Privacy settings

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Walton Suite, Guildhall, Winchester

Contact: Matthew Watson, Democratic Services Officer  Tel: 01962 848 317 Email:  mwatson@winchester.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Appointment of Chairperson and Vice Chairperson for the 2019/20 Municipal Year

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That Councillor Becker is elected Chairperson and Councillor Gottlieb is elected Vice-Chairperson for the 2019/20 Municipal Year.

2.

To note the date and times of future meetings of the Forum as set out:

11 Sep 2019 6.30 pm

19 Mar 2020 6.30 pm

23 Jan 2020 6.30 pm

13 Nov 2019 6.30 pm

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the meetings of the Forum for the 2019/20 Municipal year commence at 6.30pm on the following dates:

 

·         Wed 11 Sep 2019

·         Wed 13 Nov 2019

·         Thu 23 Jan 2020

·         Thu 19 Mar 2020

3.

Disclosures of Interests

To receive any disclosure of interests from Members and Officers in matters to be discussed.

 

Note: Councillors are reminded of their obligations to declare disclosable pecuniary interests and non pecuniary interests in accordance with legislation and the Council’s Code of Conduct.

 

If you require advice, please contact the appropriate Democratic Services Officer, prior to the meeting.

 

Minutes:

Councillors Learney and Weir declared a personal (but not prejudicial) interest in relation to report WTF269 (Weeke Community Centre – CIL Application). This was due to them being members of the Weeke Social Club and Community Centre respectively.

 

Councillors Hiscock and Tod declared a personal (but not prejudicial) interest due to their role as Hampshire County Councillors.

4.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 91 KB

Minutes of the previous meeting held on 21 March 2019.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on the 21 March 2019 be approved and adopted.

 

5.

Public Participation

To receive and note the questions asked and statements made from members of the public on issues relating to the responsibility of this     Forum.

 

Minutes:

Teresa Skelton addressed the Forum regarding Alleyne House, Hyde Street, Winchester. Ms Skelton felt that there had been a lack of consultation with residents regarding the use of the facility. In particular, Ms Skelton drew member’s attention to the involvement of the Police and Crime Commissioner and local Members of Parliament in the matter.  The Chairman invited comments from Forum Members and thanked Ms Skelton for raising the matter with the Forum.

John Hearn, speaking on behalf of the City of Winchester Trust addressed the Forum. Mr Hearn put forward a proposal for a Citywide Urban Design Framework to be included in the 2019/2020 Winchester Town Forum Work Programme (report WTF272 on the agenda). Mr Hearn provided the Forum with an overview of what was meant by a Citywide Urban Design Framework, the benefits, suggestions on how it could be progressed and examples of where similar frameworks had been implemented.

Members of the Forum made a number of comments concerning Mr Hearn’s contribution. These chiefly related to how the Town Forum could examine the proposals as part of its work programme for 2019/20 (see item 10 of these minutes). Members thanked Mr Hearn for his contribution.

6.

Verbal Update and Presentation - North Walls Engagement Event pdf icon PDF 2 MB

Minutes:

The Head of Landscape & Open Spaces and the Recreational Spaces Officer provided the Forum with a presentation regarding the North Walls Engagement Event held on 22nd and 23rd March 2019, attended by over 800 people. The purpose of the presentation was to provide the Town Forum with an overview of the event, the detailed results and a summary of the next steps. (The presentation slides have been made available on the council's website.)

 

Members raised a number of points regarding the presentation which were summarised as:

 

  • The levels of engagement and satisfaction of the skateboarders.
  • The relative numbers of dog-walkers Vs walkers
  • The physical boundaries of the site i.e. what was within or outside the scope of the engagement exercise.

 

The points were responded to in detail by Officers:

  • Regarding skateboarders; 34 responded, overall they were highly satisfied and had put forward improvements such as water and first aid provision.
  • Regarding walkers, it was explained that these numbers would include both those “walking for leisure” and also those “walking to get somewhere.”
  • Regarding the physical boundaries, Officers confirmed that the consultation related to the area highlighted in green on the plan and no specific questions were asked regarding the Leisure Centre itself.

 

In debate, Members made the following comments:

 

  • Officers should be congratulated for the engagement event.
  • There was general agreement that North Walls was a vitally important open green space, a hub and was regarded as such by residents and users.
  • There was clear support within the findings to retain the Café and Changing rooms and to examine additional enhancements such as water stations.
  • There was a general agreement from the Forum for the Next Steps as described in the presentation.
  • As a general point, Members asked that wherever possible that presentations were made available in advance of the meeting.

 

7.

Winchester Night Bus Service Update pdf icon PDF 77 KB

Report Reference: WTF271

Minutes:

(Report WTF271 refers)

 

The Strategic Director: Services (Interim) introduced the report which updated the Forum following a previous report, ref WTF 268, tabled at the March 2019 meeting of the Town Forum.

 

At the Town Forum meeting in March 2019, it was resolved “That the Town Forum supports the funding of the Winchester night bus service in principle by asking Hampshire County Council to tender for a new contract for a period of 2 years with a 1-year extension from September 2019." And “That the Town Forum asks Hampshire County Council to tender the night bus service with the results of the tendering exercise being reported back to the next meeting of the Forum in June when a final decision can be made whether to continue funding the night bus service.

 

The Strategic Director: Services (Interim) updated the Forum regarding the outcome of the tendering exercise.

 

 

RESOLVED:

1. That following the tendering of the contract by Hampshire County Council, that the Town Forum confirms that they wish to continue the nightbus service from September 2019 for a further period of 2 years with an option of a 1-year extension at a price of £7152 per annum. 

8.

Weeke Community Centre - Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Application pdf icon PDF 87 KB

Report Reference: WTF269

Minutes:

(Report WTF269 refers)

Councillor Mather left the meeting at this item.

The Recreational Spaces Officer introduced the report which updated the Forum following a previous report, ref WTF267, tabled at the March 2019 meeting of the Town Forum. Report WTF267 approved in principle, expenditure of up to £50,000 for the improvements to the Weeke Community Centre driveway using the Forum’s share of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).

The Recreational Spaces Officer advised the Forum that the purpose of this report was to provide information on how the project would be managed and delivered and to seek approval for the funding needed to enable the project to proceed to delivery.

 

Members welcomed the report and were pleased to see that progress was being made.

 

RESOLVED:

1.    That Town Forum approves up to £50,000 of its Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) to fund improvements to the access road to Weeke Community Centre and Taplings Road play area.

2.    That Town Forum  approve authority for the Engineering and Transport Manager to incur expenditure of up to £50,000 for the improvements to the access road to Weeke Community Centre and Taplings Road play area

 

9.

Public Conveniences Cleansing Contract - Verbal Update

Minutes:

The Strategic Director: Services (Interim) advised that as the Forum made a contribution to the overall cost of this service that Officers wished to provide Members with an update. Members were informed that the existing joint service arrangements were coming to an end and that a replacement, 3-year contract based upon the current specification was being proposed.

 

Members asked a number of questions as summarised below:

  • Had Officers considered operating the contract using a direct labour force?
  • Could officers provide a list of Public Conveniences?
  • Had Officers looked at the introduction of Pay for Use Toilets? 

 

The points were responded to in detail by Officers:

 

  • The direct labour option had been considered but did not produce a viable solution.
  • Regarding a list, it was confirmed that this was available on the Councils website and would be circulated to Forum Members.
  • Regarding Pay for Use toilets, this had been considered but had not been taken forward.

 

Members debated the issue further and made a number of points, many of which related to the maintenance of Public Conveniences. The points raised were summarised as follows:

 

  • That this was an important service for both residents and visitors.
  • That a Service Level Agreement may be useful in managing maintenance issues.
  • Whether the opening times of Public Conveniences could be flexed for when significant evening events took place. 

 

The Forum was informed that maintenance works were commissioned on a case by case basis but Officers would consider the Forums comments regarding maintenance, service levels and opening times.

 

10.

Work Programme and Informal Group Formation 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 104 KB

Report Reference: WTF272

Minutes:

(Report WTF272 refers)

The Forum considered the report which set out the draft work programme for the new Municipal Year, 2019/20 and asked Members to consider appointments to a number of Informal Groups.

Following discussion, the Forum agreed for the following items and indicative terms of reference to be included in the Work programme for 2019/20:

  1. Winchester Town Forum - future governance. “to form a task and finish group of the Town Forum to consider options and to make recommendations to Cabinet”

 

  1. Planning for the future in Winchester. “Proposals have come forward to the Town Forum - including an urban design framework and a neighbourhood plan. A task and finish group would consider the options and make early recommendations to Cabinet on preparation of a plan for Winchester Town to be adopted as an SPD under the LP refresh (2036).”

In addition to these two items, a number of other issues were identified for future consideration and action as appropriate:

  1. Safer Streets (it was intended that the Cabinet member would bring a short paper to a future meeting of the Forum on this)
  2. Community Infrastructure Levy scheme, KGV Pavilion, Fees and Charges and Environmental Services Contract: Members agreed that these items would be discussed with the Chair and if required would be brought back to a future Forum meeting for inclusion in the work programme.

 

With regards to the appointment to Informal groups for 2019/20, the following was agreed:

 

  1. Planning for the future in Winchester Town:

Notes: “Look at co-design approach to development of vision and plan for Winchester Town Area“

Members: Hutchison, Gottlieb, Craske and Tod

Lead Officer: J Nell

  1. Winchester Town Forum (Engagement) Informal Group

Notes: Agreed to rename the group to “Governance” and regarding the scope to “follow up on preliminary work on new governance models for Winchester Town Forum.

Members: Becker, Craske, Hutchison and Tod.

Lead Officer: J Holmes

  1. Winchester Town Forum (North Walls) Informal Group

Members: Hiscock, Becker, Ferguson, Gottlieb and Learney.

Lead Officer: S Croker

  1. Winchester Town Forum (St Maurice’s Covert)

Notes: It was agreed to rename the group “High Street including St Maurices Covert and Jewry St). There was reference to the scope of the group being “Delivery of projects and review of cleaning, maintenance and furniture”

Members: Mather, Gottlieb, Murphy, Tod and Hutchison.

Lead Officer: S Finch

  1. Winchester Town Forum (Town Accounts Grants) Group

Notes: Scope of the group to include: “Activate new grant making regime”.

Members: Weir, Craske and Hiscock.

Lead Officer: M Fletcher

  1. Winchester Town Forum (Account Informal) Group

Notes: There was a reference to the scope of the group being “Budget and CIL”.

Councillors: Learney, Murphy and Ferguson.

Lead Officer: D Kennedy

  1. Walking Strategy Group: It was agreed that Councillor Hiscock would be the Town Forums nomination to this group. 

 

Members agreed that it would be beneficial for the groups to convene as soon as possible in order that remits could be compiled and priorities established. The Strategic Director Services (Interim) advised the Forum that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Registering to speak at meetings of the council:

The information below relates to the majority of meetings of the council but please note that different rules do apply for registering to speak at meetings of Full Council, Licensing Sub Committees, Planning Committees, Open Forums, and the Standards Hearing and Human Resources Sub Committees and the Appointments Panel. Further information can be obtained using the contact details above.

Members of the public may speak at this meeting, provided they have registered to speak three working days in advance. Please contact Democratic Services via democracy@winchester.gov.uk or (01962) 848 264 to register to speak and for further details - which can also be found on the individual meeting agenda front sheets.

 

Top
Winchester City Council logo

Cookies Policy

This site uses cookies to store information on your computer.

Some of these cookies are necessary to make the site work. We’d also like to use optional cookies to help improve your experience on the site. You can manage your optional cookie preferences below. Using this tool will set a cookie on your device to remember your preferences. Your preferences can be changed at any time.

Review your privacy settings