Agenda and minutes

To elect the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson for the 2021/22 year from the members of the forum. 

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Becker is elected Chairperson and Councillor Murphy is appointed Vice-Chairperson for the 2021/22 Municipal Year.

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, personal and/or prejudicial 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.

Councillor Tod declared a non-pecuniary interest concerning agenda items that may be related to his role as a County Councillor.

There were no announcements.

That the minutes of the meeting be signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 17 March 2021 be approved and adopted.

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

Members of the public and visiting councillors may speak at the Forum, provided they have registered to speak three working days in advance. Please contact Democratic Services by 5pm on 18 June 2021 via democracy@winchester.gov.uk or (01962) 848 264 to register to speak and for further details.

Five members of the public spoke regarding various agenda items, with two people speaking at this point in the agenda, as summarised briefly below.

Edward Fennell (Hyde 900)

Spoke in support of the campaign to ensure the proper care and security of Hyde Gate as an important part of the history of Winchester.  He welcomed the opportunity to work further with the Council to achieve this aim.

Emma Back

Generally welcomed the proposals for improvements to play areas as set out in report WTF297, but requested it be expanded to include a specific section on skate parks and multi-use game areas (MUGAs).  The only existing MUGA was at Stanmore.  With regard to report WTF298, she emphasised the importance of the replacement of the pavilions for the future use of the areas and requested that the council continue to work closely with residents.

(Report Reference WTF298)

The Strategic Director: Services introduced the report which provided a general update on progress to replace both pavilions.  With regard to North Walls pavilion, the previously allocated funding was now insufficient and the report requested that the Forum agree one of two options proposed to enable the project to progress.

Mike Caldwell and Janet Berry spoke during public participation as summarised briefly below.

Mike Caldwell (Pavilions Project)

Emphasised the value of the project and that the Pavilion Project supported option (b) as set out under paragraph 11.3 of the report.  Considered that as a district facility, the project should be eligible for district Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding and would provide all round use of the area for sports other than cricket and wider community use.  Highlighted the dangers of further delay in terms of rising construction costs.  If there was no possibility of district CIL funding, the Pavilions Project would reluctantly support option (a) provided the new design fulfilled a number of key elements of the original, including meeting England Cricket Board standards.

Janet Berry (Highcliffe Community Forum for Action)

Requested clarification of the availability for general community use of the KGV pavilion.  Asked a number of detailed questions, including whether the plans could include storage for groups that regularly use and an additional ground floor area for refreshments.  She requested that the hiring rents be affordable and that the toilets be accessible at all times, not just when sporting events were being held.  She requested clarification on the reference to a “bar” and the number of parking spaces.  Emphasised the importance of biodiversity and requested that a further report be prepared into the relocation of the green waste bin to prioritise pedestrian and cycle movements in the area.  She queried whether any more consultation meetings would take place before the planning application was submitted.

The Corporate Property Surveyor and Open Spaces Officer responded to the detailed questions raised by Mrs Berry regarding KGV pavilion including advising that it was intended to install a lift to allow full accessibility to the upstairs rooms, confirming there would not be a bar and would not be further parking spaces.  In addition, more local consultation would be carried out before a planning application was submitted. 

The Strategic Director and other officers responded to questions raised by Town Forum Members regarding mitigating the risk of further rising costs, professional fees incurred so far, future maintenance and operating costs, future rental charges and future potential revenue streams.  It was noted that recommendations 1(a) and 1(b) in the report should be reversed to correspond with the order of the options set out in paragraph 11.3 of the report.

The Strategic Director advised that he had addressed Mr Caldwell’s comments in his response to Members’ questions regarding proposals to refine the design to reduce costs but still retain the key features for use as a cricket pavilion and also allow flexibility for community use.

Members requested that the issue of access to the toilets at  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

(Report Reference WTF297)

The Open Spaces Officer introduced the report which set out a five year improvement plan for play areas and highlighted that both North Walls and KGV were included.  She responded to points raised by Ms Back during public participation, including confirming that the Council was committed to funding multi-use games areas (MUGAs) with one already at Stanmore and another at KGV. 

The Open Spaces Officer responded to a number of detailed questions from Members, including outlining the consultation process for each play area refurbishment and confirming that the requirements of older children and young adults could also be considered.

The Strategic Director clarified that the report’s recommendation 2 sought authority to incur expenditure of £240,000 and not just the supplementary capital budget of £40,000.

RESOLVED:

1.            That the updated 5-year refurbishment programme for play areas be approved, as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report.

2.            That a supplementary capital budget of £40k in 2021/22, funded by the town earmarked reserve, and authority to incur capital expenditure be approved. This increases the KGV play area and skate park budget from £200k to £240k.

3.            That the funding requirement of £120k for works detailed in year 5 of the refreshed plan be noted.

4.            That authority be delegated to the Natural Environment and Recreation Team Manager to amend the evaluation weightings from those set out in the Contract Procedure Rules.

The Forum noted the comments made by Mr Fennell (Hyde 900) earlier in the meeting and Rose Burns also addressed the meeting under public participation at this point, as summarised briefly below.

Rose Burns (Hyde 900)

Outlined some of the background to the Hyde 900 group.  Believed that as Grade 1 and 2 listed buildings, Hyde Gate should be more of a major focal point and be weather-proofed and protected and funding was being sought from the City and County Councils to this end.  Hyde900 were organising a public event in Autumn 2021 to demonstrate proposals for the area and she requested support from the Council with this initiative.

The Corporate Property Surveyor provided a verbal update on Council proposals regarding Hyde Gate, which included improvements to protection from pigeons and other maintenance work.  He and the Strategic Director responded to questions from Members, including confirming that improvements to Hyde Gate would be included in the Council’s Asset Management Plan.

The Chairperson proposed that a Town Forum Heritage Informal Group be established to consider further proposals for Hyde Gate, along with the other historic assets within the Winchester town area.  It was agreed that this new Group should respond to the Hyde900 group’s request for support around their proposed Autumn event.

The Chairperson thanked the officer for their presentation and members of the Hyde900 groups for their contributions.

(Report Reference WTF296)

The Strategic Director: Services introduced the report which sought a decision about whether the Town Forum should continue to support the funding of the Winchester night bus service.

The Strategic Director responded to questions from Members regarding the background to the funding.  Members spoke in support of the proposal to fund as it had previously offered significant value gained in encouraging Stagecoach to provide additional evening services.

RESOLVED:

That the Town Forum continue to support the funding of the Winchester night bus service by asking Hampshire County Council to enact the one-year extension to the current contract from September 2021 in accordance with Exception to Contract Procedure Rules 41.1(e).

The Strategic Planning Manager gave a presentation updating the Forum on the Local Plan.  The presentation was available on the Council’s website here.

The Strategic Planning Manager and Corporate Head of Regulatory responded to Members’ questions including regarding whether sufficient resources were required to properly develop the Local Plan for Winchester and providing further detail on the proposed workshops.

(Report Reference WTF299)

The Forum considered the report which set out the draft work programme for the new Municipal Year, 2021/22 and asked Members to consider appointments to a number of informal Groups.

Following discussion, the Forum agreed the work programme as set out, subject to noting that the meeting on 17 March 2022 should be included.

Regarding the informal groups, it was agreed that a Heritage Informal Group be established for 21/22.  In addition, the Governance Informal Group should not be re-appointed as it had completed the review of the Forum’s terms of reference and consequential changes required would be taken forward by officers or the Constitution Working Group. Councillor Scott confirmed he did not wish to put his name forward for any of the groups.  The membership of this new informal group and the other existing informal groups was agreed as set out below.

RESOLVED:

1.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            That the 2021/22 work programme be approved, subject to the inclusion of the 17 March 2022 meeting and authority be delegated to the Strategic Director: Services, in consultation with the Chairperson, to set the detailed work programme.

2.            That membership of the Forum’s informal groups for 2021/22 be approved as set out below:

a)        Planning for the future in Winchester Town:

Members: Becker, Craske, Green and Westwood

Lead Officer: S Finch

b)             Winchester Town Forum (North Walls) Informal Group

Members: Becker, Ferguson, Learney, Radcliffe and Tippett-Cooper.

Lead Officer: S Croker

c)         Winchester Town Forum (High Street) Informal Group

Members: Edwards, Green, Learney, Murphy, Radcliffe and Tod

Lead Officer: S Finch

d)        Winchester Town Forum (Town Accounts Grants) Group

Members: Ferguson, Green, Radcliffe and Tippett-Cooper

Lead Officer: M Fletcher

e)        Winchester Town Forum (Account Informal) Group

Members: Ferguson, Learney, Murphy and Tod.

Lead Officer: D Kennedy

f)          Winchester Town Forum (KGV) Informal Group

Members:  Learney, Murphy and Weir

Lead Officer: S Croker

g)        Winchester Town Forum (Heritage) Informal Group

Members: Becker, Radcliffe, Tippett-Cooper & Westwood

Lead Officer: tba

3.            That the Winchester Town Forum (Governance) Informal Group not be reappointed for 21/22.

14 June 2021

16 September 2021

10 November 2021

27 January 2022

17 March 2022

Members noted the date and times of future meetings for 2021/22 as set out on the agenda front sheet.

Optional: The Chairs of any of the informal groups may briefly update the forum on any recent developments from their group.

It was noted that an update would be provided to the next Forum meeting.