

AGAINST: Councillors Appleyard, Berry, J Briggs, Mrs Bromby, Bunyan, Clark, Eckhardt, England, T Foster, Glover, Mrs Redfern, C Sherwood, N Sherwood, Mrs Sidell, Waltham, Wardle and Wells.

ABSTAINING: Nil

Amendment Carried

Substantive Motion Carried

1686 NOTICE OF MOTION – POLICING AND CRIME BILL PROPOSALS

Moved by Councillor L Foster and seconded by Councillor Barkworth –

“North Lincolnshire Council welcomes the government’s recent announcement to reject plans to introduce directly elected members to the police authority. While this council welcomes increasing public accountability of policing, the council will now work with the local MPs to ensure any plan for directly elected members of the police authority is dismissed.

Furthermore, the council formally opposes proposals within the Policing and Crime Bill which would prescribe mandatory conditions for all premises with licences, without exemptions. This could preclude the licensing committee from making decisions using a common sense approach.”

Moved by Councillor Mrs Redfern and seconded by Councillor J Briggs –

That in accordance with procedure rule 1.19(n)/ 1.20 (g) the question be now put.

Motion Carried

The original motion moved by Councillor Foster was then put to the vote.

Motion Carried Unanimously

1687 NOTICE OF MOTION – NEIGHBOURHOOD ACTION TEAMS

Moved by Councillor Poole and seconded by Councillor B Briggs –

“This council welcomes the decision by the Safer and Stronger Communities Scrutiny Panel to scrutinise the work of Neighbourhood Action Teams (NATs). Council recognises the increasingly important role being carried out in the community by these teams across the length and breadth of North Lincolnshire. As North Lincolnshire councillors we pledge our support and commitment in assisting the scrutiny process and the continued development and effectiveness of the Neighbourhood Action Teams.”

Moved by Councillor Mrs Redfern and seconded by Councillor J Briggs –

That in accordance with procedure rule 1.19(n)/1.20 (g) the question be now put.

Motion Lost

Following further debate the original motion put by Councillor Poole was put to the vote.

Motion Carried