Agenda and minutes

“I would like to remind everyone that this meeting will be filmed live, and uploaded to the internet and will be capable of repeated viewing.

Therefore, by participating in this meeting, you are consenting to being filmed and to the possible use of those images and sound recordings.

If any public speakers on MS Teams do not wish to have their image captured, they should ensure that their video setting throughout the meeting is turned off and set to audio only.

Members and public speakersare reminded to turn on their microphones before speaking and turn them off when they have finished”.

The Chairman reminded everyone present that the meeting would be broadcast live to the Internet, and that the Council had adopted a protocol for the webcasting of its meetings.

(1)           To confirm the appointment of District Councillor Les Burrows as the Chairman of the Committee for the municipal year; and

(2)           To appoint a Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the municipal year.

RESOLVED:

1)    That District Cllr L Burrows, in his capacity as the Chairman of the District Council, be appointed as Chairman of the Local Councils Liaison Committee for the 2024/25 municipal year; and

2)    That Cllr D Wixley, in his capacity as a Town Councillor, be appointed as Vice-Chairman of the Local Councils Liaison Committee for the 2024/25 municipal year.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 1^st February 2024 and any matters arising therefrom.

Town Cllr Wixley had questions regarding minute item 11 b from last meeting; When will the money from S106 contributions get paid to Local Councils, and does the District Council retain the interest earned in the meantime?

N Richardson (Service Director) replied that the money was passed over to the Conservators of Epping Forest from the Air Quality and Recreation pressures S106 money collected, and that he would have to get back to the Committee with the exact figure collected, when it was/will be paid and whether it includes interest. The District Council still holds some of the Recreation Pressures money.

Cllr K Williamson confirmed later in the meeting that £ 434 987.64 was paid to the Conservatives of Epping Forest 2023/24 and preceding years.

Post meeting update:

A statement was provided by N Richardson following the meeting:

As stated in Item 8 of the Cabinet agenda for 9 December 2024 (item 8 - Infrastructure Funding Statement), the Epping Forest Special Area of Conservation - Recreational Pressure Contributions was £434,987.64 and the full balance has subsequently been transferred in the current financial year to the Epping Forest Conservators as the strategy delivery body. It also reported that Epping Forest Special Area of Conservation - Air Quality Contributions was £257,148.35. These funds will be utilised on an ongoing basis to support activities within the Interim Air Pollution Mitigation Strategy including air quality monitoring. There is no plan for Parish/Town Councils to act in the delivery of this.

Town Cllr Wixley also asked for an update on what was being done about damage to pavements etc by developers.

            Post meeting update:

            A statement was provided by N Richardson following the meeting:

                 In respect of the pavement, all planning permission approvals contain an

                 informative of the decision letter as follows:

                 Applicants are advised not to store building materials on the 

                 highway and not to damage highway verges, so please avoid

                 parking construction vehicles and machinery on verges. If any

                 damage occurs, the Council will require verges to be restored at the

                 applicant’s expense. Please be aware that highway damage is easily

                 reported through the Council’s website and will be investigated by

                 Essex County Council officers.

RESOLVED:

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 1 February 2024 be taken as a correct record.

To discuss the following matters raised by the local councils:

1      (i)       Can EFDC clarify what an ‘outside body’ means in relation to the Local  

          Council Liaison committee, given that the committee is managed by

          EFDC Officers, and chaired by an elected representative of EFDC?

(ii)       Will EFDC commit to providing an updated Parish and Town Council 

           Charter, setting out how it sees the relationship between these layers

           of local government, and how communication between these two

           bodies works (from both political and practical perspectives)? 

(iii)           Parish and Town Council Clerks would like an improved mechanism by which they can contact officers at EFDC to resolve problems, issues, or ask questions. Will EFDC commit to:

a.     providing a dedicated Parish / Town Council contact at EFDC

responsible for dealing with Parish Council issues on a day-to-day basis; and

b.     providing an electronic list of direct contact details for officers and

heads of departments at EFDC and their responsibilities?

(iv)           Will the Leader of the Council agree to meet with Parish and Town Council Clerks at least three times per year, to discuss issues or concerns of an operational nature?

(v)            What measures will EFDC put in place to improve communication between the District and Parish / Town Councils, and ensure this contact is maintained?

(vi)           By what methods will EFDC accept questions to be placed on the Local Council Liaison Committee agenda (Individual Councils? Individual Councillors? One nominated person? Etc).    

2      Can EFDC to provide an overview of the changes to planning system implemented at EFDC, and the relevant processes that go with these changes.

3      What is EFDCs response regarding written representations at appeal and personnel provided for Information Hearings.

The Local Councils had submitted questions to the Council. The following answers were provided at the meeting.

1.     (i)  Can EFDC clarify what an ‘outside body’ means in relation to the 

      Local Council Liaison committee, given that the committee is  

      managed by EFDC Officers, and chaired by an elected 

      representative of EFDC?

G Woodhall (Team Manager Democratic & Electoral Services) clarified that an outside body is a committee or panel where not all members are from the District Council.

(ii)  Will EFDC commit to providing an updated Parish and Town 

      Council Charter, setting out how it sees the relationship between 

      these layers of local government, and how communication between

      these two bodies works (from both political and practical

      perspectives)?

G Woodhall explained that a Charter from 2006 exists but is due a review. Mr Woodhall confirmed he would be willing to take part in a forum with Town and Parish Clerks to get this done. He will await an invite once the Town and Parish Forum has been established.

(iii)  Parish and Town Council Clerks would like an improved

       mechanism by which they can contact officers at EFDC to resolve

       problems, issues, or ask questions. Will EFDC commit to:

a.     providing a dedicated Parish / Town Council contact at EFDC

responsible for dealing with Parish Council issues on a day-to-day basis; and

b.     providing an electronic list of direct contact details for officers and heads of departments at EFDC and their responsibilities?

            G Woodhall confirmed that:

a.     EFDC does not have a dedicated Parish and Town Councillor contact, but will look at this, and

b.    A list of contact details for Executive Directors and Service Directors can be provided.

         (iv)   Will the Leader of the Council agree to meet with Parish and Town 

                 Council Clerks at least three times per year, to discuss issues or

                 concerns of an operational nature?

              Cllr C Whitbread confirmed he is happy to meet with Parish and

              Town Councillors on a regular basis.

         (v)    What measures will EFDC put in place to improve communication 

                 between the District and Parish / Town Councils, and ensure this

                 contact is maintained?

           G Woodhall explained that this would be one of the items to be

           outlined within the new Charter.

         (vi)   By what methods will EFDC accept questions to be placed on the 

                 Local Council Liaison Committee agenda (Individual Councils?

                 Individual Councillors? One nominated person? Etc).

            G Woodhall outlined a preference for the new Town and Parish

            Committee to meet about a month before the next Local Council

            Liaison Committee, and then forward their most important issues

            to the Council at least two weeks before the meeting; giving officers

            a fair chance to prepare responses for the Town and Parish

            councillors.

2.     Can EFDC to provide an overview of the changes to planning system implemented at EFDC, and the relevant processes that go with these changes?

Covered in Agenda item 7

3.     What is EFDCs response regarding written representations at appeal and personnel provided for Information Hearings?

N Richardson asked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

(Epping Forest District Council) Local authorities are required to review their polling districts and polling places for UK parliamentary constituencies at least once every five years.

Epping Forest District Council’s compulsory five-year review is due to be completed by the end of January 2025.  Having conducted the review and a public consultation the findings and proposals will be presented which will be submitted to Full Council in December for approval.

D Baird (Interim Service Manager) updated the committee on the Review of Polling Places and Stations.

The Committee asked questions:

-        Please expand on the accessibility issues.

    R Perrin (Senior Electoral Services Officer) explained that the accessibility

    comments related to the previous Parliamentary Election, where electors

    had been moved to another Polling Station because of renovation works. 

    The renovations had now been completed and those electors had been

    reallocated back at their original polling station.

-        Please explain the issues surrounding Whitebridge not being used as a Polling Station in the future.

    R Perrin explained that ward members were consulted and said there had

    been accessibility issues due to it being a school, and there being children

    around. Where possible Electoral Services try to avoid using schools as

    polling stations due to safeguarding of the children. 

(Epping Forest District Council) Update on the new Planning Committees and overview of its procedures and protocol.

G Courtney (Planning Service Manager) presented the new Planning Committee at EFDC -procedures and protocol. He shared a document on the new Planning Committee, referred the Committee to a document also shared in the Agenda, as well as the Planning Committee pages in the Constitution.

N Richardson (Service Director) added that the Planning Advisory Service (PAS) were invited to make suggestions as EFDCs Planning Department were not functioning very well, and EFDC wanted to avoid going into special measures. Their advice went through a long process within the Council, with officers as well as Councillors, and although still early days the Planning Department feels the new process works very well. The new procedures will be reviewed in 2025.

The Committee commented and asked questions:

-        Cllr K Williamson commented that EFDCs procedures were now in line with most other authorities.

-        What will EFDC do about enforcement? Town and Parish councillors felt they were not being listened to when they flagged problem developments. Some large applications go on and officers do not go to view the site. Local councillors have a lot of local knowledge but are not being heard.

      N Richardson replied that he strongly disagreed with the statement that

      enforcement officers do not visit sites. He asked for a meeting with

      Loughton Town Council as Enforcement was not a topic at this meeting.

-        Cllr W Kauffman shared that he felt the recent Plans B meeting went well, although some Councillors felt under pressure from officers. Future meetings where several Councillors may have to step down might be interesting.

      G Courtney reminded Councillors that substitutions could be made for

      Councillors when they needed to step down on certain applications. This

      would ensure quorum and that decisions could be made at the meeting.

-        Cllr Wixley thanked G Courtney for the helpful presentations and asked when the document could be sent out, he also asked for it to be attached to the Minutes of the meeting.

-        Cllr Wixley asked for a clarification on how sites visits will be decided. And added questions regarding site visits for householder applications, and whether a ward member would have any influence if they felt a site visit should apply?

      G Courtney explained that the default would be that every application

      should have a site visit, unless the Chairman determines that a site visit

      would not be needed. The agenda now comes out 3 weeks before the

      meeting, the Chairmans Briefing, where the decision would be made on site

      visits would be held a few days later. For householder applications to come

      to Planning Committee, the Portfolio-holder would first need to decide the

      application needed to be heard by the Committee. Once it’s decided that a

      householder application would be heard by Committee, the same rules

      apply; the default would be that a site visit would be arranged, unless the

      Chairman decided it was not needed.

      If a ward member feels a site visit would be needed, they should raise this.

-  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

P Maginnis (Service Director) reminded all councillors that an invite had gone out for the Corporate Communications Review, and that Town and Parish councillors attendance would be welcomed.

To note that the next meeting of the Committee will be held on 20^th March 2025 at 7.30pm.

The Committee noted that the date of the next meeting would be on the 20^th March 2025 at 7pm.