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BABERGH DISTRICT COUNCIL
EXTRAORDINARY COUNCIL MEETING
MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE BABERGH DISTRICT COUNCIL HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, COUNCIL OFFICES, CORKS LANE, HADLEIGH ON TUESDAY, 8 APRIL 2008
PRESENT: Mr R W Thake – Chairman
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Mrs J Antill
Mr C W Arthey
Mr P K Beer
Mr M P Booth
Mr J C Brand
Mr D M Busby
Mr J R B Cave
Mrs S P Clarke
Mr P G Gibson
Mr D G Grutchfield
Mr A J Hinton
Mr P J Holbrook
Ms J A Jenkins
Mr L S Johnson
Mr P Jones
Mr D H Keane |
Mr R E Kemp
Mr B L Lazenby
Mr J A B Long
Mrs M O Munson
Mr A F D W Osborne
Mr N A Ridley
Mr B Riley
Mr C A Roberts
Mr D C Rose
Mr H N Todd
Mr A J Ward
Mr G S White
Mr R Whiting
Mrs S M Wigglesworth
Mr D L Wood
Mr L H Young |
The following Members were unable to be present: Mr N A Bennett. Mrs S Carpendale, Mr B D Hurren, Dr M R Miller, Mr M Newman, Mr J R A Sayers, Mr R C Smith, Mr C M Spence, Mrs C A Todd and Mr D M Walton.
The proceedings were opened with Prayer.
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82 Item of Business to be Considered
83 Declaration of Interests
84 Chairman's Announcements
85 To Receive Notification of Petitions in accordance with Council Procedure Rule No. 13
86 Questions from Members
87 Concepts for the possible formation of New Unitary Authorities: Response to the Boundary Committee
Section 100B of The Local Government Act 1972 provides that an item of business may not be considered at a meeting of the Council unless copies of the report are open to public inspection for at least 5 clear days before the meeting. The Act does, however, make provision for an exception to this general rule to be made where by reason of special circumstances the Chairman of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.
The Chairman advised that a situation had arisen where it has become necessary for the Council to consider an item on the Agenda for which Paper G239 has not been available 5 clear days before today’s meeting.
The Chairman was satisfied that in order to provide the fullest possible information in a fair and balanced report there were special circumstances for the late publication of the report and for dealing with this matter at this meeting as a matter of urgency to meet the Boundary Committee deadline for responses.
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Mr P K Beer, Mr R E Kemp, Mr C M Spence and Mr D L Wood all declared personal interests in respect of the item referred to in Minute No. 87 below by virtue of being Members of Suffolk County Council but indicated that they were able to speak and vote on the matter concerned.
Mr P Jones subsequently declared a personal interest in respect of the item referred to in Minute No. 87 below by virtue of being a member of the Executive Committee of SALC but indicated that he was able to speak and vote on the matter concerned.
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None.
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None received.
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Question to Chairman of Strategy Committee from Councillor D Grutchfield
Can the Chairman of Strategy Committee advise me of our strategy regarding our over-full car parks at Hadleigh, Lavenham and Sudbury?
Response
The Council’s approach for its off-street car parks can be summarised as follows:-
For the user we provide a car parking service that is free to them (except at Pin Mill) in car parks that are secure and well maintained.
In terms of capacity the Council provides long term and short term parking in its urban areas, with future capacity requirements being identified through the Council’s Local Development Framework. This takes into account the impact on our town centre car parks of increased housing provision.
Supplementary Question
Why therefore have we not seen the provision of new car parks since the 1990’s and why is there not provision included within the Local Plan?
Response
The Chairman of Strategy Committee advised that he would consider the supplementary question and give an answer following the meeting. The response is now provided below: -
The Local Plan recognises that the provision of adequate and easily accessible car parking is essential to the vitality and viability of our market towns. The provision of additional car parking on new sites will only be considered when there is an identified need that cannot be met by the management of existing facilities.
The current Local Plan, which sets out proposals for the district up to 2016, does make the point that any future provision at Station Road, Sudbury, will require decking, which must be handled sensitively in view of its location.
If in the future increased provision in terms of land allocation is required in Hadleigh or Sudbury, this will be addressed through the Local Development Framework. A major challenge in providing any additional car parking will be obtaining the necessary funding.
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The Chief Executive submitted a report (Paper G239) requesting Members to consider and agree Babergh District Council’s response to an invitation by the Boundary Committee to submit concepts for future unitary Local Government arrangements for Suffolk.
Attached to Paper G239 was a draft submission to the Boundary Committee.
During the course of the discussion of this item a proposal as to the response of Babergh District Council was moved and this is referred to in the resolution below:-
An amendment to the proposal was moved which would delete the second sentence in (2) below. Upon being put to the vote the amendment was lost.
RESOLVED
(1) That the Annex to Paper G239 headed Boundary Committee Review Phase 1 (Concepts Stage) Response by Babergh District Council be adopted and approved as the response to the Boundary Committee’s invitation for a Concept Statement from Babergh District Council.
(2) That while this Council fully supports a unitary solution for the County and would therefore work to achieve any of the four concepts so far put forward, it does favour an East West two unitary council. A single unitary council for the whole of the County would be its second option on the basis of the analysis on page 2 of the Annex to Paper G239.
The business of the meeting was concluded at 3.55 p.m.
Chairman
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