The Council Rules provide for questions by any member of the Council to the Leader or any Portfolio Holder, without notice on:
(i) reports under the previous item; or
(ii) any other matter of a non operational character in relation to the powers and duties of the Council or which affects all or part of the District or some or all of its inhabitants.
Council Rules provide that answers to questions without notice may take the form of:
(a) direct oral answer from the Leader or, at the request of the Leader, from another member of the Cabinet;
(b) where the desired information is in a publication of the Council or other published work, a reference to that publication;
(c) where the reply cannot conveniently be given orally, a written answer circulated later to the questioner; or
(d) where the question relates to an operational matter, the Leader or a member of the Cabinet will request that a response be given direct to the questioner by the relevant Chief Officer.
In accordance with the Council Rules, a time limit of thirty minutes is set for questions. Any question not dealt with within the time available will receive a written reply. The Chairman may extend this period by up to a further 10 minutes at their discretion.
Minutes:
(a) St John’s Site
Councillor H Whitbread asked the Asset & Economic Development Portfolio Holder whether following the completion of the St John’s site, she had any ideas on the planning application timescales and if this would provide an opportunity for consultation with Epping Residents on the proposed design.
Councillor A Grigg advised that she was delighted that the St John’s site was now in the Council’s ownership. The mixed use scheme would provide a cinema, food store, flats, shops and a public realm (open space), via a tri-part agreement and was subject to planning consent. There would be an opportunity for Epping Residents to shape this, which would be through the planning process.
(b) Local Plan
Councillor S Neville advised that some residents within his Buckhurst Hill East Ward had not received any correspondence regarding to the Draft Local Plan Consultation and asked whether the Planning Policy Portfolio Holder would apologize for this error.
Councillor J Philip advised that he would not apologise because he had indicated to Members several times, that if they had been made aware of any areas within their Wards that had not received information on the consultation to notify him and he had received no communication. He also stated that every Member had been supplied with a tool kit to help assist residents. Furthermore he had not been aware of any systematic errors with delivery and that leaflets delivered to all residents in the District had not been wholly relied upon, with a huge amount of publicity completed through other means.
Councillor J Philip advised that he was glad to hear that the residents involved had responded to the consultation.
(c) Langston Road Retail Park
Councillor J Knapman asked the Asset & Economic Development Portfolio Holder for an update on the leasing of the retail units at Langston Road Retail Park.
Councillor A Grigg advised that the negotiations were going well, although no further information was currently available because the interested companies preferred no publicity until agreements had been signed. The consultants had advised that there was still strong interest and they were confident that the units would be filled.
(d) Food Bank
Councillor S Murray asked the Leader whether he shared his concerns regarding the increasing number of families and individuals requiring the services of the Epping Forest Foodbank and the great appreciation the Council has for the service.
Councillor C Whitbread advised that he agreed that the Foodbank provided an exceptional service, which had been needed in the community and that the Council was happy support any organisation that had the best interests of the District at heart.
(e) Pre application income
Councillor C C Pond asked the Governance and Development Management Portfolio Holder in what manner the Development Control Officers expressed the acceptability of a scheme in Pre-Application discussion and whether Officers should advise that the advice was always subject to the judgement of Members, should it go to a planning sub-committee.
Councillor R Bassett advised that Pre-Application advice was for applicants to come into the Council to show their plans to the Development Control Officers and for the obvious development control and policy issues to be pointed out, giving the applicant an opportunity to talk around other possible options for the application.
(f) Local Plan
Councillor L Girling asked the Planning Policy Portfolio Holder whether there were any other points in the Local Plan Consultation, where the public could get involved in the process and whether the transport modelling would involve other organisations other than just Essex County Council.
Councillor J Philip advised that there would be at least one other opportunity for residents to get involved. He explained that by the summer 2017 the Council would be submitting the Local Plan for Regulation 19, which would evaluate the soundness of the plan and the next step would be a report to Cabinet in March 2017. In addition the Council was looking at two types of transport modelling and would be working with Transport for London (TfL) with regard to the Central Line and making use of Essex County Council Highways roads model that had been approved by the Highway Agency. Once the transport modelling had been completed, it would be available for developers to make use of along with the consultation, indicating where the sites would be considered within the District.
(g) Complaints Procedure
Councillor H Kauffman asked the Governance and Development Management Portfolio Holder if Members could have a copy of the revised complaints procedure.
Councillor R Bassett advised that changes had been made to the complaints procedure through the removal of one of the tiers and a change in the responsible officer. He would make sure the updated version of the complaints procedure was made available to Members and updated on the website.
(h) Youth Crime Rate
Councillor B Surtees asked the Safer, Greener, Transport Portfolio Holder whether he welcomed the national reduction in child arrests that had dropped from 246,000 in 2010 to 102,000 in 2015 and Essex Police and other agencies efforts which had resulted in a much better than average reduction in Essex.
Councillor G Waller advised that it was very welcomed that the national figures for child arrests had dropped by 59% in that period, which in turn had prevented the likelihood of young people entering the Criminal Justice System and having a greater chance of a life of crime. He advised that there were a number of reasons involved in the drop which included better training and the abolition of targets for the Police.
(i) St John’s Site
Councillor J M Whitehouse asked the Asset & Economic Development Portfolio Holder, whether the consultation on the St John’s site would be better prior to the submission of the planning application; and in relation to the whole site when was she hoping to bring a report about the future of Lindsay House to Cabinet.
Councillor A Grigg advised that a report regarding Lindsay House would be coming to the next Cabinet meeting. In addition she advised that the St John’s site, especially the public realm area would be an important feature and so she expected publicity to be distributed beforehand but it would not be through the District Council and that the planning process would be the right way for it to progress.
(j) Domestic Violence
Councillor D Wixley asked the Safer, Greener, Transport Portfolio Holder about the changes to the Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences and that the Council would not be involved in local high risk cases of domestic abuse, in light of the recent case in Theydon Bois.
Councillor G Waller advised that it appeared to be a backward step and the Council’s Community Safety Team had been well placed in the community with the knowledge and help, should people seek help. He advised that this would be something the Council would look to reverse and would be pressing for action.
(k) Leisure
Councillor R Butler asked the Leisure and Community Services Portfolio Holder whether when the new Leisure contract was issued in March 2017, would the sport clubs using the councils leisure centres be able to remain with their current timetables and schedules and that the staff’s jobs within the leisure centre were assured.
Councillor H Kane advised that there had been a lot of discussions held with the new contractor about the staff and local schemes and clubs within the leisure centres and these arrangements would continue.