Agenda and minutes

The meeting will commence with a short service of prayers.

The Mayor announced that former Mayor Mrs Rosemary Pockley sadly passed away on the 27 June and her funeral had been held earlier that day.

Rosemary served as ward Councillor for Stubbington between 1976 and 1982, sitting on the Health & General-Purpose Committee, the Town Planning Committee and the Recreation and amenities Committee.  She served as Mayor in 1980/81.

Members joined the Mayor in observing a minute’s silence as a mark of respect. Prayers were then led by Father Roger Jackson of St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Fareham.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Mrs K K Trott, Councillor K D Evans and Councillor Mrs C Heneghan.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the Council Meeting held on 13 June 2019.

RESOLVED that the Mayor be authorised to sign as a correct record the Minutes of the Council meeting held on 13 June 2019.

The Mayor announced that on Monday 23 September there will be a 3-course charity meal at Antonio’s in Fareham in support of the 1350 Squadron Air Cadets.  Tickets are £22 and should be booked through Antonio at the restaurant. In addition, on Sunday 29 September, Opera Comique will perform a selection of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas at St Peter & St Paul Church in Fareham.  The event will start at 2.30pm.  Tickets are £6.00 each and light refreshments will be available.

The Mayor also announced that her next two tea parties will take place on Thursday 5^th September, where Matt Wakefield will give a talk on Gardener’s Question Time, and Thursday 3^rd October where Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service will give a talk on Safety at Home.  Tea parties will start at 2.30pm in the Mayor’s Parlour and tickets are available at £4 each.

The Executive Leader announced that earlier this year, the Executive agreed in principle to erect a ‘Gate Guardian’ at Daedalus.  A procurement exercise was carried out and a shortlist of five designs was consulted upon.

The public consultation ran from 8 June until 8 July and there were various ways residents, businesses and community groups could have their say.

·         A staffed consultation stand over the weekend of D-Day 75

·         An online survey on the ‘Have your say’ consultation pages on the Fareham Borough Council website.

·         Two emails were sent out the Council’s e-panel which has just over 1,000 residents.

·         A banner was displayed at CEMAST

·         There were flyers with pictures of the designs and details of how to vote posted at the Civic Offices, the Borough’s libraries and Crofton Community Centre

·         Emails were sent out to thirty schools, community centres and the businesses on the Daedalus site

·         Press coverage resulted in a half-page article in the Portsmouth News and it was also well promoted on social media.

The Executive Leader confirmed that a total of 2,280 votes were received and 1,056 of them, almost half of the of the total vote, chose Design B. This design will now be put to the Executive on 3 September for final sign off with a view to it being installed by the summer of 2020. The new Sculpture scheme, following the procurement process, has been awarded to Peter Clutterbuck.

The Executive Leader announced that Officers also consulted residents on possible choices of play equipment for a new aviation-themed play area at Daedalus Common.  There were almost 600 responses including 245 completed at D-Day 75, where the views of many of the Borough’s junior residents were obtained. A choice of design was offered for the main, large piece of multi-climbing play equipment including planes, spitfires and helicopters.  The overwhelming favourite with three-quarter of the votes was a plane design. The new play area is also expected to be ready for Summer 2020.

Executive Member for Health and Public Protection

Cams Hill School Video

As Chairman of Fareham Community Safety Partnership, the Executive Member was very pleased to fund Cams Hill School to make a video on homelessness in Fareham following the recent CAT meeting.  This was made by staff and pupils of the school and other partnership members and gave the children’s views on not giving money to homeless people on the streets but instead to donate to one of a number of charities working hard to support these individuals to get their lives “back on track”.  This video has been sent to all schools in the Borough and was watched by all before the schools broke up for the summer.  Officers have been asked to circulate the video to all Councillors who are urged to view it.

Access All Areas

The Executive Member reminded members that Access All Areas will take place from 25 July through to 29 August.  To date, over 1000 young people have signed up to take part in all the various planned events which will be held throughout the Borough.  Councillors were urged to attend in their various areas.

The Municipal Journal Awards

At the end of last month, The Executive Member attended the Municipal Journal Awards evening in London.

The Council had submitted an application for the best commercial Council which talked about generating income through assets, commercial property investments, the transformation of Daedalus, the savings from Vanguard intervention and the new Leisure Centre at Holly Hill.

Officers attended an interview in London before the Awards evening to answer questions on the submission and managed to achieve the final six in that category to attend the Awards evening.

On the night, Fareham effectively came second to Cheltenham Borough Council but were highly commended and awarded a certificate.  The Executive Member presented the certificate to the Mayor and congratulated Grant Hobday and Roy Brown for their excellent submission.

Executive Member for Streetscene

Green Flag Awards

The Executive Member for Streetscene announced that the Council has been named as having two of the best parks in the country by the Green Flag Awards and both Holly Hill Woodland Park and The Sensory Garden of Reflection have received the recognition for the 12^th and 10^th year in a row.

The Executive Member for Streetscene stated that the awards recognise parks and green spaces which have the highest environmental standards, are well maintained and have excellent visitor facilities.

Single Use Plastic

The Executive Member for Streetscene announced that following the Motion to Council in February 2018 which called for the Council to review its use of single use plastic, officers have been working hard to deliver their strategy and he was pleased to confirm that by March 2020, Fareham Borough Council will have eliminated single use plastic from the Council. 

The Executive Member for Streetscene cited this work as a beacon with other Authorities taking an interest in the work the Council has been undertaking and how strategy is developing and three other local authorities have requested the use of the Council’s logo to help them promote the reduction and elimination of single use plastic within their authorities.

To further this strategy, the Council would like to introduce single use plastic accreditation to local business websites and blogs and the Council will be investigating having drinking water in the town centre.

To receive any declarations of interest from members in accordance with Standing Orders and the Council’s Code of Conduct.

There were no declarations of interest made at this meeting.

To receive any petitions presented by a member of the Council.

Note: any petition so presented will be dealt with in accordance with the Council’s petition scheme.

There were no petitions presented at this meeting.

To receive any deputations of which notice has been given.

There were no deputations given at this meeting.

To receive, consider and answer questions on reports and recommendations of the Executive.  Minutes of the meetings of the Executive and a schedule of individual Executive member decisions are appended.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on Monday 1 July 2019 be received.

RESOLVED that the Schedule of Individual Executive Member and Officer Delegated Decisions be received.

To receive the minutes of the following Committees and to consider and answer questions on any reports and recommendations made.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Committee held on Tuesday 18 June 2019 be received.

To receive, consider and answer questions on reports and recommendations of the meetings of the Scrutiny Panels.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Leisure and Community Scrutiny Panel held on Wednesday 5 June 2019 be received.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Policy and Resources Scrutiny Panel held on Monday 24 June 2019 be received.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Health and Public Protection Scrutiny Panel held on Thursday 27 June 2019 be received.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Housing Scrutiny Panel held on Thursday 11 July 2019 be received.

To answer questions pursuant to Standing Order 17.2 for this meeting.

Questions by Councillor P Davies:

1.      Subway from station to the Avenue/A27.

Is the Leader aware that this subway is for many folk their first experience of Fareham as they change from the railway to the Eclipse bus and other buses to Gosport or to westbound Solent Rangers and that it should be a priority to ensure the subway and its slopes are free from litter and weeds?

2. Fareham Town CATS meeting

Is the Leader aware that these meetings are socially exclusive for non- car owners as no buses run after 18.30 to Fareham North West and to most of Fareham North and Fareham West. Would he consider the following options:

a)    Providing an F1 and F2 bus on CATs evening meetings

b)    Have some CATs meetings at other town locations such as Henry Cort school

c)    Have some CATs meetings in the afternoon, given the demographics of much of Fareham Town Area

3. Members' Allowances

In view of the constitutional changes from Policy and Development meetings to Scrutiny Boards, which meet less frequently and have no executive function, would it be appropriate for the independent Remuneration Panel to consider the Chairman and vice Chairman allowances for these Scrutiny Boards?

The following responses were tabled at the meeting:

Response by the Executive Member for Streetscene

1.     The subway under the A27 from Fareham Railway Station to the Avenue is a public highway and Fareham Borough Council is responsible for street cleansing with Hampshire County Council responsible for the weed spraying.

The subway is not identified as a litter hotspot and is scheduled for a weekly visit to clear any accumulation of litter and detritus. The Street Cleansing operative responsible for the area confirmed there has been no significant littering and the normal accumulation of litter deposits is minimal. Any reports of significant littering outside the weekly cleanse would be dealt with as a priority, as is the case in any other area of the Borough.

Thanks to the efforts of the Executive Member for Streetscene, Hampshire County Council agreed that the Borough of Fareham would be the first Hampshire district to receive weed spraying this year. This has seen much less weed growth on the highway than in previous years and HCC will return later in the year to target any hotspot areas. There is some weed growth on the slope down to the subway and this location will be highlighted as a site requiring a 2^nd visit.

Every effort has been made by the Streetscene team to make the area around the station welcoming to visitors and there have been positive comments about the landscaping on Station Road roundabout and floral displays around the area which have been a focal point for Fareham in Bloom.

If at any time Cllr Davies is dissatisfied with the cleanliness of the subway, officers from the Streetscene team would be happy to meet with him to discuss any concerns.

Responses by the Executive Member for Policy and Resources

2a)    This would not be something in the Council’s gift to offer, as we are not responsible for the local bus service.  It is also not something that residents have expressed support for in order to attend CAT meetings.

2b)    CAT meetings are often held at other locations across the Borough, particularly if a meeting is arranged because of a hot topic in a particular area, to which the subject matter is relevant.

If a large turnout is expected, then ultimately the larger, more central locations will be booked if possible, to ensure that enough seating is available, and no one is turned away.

2c) In the past daytime CAT meetings have been trialled, but they are not well attended. 

Following consultation with residents about timings for CAT meetings, the vast majority preferred evening meetings as many have daytime responsibilities and commitments or are at work.

That said, it is often appropriate for exhibitions prior to a CAT meeting to be displayed during the day and into the evening to maximise the opportunity for residents to ask questions and comment about a particular subject such as Daedalus or the draft Local Plan for example. This works well, but the busiest time is still during the evening.

Response by the Executive Leader:

3.    The planned Governance Improvement actions, as specified in the Annual Governance Statement, and agreed by the Audit & Governance Committee includes a post-implementation review of the Scrutiny Panels once they have been in place for 12 months. It would therefore make sense to assess the work of the Scrutiny Panels and to make any recommendations on a review of Members’ Allowances as part of this review.

Council is requested to determine a waiver to Standing Order 56.2 – Scheme for Deputations to Meetings of Planning Committee (Appendix Two to the Standing Orders and Part 3 – Chapter 12 B of the Constitution).

There are currently 3 Planning Applications that will be considered at a meeting of the Planning Committee, these being; P/17/0266/OA Welborne Land North of Fareham; P/18/1118/OA Land at Newgate Lane (North) Fareham and P/19/0460/OA Land at Newgate Lane (South) Fareham. The current Scheme for Deputations to meetings of the Planning Committee specifies that “Deputations shall be received only from the applicant or his/her professional agent or from persons who are living or working in the Borough.”

Due to the location of the proposed sites being in close proximity to the Boundary with other authorities, it is proposed to waive paragraph B-12.4 to enable non-Fareham residents who live in the areas covered by Winchester City Council to make a deputation in respect of the Welborne Application, and those non-Fareham residents who live in the areas covered by Gosport Borough Council to make a deputation in respect of the Newgate Lane Applications, due to the high number of comments received on these applications.

On being put to the meeting, the waiver of Standing Order56.2 – Scheme of Deputations to Meetings of Planning Committee (Appendix Two to the Standing Orders and Part 3 – Chapter 12 B of the constitution) was CARRIED unanimously.

Members will be informed, prior to the meeting, of any motion duly notified in accordance with Standing Order 15 but received after print and dispatch of the agenda.

“The Citizen of Honour Awards are very worthy of the Council and as they are in the Council’s name all members and not just the Executive should be involved in making the decision as to whom should be awarded the Honour.

Therefore, I propose from the 2020 Awards all nominees and relevant information should be circulated to all members of the Council and each member of the Council to have one vote to enable them to vote for the person they believe should be awarded the Honour. The person or persons with the most votes will then receive the Honour and the Honour should be limited to two in the adult section and one in each of the young person sections.”

A notice of Motion was received from Councillor R H Price, JP.

“The Citizen of Honour Awards are very worthy of the Council and as they are in the Council’s name all members and not just the Executive should be involved in making the decision as to whom should be awarded the Honour.  Therefore, I propose from the 2020 Awards all nominees and relevant information should circulated to all members of the Council and each member of the Council to have one vote to enable them to vote for the person they believe should be awarded the Honour and the Honour should be limited to two in the adult section and one in each of the young person sections.”

Having been proposed by Councillor R H Price, JP it was seconded by Councillor G Kelly.

The Mayor advised that this motion would be referred to the Executive for consideration and that officers will ensure that Councillor Price is able to address the Executive with his reasons for putting forward the motion.

To receive an update on the motion presented to Council on 13 June 2019 by Councillor R H Price, JP in respect of car parking at Wicor Recreation Ground.

The Council received an update on the Motion presented by Councillor R H Price, JP, to the meeting of the Council held on 13 June 2019 – “There is an urgent need to increase the car parking at Wicor Recreation Ground due to the increased usage of the area which is causing cars to be parked and obstruct residential areas.  Therefore, I propose that the Council extends the car park at Wicor Recreation Ground.  The cost of extending the car park is estimated at £250,000 and this could come from the CIL money that the Council will receive from the development in Cranleigh Road which is circa £1 million.”        

Having been proposed by Councillor P H Price, JP and seconded by Councillor S Cunningham, Councillor R H Price, JP proposed an amendment to his original Motion:

“The Council recognises that there is an urgent need to increase the car parking at Wicor Recreation Ground due to the increased usage of the area which is causing cars to be parked and obstruct residential areas, besides obstructing the free passage of emergency vehicles.  Therefore, I propose that the Council takes steps so as to work with others in finding ways to increase the car park at Wicor Recreation Ground.”

This amendment was seconded by Councillor S Cunningham.

During debate on this item, Councillor S D T Woodward proposed an amendment to the amended Motion, as follows:

“The Council recognises that there is an urgent need to increase the car parking at Wicor Recreation Ground due to the increased usage of the area by AFC Portchester which is causing cars to be parked and obstruct residential areas as well as obstructing the free passage of emergency vehicles.  Therefore, I propose that the Council takes steps to work with AFC Portchester in finding ways to increase the car parking at Wicor Recreation Ground.”

Having been seconded by Councillor Miss S Bell, this MOTION was carried with 22 Councillors voting in favour, 3 voting against and 2 abstaining.

To make any changes in appointments to the seats on committees in accordance with the wishes of political groups.  Such appointments will take effect from 26 July 2019.

There were no changes to the appointment to Committees made at this meeting.

The Earl of Southampton charitable Trust aims to promote and improve the welfare of anyone in need in Titchfield, Sarisbury Green, Stubbington, Warsash, Locksheath, Park Gate and Lee on Solent and seeks to make a real difference and a positive impact on peoples’ lives.

The charity provides one-off grants to help individuals improve the quality of their lives and provides support for organisations locally.

The term of office of Mrs Annette Devoil is due to end in September 2019.  At the request of the Charity, the Council is asked to re-appoint Mrs Devoil to the Board of Trustees for a further 4-year term of office.

In considering this item, it was AGREED that Mrs Annette Devoil be re-appointed to the Earl of Southampton Charity’s Board of Trustees for a further 4-year term of office when the current appointment ends in September 2019.

To consider whether it is in the public interest to exclude the public and representatives of the press from the remainder of the meeting in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, on the grounds that the matter to be dealt with involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

RESOLVED that the public and representatives of the press be excluded from the remainder of the meeting in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, on the grounds that the matter to be dealt with under item 19 of the agenda involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

A report by the Head of Democratic Services.

The Council received a report by the Head of Democratic Services which invited Members to appoint a Designated Independent Person (DIP) under the Localism Act 2011 to assist in promoting and maintaining high standards of conduct and to assist the Monitoring Officer and the Standards Committee in the resolution of any complaints.

RESOLVED that the Council agrees to appoint Mr Andrew Day as the Designated Independent Person for Fareham Borough Council with effect from 26 July 2019 for a term of 3 years.