Venue: Walton Suite, Guildhall, Winchester and streamed live on YouTube at www.youtube.com/winchestercc.
Contact: Nancy Graham, Senior Democratic Services Officer Tel: 01962 848 235, Email: ngraham@winchester.gov.uk
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Apologies To record the names of apologies given.
Minutes:
Apologies were received from Councillor Porter. |
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Membership of Cabinet bodies etc. To give consideration to the approval of alternative arrangements for appointments to bodies set up by Cabinet or external bodies, or the making or terminating of such appointments.
Minutes:
There were no changes to be made.
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Disclosure of Interests To receive any disclosure of interests from Councillors or Officers in matters to be discussed. Note: Councillors are reminded of their obligations to declare disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs), other registerable interests (ORIs) and non-registerable interests (NRIs) in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct.
Minutes:
Councillor Tod declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in report CAB3488 due to his role as a Hampshire County Councillor. However, as there was no material conflict of interest, he remained in the room, spoke and voted under the dispensation granted on behalf of the Audit and Governance Committee to participate and vote in all matters which might have a County Council involvement.
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Public Participation
– to note the names of members of the public wishing to speak on general matters affecting the District or on agenda items (in the case of the latter, representations will normally be received at the time of the agenda item, after the Cabinet Member’s introduction and any questions from Cabinet Members). NB members of the public are required to register with Democratic Services three clear working days before the meeting (contact: democracy@winchester.gov.uk or 01962 848 264). Minutes:
Ian Tait spoke as summarised briefly below. He requested information regarding the council’s proposals for 158 High Street, Winchester which was a vacant building owned by the Council. He believed that this was a potentially valuable asset which should either be used as a source of income for the Council or disposed of. He also highlighted other Council owned land and building assets which were currently vacant awaiting a decision as to their future use.
Councillor Tod responded to the comments made including advising that it had already been decided that 158 High Street would be marketed for potential disposal with the final decision being considered by a future Cabinet.
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Minutes of the previous meeting held on 11 December 2024 Minutes:
RESOLVED:
That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 11 December 2024 be agreed as a correct record. |
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Leader and Cabinet Members' Announcements Minutes:
Councillor Thompson announced that the government had confirmed the council would be allocated a further year of shared prosperity funding of approximately £327,000. She highlighted examples of previous use of the funding to support the council’s priorities.
Councillor Becker announced that as in previous years, half term football sessions would be offered for children across the district at a cost of £1 per child.
Councillor Tod provided an update on the Partnership for South Hampshire (PfSH) meeting he had attended on 10 December which included confirmation that the council would be receiving £1.9 million towards upgrade of water treatment works. In addition, the council’s participation in an agricultural reversal mitigation project at Stubbington was confirmed. He congratulated Simon Kennedy (Head of Environmental Planning at PfSH) for his work in leading the nutrient mitigation projects and securing funding.
Councillor Tod also updated on a Southern Water stakeholder meeting he had attended on 19 December at which he had asked questions regarding their proposals for nutrient stripping and also surface water flooding. Southern Water had agreed to a separate stakeholder meeting regarding the latter issue.
Councillor Tod also referenced the recent government announcement regarding delays to the new hospital programme. He emphasised that the council would seek to continue to support continued investment in the existing hospital in Winchester as far as it was able and press the government and county council to tackle the crisis in social care provision.
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Parking and access programme – review and 25/26 works Decision: 1. That, subject to Full Council approval of the Budget and Capital Investment Strategy in February 2025, expenditure of £1,180,000 for the car park major works programme 2025/26 be approved as outlined in appendix A to report CAB3488.
2. That it be noted that the expenditure plans contained within report CAB3488 exhaust the resources currently available, therefore requiring additional resources to be set aside in the 2025/26 budget.
3. That authority be delegated to the Head of Programme – Place, in consultation with the Corporate Head of Asset Management and Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency, to make minor adjustments to the programme in order to meet maintenance and operational needs of the car park service throughout the year, as required, and procure works as set out in the report.
4. That it be agreed to convert Middle Brook Street car park from “pay on foot” to “pay and display”.
Minutes:
Councillor Learney introduced the report and outlined the improvements undertaken in 2024/25 together with those proposed for 2025/26 which would be subject to approval of the 2025/26 budget by Council in February.
At the invitation of the Leader, Councillors Lee, Cramoysan and Horrill addressed Cabinet as summarised briefly below.
Councillor Lee He expressed concerns about whether the programme had been future proofed against the various challenges facing the council, including reduced government funding, the climate emergency and proposals for local government reorganisation. He referenced the national proposals to ban the future sale of diesel and petrol cars and whether parking spaces should be reduced, workplace levies be considered and EV charging infrastructure prioritised.
Councillor Cramoysan As chair of the Kings Barton Forum, he requested an update on progress towards the provision of a new park and ride facility to serve the North of Winchester as set out in the Winchester Movement Strategy. The park and ride site was required to be connected by a new spine road through the Kings Barton development which had not yet been completed, despite being a Section 106 requirement on the developer CALA. He suggested that CALA should be required to provide an alternative temporary car park close to the school to help alleviate traffic issues until the new park and ride facility was built.
Councillor Horrill Speaking on behalf of Councillor Bolton, she expressed concern about the impact of parking restrictions in market towns on local shops and businesses and believed that a more balanced approach was required to mitigate the impact on the local economy. Events and festivals should be held to attract more footfall into areas even where parking was limited.
Councillor Learney responded to the comments made including agreeing to consider further the proposal for a temporary car park in Kings Barton. Both Councillors Learney and Thompson emphasised that the changes to parking charges had not impacted on the numbers of people parking and disputed that footfall had decreased.
Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons set out in the report and outlined above.
RESOLVED:
1. That, subject to Full Council approval of the Budget and Capital Investment Strategy in February 2025, expenditure of £1,180,000 for the car park major works programme 2025/26 be approved as outlined in appendix A to the report.
2. That it be noted that the expenditure plans contained within the report exhaust the resources currently available, therefore requiring additional resources to be set aside in the 2025/26 budget.
3. That authority be delegated to the Head of Programme – Place, in consultation with the Corporate Head of Asset Management and Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency, to make minor adjustments to the programme in order to meet maintenance and operational needs of the car park service throughout the year, as required, and procure works as set out in the report.
4. That it be agreed to convert Middle Brook Street car park from “pay on foot” to “pay and display”.
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Minutes:
At the invitation of the Leader, Councillor Horrill addressed Cabinet as summarised briefly below. Noting that a report on the Sir John Moore Barracks concept masterplan was due to be considered at the February Cabinet, she queried why it was not included on the Scrutiny Committee agenda prior to this? She also suggested further consideration of the timetabling of future Scrutiny Committees.
Councillor Tod responded that this item outlined future reports to be considered by Cabinet and decisions relating to Scrutiny Committee agendas were not a matter for Cabinet to decide upon.
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