Agenda and draft minutes

To note the names of apologies given and deputy members who are attending the meeting in place of appointed members.

Apologies were noted as above

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.

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

Councillors Warwick declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in respect of any agenda items it may impact due to her role as a Hampshire County Councillor.  However, as there was no material conflict of interest, she 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.

Councillor Lee made a personal statement that he was a Trustee of WinACC, should any discussion arise in this respect during the consideration of items.

Councillor Pett declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in respect of any agenda items it may impact, due to being a member of the South Downs National Park Authority. However, as there was no material conflict of interest, he stated that he had a dispensation granted by the Monitoring Officer that enabled him to speak and vote on these matters.

The Chairperson made the following announcements:

(i)       Tender process for verge management contract (currently held by     IdVerde) – The Chairperson had requested that the committee view the          invitation to the future tender for the contract, which would be made    available in the new year. It was agreed that the document be shared        via email due to timeline pressures. 

          For clarification, the Strategic Director set out the deadlines of the       process and emphasised that feedback from the parish councils would     be incorporated into the draft tender specification.

(ii)       It was noted that timings had been allocated to business items on the agenda to allow the ample opportunity for each matter to be considered     within a reasonable time.  

Minutes of the previous meeting held on 18 September 2025.

          RESOLVED:

                     That the minutes of the previous meetings held on the 18           September 2025 be approved and adopted.

To receive and note questions asked and statements made from members of the public on matters which fall within the remit of the Committee.

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(contact: democracy@winchester.gov.uk  or 01962 848 264).

There were no comments or questions made during public participation.

Councillor Learney introduced the report, emphasising the climate emergency as the council’s overarching priority, with preventing climate change through carbon reduction being the main focus. She made reference to the climate risks and impacts, due to the escalating severity of global warming and set out the need to protect residents and adapt to changes for the future. The report provided a progress update on the climate adaptation work carried out to date. The views of the committee and feedback on specific areas were sought to help inform and shape the development of the Climate and Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (CRVA), as set out within the report. 

The Sustainability Manager and Sustainability Programme Manager gave a presentation setting out the context, identifying the risks and hazards and the changes in patterns across the district. Several questions were asked which were responded to by the Cabinet Member and relevant officers, including the following:

1.       Further clarification was sought on why marine and coastal risks were    excluded from the assessment given that the Winchester district       contained a small section of coastline and neighbouring authorities    faced high exposure to rising sea levels. In response, it was noted that           the exclusion resulted from a materiality assessment based on a           premise of limited impact, though the risk could be re-evaluated if   members considered it was necessary.

2.       A question was asked regarding the omission of the National Farmers'    Union (NFU) and the Countryside Land and Business Association (CLA) from the list of stakeholders, as farmers were significantly        impacted by extreme weather events. Officers confirmed that these      organisations would be noted for future engagement.

3.       Further clarification was sought regarding the engagement of smaller      family farms in river valleys which were at higher risk of flooding       compared to larger farm clusters. It was noted that these stakeholders   needed to be engaged as the work moved forward.

4.       An enquiry was made concerning errors in the consultation table,   specifically the listing of Hampshire twice and the omission of Portsmouth Water and the Environment Agency Southern Regional           Flood Committee. It was agreed that these bodies would be included in the stakeholder list.

5.       A question was asked why air quality was not listed as a top-level risk category in the assessment. It was responded that air quality factors         were considered within the health and wellbeing category under risk           H07.

6.       Further clarification was sought on which climate risks would have the        greatest impact on the district. Suggestions included flooding, drought,           heatwaves, wildfires, and prolonged poor air quality, with some noting      that the impact of high winds on infrastructure could affect thousands of           residents. In addition, the creation of a matrix not only setting out the         risks, but how these risks may affect different groups of people (such   as those with vulnerabilities) was also suggested, setting out the        measures of resilience and infrastructure in place to respond.

7.       A question was raised regarding which council services would be most         impacted by climate change. Suggestions included emergency          planning, housing services,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Councillor Becker introduced the report which set out the draft strategy to build strong and resilient communities across the district. The strategy also facilitated direction and access of the support and opportunities that were available to communities. It was noted that five pathways and associated principles were proposed in the draft strategy to focus efforts, as outlined in the report. The views of the committee on specific questions were sought to help shape the draft strategy, as referenced within the report.

The Service Lead: Communities and Wellbeing set out the context of the strategy, setting out the broad variety of communities across the district and how the council could contribute to empowering all these communities to build resilience and promote their capacity to thrive. 

The committee were reminded that this was a draft strategy which would be formulated and finalised to create a publicly accessible document that signposted communities and promoted community engagement.

Several questions were asked which were responded to by the Cabinet Member and the Service Lead: Communities and Wellbeing, including the following:

1.       Further clarification was sought on the scope of the strategy and how     it differed from an existing emergency response plan. It was explained   that while the strategy was related to emergency response, it focused        on building social capital and empowering communities to respond to           challenges and improve their own well-being.

2.       A question was raised regarding how the council balanced the           celebration of local resources with the requirement to meet the     safeguarding needs of vulnerable individuals. It was noted that the   council's role involved supporting communities to understand   safeguarding issues through awareness and education, such as by reviewing the policies of organisations during grant application           processes.

3.       Reference was made to the benefit of areas creating a ‘village charter’        as a blueprint to enable areas to build resilient communities in their        local area. In addition, reference was also made to the Empowering    Healthy Places LGA report which included a checklist for promoting           neighbourhood health and wellbeing which could be signposted to          within the strategy.

4.       Further clarification was sought on how the council identified the causal relationships between local assets, such as pubs or churches,         and community resilience. The response indicated that the strategy       was an enabling piece of work intended to allow communities to lead   and identify the assets that they considered important.

5.       An enquiry was made as to whether the strategy would identify          geographical "hotspots" of deprivation where community facilities, such as playing fields or halls, were lacking. It was stated that while mapping           of such facilities existed through other health priority work, this strategy           focused on the people-oriented side of how communities engaged and           came together.

6.       A question was asked concerning what "good" looked like in a resilient      community and if there were specific examples that the council aimed to encourage elsewhere. It was noted that all communities possessed        different strengths, but those that were self-sustaining and possessed           proactive parish councils, such as Bishop’s Waltham, were highlighted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Strategic Director advised that the following items would be added to the existing committee work programme for consideration by the committee at its meeting on 25 February 2026. 

(i)         Public Spaces Protection Orders and Enforcement

(ii)        Building a resilient Waste Service for the future

In addition, the Strategic Director reminded the committee that an all member training session was due to take place on 19 January 2026 regarding green financing, following an action from Scrutiny Committee.

The Chairperson made reference to the two areas that were subject of a task and finish group as follows. He stated that both had recently met to define what was to be taken forward, with further work to progress in the new year.

1.    Identifying current barriers to increasing the availability and accessibility of Electric Vehicle Charging Points across the Winchester.

2.    Developing practicable incentives, including indicative costs, for householders off mains drainage to modernise private sewerage systems to reduce the risk of the leaching of nutrients into the surrounding land and watercourses.

In response, the Strategic Director emphasised that officers would need to be involved in this process, given that service planning for 2026/27 was taking place. Therefore, the work of the task and finish groups would need to feed into the wider service planning work so this could be facilitated accordingly.

          RESOLVED:

                     That the work programme for 2025/26 and items for inclusion on        25 February 2026 as detailed in (i) and (ii) above, be noted.