Agenda

Key to abbreviations:

Other venues are shown in full.

Currently meetings are subject to change, postponement or cancellation.

Many meetings will be held virtually but Democratic Services will advise arrangements for individual meetings.

Committee Management System

The members’ extranet facility for the Modern.Gov system is available at:

https://eppingforestextranet.moderngov.co.uk/extranet

Members may wish to save this link on their computer or mobile devices. Queries concerning login and password details for the extranet should be addressed to the Democratic Services Manager.

Constitution

The Council’s Constitution is available at:

https://rds.eppingforestdc.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CId=638&Info=1

Queries concerning the Constitution should be addressed to the Democratic Services Manager

ECC Highways Portal

Up to date details of all Highways work is available at:

https://www.essexhighways.org/Transport-and-Roads.aspx

Member Contact

Please be aware that all Member queries should be addressed to membercontact@eppingforestdc.gov.uk as this will ensure that your query or question is properly logged and chased up if you have not received a response within 5 days.

It is with regret that due to the current restrictions Tony Boyce’s funeral will be by invitation.

The council will be represented by the Chairman of Council, Councillor Helen Kane.

Members should have received the following email from Will Defoe regarding your use of technology. Please respond to Will to ensure that you have your say.

“Dear Councillor,

ICT would like to hear from you regarding your experience using the EFDC ICT equipment and also your overall user experience.

This includes everybody even if you are not currently using any of the equipment provided.

We want all feedback and opinions so if you have ideas of equipment or software or you feel we could be doing things differently or may have missed something important to you to do with ICT.

The feedback and views that you give back to me will be fed to the Management team where we can discuss a plan going forward with what has been raised as an outcome of our conversations.

I am happy to speak over the phone/Teams/email this is including the evenings and weekends but if you can just book that with me in advance then I can put that in my calendar.

I look forward to you reply.”

(Further information Will Defoe ext 4295 wdefoe@eppingforestdc.gov.uk)

Would Members please be reminded that if you are having issues accessing your iPad or EFDC emails Will Defoe who will be happy to sort any problems you may be having. wdefoe@eppingforestdc.gov.uk

(Further information: Will Defoe ext 4295)

Please see attached.

You will all be aware that over the last month or so there has been talk about the potential reform of the current structures of local government. There was a question at full council and there are a number of articles and discussions in Local Government media and also national events for senior officers. By way of update this is the Essex (the place) position at the time of writing:

Following conversations with Government the leader of Essex County Council,  David Finch held a round table discussion with Leaders and the Chief Executives of Essex Councils (including Southend and Thurrock), and subsequent Chief Executive briefings have happened.

The meeting was the first opportunity for Leaders and Chief Executives to come together to discuss what the Government have said about how they see the future and consider ideas and opportunities for improving the current Local Government system.

EFDC start these conversations from a strong collaborative position following successful joint working across many partnerships in response to the pandemic.

Throughout the last few months, there has been a real collective effort across organisations in addressing the challenges that Epping Forest has faced during the COVID-19 crisis. 

In Essex, there is one of the most complex local government structures in the UK – one county council, 12 district/borough/city councils and two unitary councils.

It is clear from the discussions with the Government that it sees the current two-tier system of county and district councils as flawed, and that unitary authorities, which are responsible for all council services in a defined area, are seen as a better option for delivering services.

It is also clear that the Government wants to see more directly elected mayors, alongside more Combined Authorities (much like those in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands) who would be responsible for driving economic growth alongside other powers. Combined Authorities, as the name implies, cover a larger geography (for example, Greater Essex) than a single unitary council area. They don’t just get extra powers from government; they can secure more investment for local residents. No decisions have yet been taken, but for Essex this might look like two to four unitary councils, and a Greater Essex Combined Authority and Mayor. Alternative proposals may also arise as it is well known that the South of Essex have proposals all ready underway.

The Government intends to bring forward a White Paper in the autumn outlining its proposals and inviting councils to submit proposals for reform. The ambition in Essex is to have proposals, on both unitary councils and a Combined Authority, informed by the White Paper ready for the opportunity.

Epping Forest District Council is one of the respected, well run and efficient authorities in Essex. Therefore, if there is to be change it is the role of EFDC to be an important part in shaping it for the benefit of local residents. I can assure all members that I will be engaged together with all of my strategic team as any work evolves.  ...  view the full agenda text for item 5.

Please be reminded that Members must submit their digital expenses form by 11 September.

(Further information: Kim Partridge ext 4443)

Would Members please be aware that as there is no urgent or essential business to discuss or decisions to be made at this meeting, it has been postponed.

The next scheduled date for a meeting of this Cabinet Committee is 10-Dec-20.

(Further information: Gary Woodhall ext 4470)

Please see attached.

Please be advised that the Licensing Unit has received the following application for a Street Trading Consent renewal made under the Local Government Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1982 Part 3for the premises below:

Please ensure that any comments/objections are received by the Licensing team on or before the consultation end date.

Manager                                                         Kim Tuckey 01992 564034

Licensing Officer                                            Debbie Houghton 01992 564336

1.            Appeals Lodged

EPF/0312/20 – 44a Coopers Close Chigwell IG7 6EU - Single storey rear extension and erection of 1 no.3 bed dwelling and associated works – Written reps – Muhammed Rahman ext. 4415

EPF/0626/20 22 Brook Way Chigwell IG7 6AW - Construction of various extensions, new roof, internal reconfiguration & landscaping / hardscaping changes to front & rear areas – Householder appeal – Honey Kojouri ext. 4124

EPF/0843/20 8 Alderton Hall Lane Loughton IG10 3HJ - Erection of a metal fence (retrospective) with proposed landscaping – Householder appeal – Honey Kojouri ext. 4124

EPF/2640/20 89 Manor Road Chigwell IG7 5PN - Proposed demolition of an existing bungalow & construction of new dwelling – Written reps – Muhammed Rahman ext. 4415

EPF/2946/19 – Wayback, 179 Lambourne Road Chigwell IG7 6JU - Proposed demolition of an existing dwelling & erection of a replacement dwelling- Written reps – Marie-Clare Tovey ext. 4414

2.         Forthcoming Planning Inquiries/Hearings -

EPF/1649/17 – White Rose Curtis Mill Lane Stapleford Abbotts RM3 1HS – Re determination appeal by new Inspector- date to be arranged.

3.            Enforcement Appeals

None this week

4.            Appeal Decisions

None this week

5.         Tree Preservation Orders

None this week

6.         S106 Agreements

None this week

7.         Changes to Planning Systems

None this week

The notification of decisions taken by individual Portfolio Holders is no longer included in the Council Bulletin.

All members of the Council receive automatic email notification of the publication of each individual Portfolio Holder decision and the call-in period for each decision commences immediately. Members wishing to call-in a decision should complete the attached call-in form and return it to Democratic Services before the expiry of five working days following the publication date of the decision. Members should refer to the Constitution (Article 6 - Overview and Scrutiny) for the rules of call-in.