Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:

            That the minutes of the previous meetings held 12 December 2018 and 18 December 2018, less exempt minute, be approved and adopted

– 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 Portfolio Holder’s introduction and any questions from Cabinet Members).

David Roger-Jones (Secretary of the Wickham Community Centre) welcomed Members to the meeting which was being held at the Community Centre.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillors Clear and McLean addressed Cabinet as summarised below.

As Chairman of Wickham and Knowle Parish Council in addition to being Chairman of Wickham Community Centre, Councillor Clear also welcomed Members to the meeting.

Councillor McLean requested that Cabinet Members provide an update on recent activities that had made positive improvements for residents of Wickham and the surrounding areas.

In response, the Leader and Portfolio Holders provided a summary of recent activities which included improvements to car parking in Wickham, the Taste of Wickham event, provision of new housing in conjunction with the Wickham Community Land Trust and examining opportunities for a four court sports hall to be located in the Southern parishes.

Four members of the public spoke during public participation as summarised below.

Keith Butler, Steve Montegue and Mr Verrecchia spoke as residents of Boarhunt and raised a number of concerns regarding an ongoing planning enforcement case on Firgrove Lane, as summarised below.  The case related to the siting of mobile homes and also construction of a dwelling (which had been ordered to be demolished).

·         Why had planning enforcement action not been taken earlier as the issue was first raised in 2013?

·         Concern that if action was taken, the unlawful development would reappear at a later date.

·         Concern that the site might be left in a contaminated condition.

Councillor Brook stated that the Council was aiming to adopt the Gypsy and Travellers Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) at its meeting in February and once adopted, this would provide a policy framework to strengthen the Council’s position and enable it to take appropriate enforcement action.  In the meantime, the Council were investigating the situation with regard to ownership of the land and mobile homes so it could take appropriate enforcement action.

Councillor Brook emphasised that enforcement action had been taken by the Council before but various legal difficulties had arisen which had delayed action. 

The Chairman stated that further updates could be provided directly if those speaking wished to provide their contact details.

Craig Manuel (Knowle Residents’ Association) queried the situation regarding open space provision in relation to a planned development of 200 homes at Knowle.  His queries related to whether contracts had been agreed between Wickham Parish Council and the landowner and proposals for the Meon Valley Trail extension. This followed recent statements from a City Councillor on social media. 

The Chairman agreed to clarify the situation and provide an update to Mr Manuel directly and/or arrange for officers to attend a meeting of the Knowle Residents’ Association.

Councillor Miller announced that there had been a high level of interest in the new industrial units at Bishops Waltham.

Councillor Warwick introduced the report, together with the Head of Environmental Health and Licensing.  The Head of Environmental Health and Licensing highlighted that the Government had published a new Air Quality Strategy since the report was produced.  The new Strategy focussed on emissions from non-vehicular sources (e.g. wood burning stoves) but still retained the ambition to reduce emissions from vehicles.  The Government had adopted a policy aim of 70% of all vehicles sold being electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030 and 100% by 2040.

Cabinet welcomed to the meeting Ernie Shelton from Horizon Power and Energy who had prepared the Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy for the Council, contained as the appendix to the report.  Mr Shelton gave a presentation outlining the contents of the Strategy.  In summary, his advice would be that the Council start on a small scale basis with careful consideration of the most appropriate place to site EV charging points.  Decisions as to how to expand could then be based on data captured and taking account of expected advances in technology.

Mr Shelton responded to detailed questions from Members and others present on his presentation.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillors Bell and Thompson addressed Cabinet as summarised below.

As a member of the Air Quality Steering Group, Councillor Bell welcomed the report and the proposal to run pilots with specific interested residents with on-street parking in the Air Quality Management Area (AQMA).  With regard to the possible future use of electric park and ride buses, she suggested “shuttle” electric buses could be used to ferry passengers over shorter distances, supplementing the main bus routes.

Councillor Thompson also welcomed the report and the presentation given by Mr Shelton (which had also been received at a previous Winchester Town Forum meeting).   She remained slightly concerned that the proposals were not sufficiently ambitious.  She suggested that the option of providing EV charging spaces in car parks specifically for residents without off-street parking be investigated.  She believed there might be capacity issues with the National Grid and suggested solar panels could be installed on car parks to provide additional electricity.  In addition, the Council should seek to market Winchester as an attractive place for EV users to stop and charge their vehicle.

Councillor Warwick thanked Mr Shelton for his presentation.

Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons outlined above and set out in the Report.

RESOLVED:

1.         That the draft Strategy be adopted.

2.         That a detailed options appraisal for the delivery and operation of an electric vehicle charging network be completed for consideration at a future Cabinet meeting.

Councillor Warwick introduced the report.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillors Bell and Evans addressed Cabinet as summarised below.

Councillor Bell welcomed the report and asked a number of detailed questions:

·         Assurance that new parking payment machines include additional payment options to payment via Pay Mobile or Ringo;

·         Request for an additional payment machine at Worthy Lane car park;

·         Assurance that the SMART card facility would not be removed until consultation had been undertaken with the University and Hospital;

·         Request that when next refurbished, it be considered that  the different floors on Chesil MSCP be painted different colours;

·         Consideration should be given to providing information to increase understanding for the wider public if virtual residents’ permits were introduced.

As a ward councillor for Wickham, Councillor Evans welcomed the additional car parking spaces provided at the old station in Wickham but emphasised there remained a shortage of car parking spaces in the town.  This was causing capacity and safety concerns with inconsiderate parking in Wickham Square.  In addition, she requested that additional lighting be provided in the area.

The Chairman requested that the Portfolio Holder and Corporate Head of Regulatory respond directly to the detailed questions raised by Councillors Bell and Evans.  Councillor Warwick emphasised that recommendation 3 of the report confirmed that consultation would be undertaken before the smart card payment option was removed.

In response to questions, the Corporate Head of Regulatory advised that proposed expenditure was higher than in previous years due to the number of schemes being ready for implementation, together with the remit of the report being widened.  Cabinet noted that expenditure would be funded from a mixture of capital and revenue expenditure, as detailed in the report.  Members also highlighted the links with the Winchester Movement Strategy.

Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons outlined above and set out in the Report.

RESOLVED:

1.         That, subject to Council approval of the Budget and Capital Strategy in February 2019, expenditure of £658,000 for 2019/20 as outlined in appendix A, be approved and that the indicative programme for 2020/21 totalling £185,000 be noted as a basis for planning and preparing future works.

2.         That the Corporate Head of Regulatory Services be given delegated authority to make minor adjustments to the programme in order to meet maintenance and operational needs of the District’s car parks throughout the year, as required, in consultation with the Corporate Head of Asset Management and Portfolio Holder for the Environment.

3.         That in principle the smart card option of payment for customers using park and ride car parks be ceased subject to prior consultation with those parties most affected by this change to this means of making parking payments.

Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons outlined above and set out in the Report.

RESOLVED:

            That the minutes of the Cabinet (Local Plan) Committee held 3 December 2018 be received.

Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons outlined above and set out in the Report.

RESOLVED:

            That the minutes of the Cabinet (Traffic and Parking) Committee held 17 December 2018 be received.

Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons outlined above and set out in the Report.

RESOLVED:

            That the minutes of the Cabinet (Station Approach) Committee held 18 December 2018 be received.

RESOLVED:

That the list of future items, as set out in the Forward Plan for February 2019, be noted.

To consider whether in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

(i)            To pass a resolution that the public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business because it is likely that, if members of the public were present, there would be disclosure to them of ‘exempt information’ as defined by Section 100 (I) and Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

RESOLVED:

1.         That in all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

2.         That the public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business because it is likely that, if members of the public were present, there would be disclosure to them of ‘exempt information’ as defined by Section 100I and Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

RESOLVED:

            That the exempt minute of the previous meeting held 18 December 2018 be approved and adopted.