The Council’s 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.
The Council’s rules provide that answers to questions without notice may take the form of:
(a) 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 Service Director.
In accordance with the Council’s 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 ten minutes at their discretion.
Minutes:
The Chairman thanked Members for giving notification of their intention to ask a question without notice.
(a) Biographies of Qualis Directors published on the Qualis Website
Councillor S Heap stated that in response to a freedom of information request, ref 1582, it was stated that biographies of all Qualis directors would be published on the Qualis website. He stated that this had been partially done but that the biographies were not full and complete. He asked the Commercial and Regulatory Services Portfolio Holder would these be reviewed and it was also stated that the directors have “no prior connection with proposed developments in Epping Forest”. Was this statement correct?
Councillor A Patel replied that he did not have the answer to the question but that he would find out and report back to Councillor Heap.
(b) Covid-19
Councillor S Neville asked the Leader of Council would he agree that the figures for Covid-19 across the District were decreasing, which was good news and that the vaccination programme was progressing very well but that we as a District should still air some caution and keep following the safety guidelines as the Council would not want the figures to start increasing again.
Councillor C Whitbread stated that the presentation by the Prime Minister earlier in the week was sensible and measured. It had been a really tough year and it was important to continue to follow the Governments guidelines. The vaccination programme was progressing well over the District and the Country and everyone should stay at home where possible and stick to the rules. The Council were busy preparing for the future to bounce back when lockdown ends.
(c) Clean Air Zone Advisory Panel
Councillor P Stalker asked the Planning and Sustainability Portfolio Holder if he could give an update on the advisory panel to look at the mitigation strategies needed to avoid a Clean Air Zone and when they were going to meet and reflecting on the recent call-in from the LRA, the Liberal Democrats and others for more development in the green belt, would he comment on the impact this might have on the rural parts of the district, one of which was represented in my ward that they seem not to care about.
Councillor N Bedford replied that it had taken some time to get organised due to the calendar of meetings but we have now got a Democratic Services Officer appointed and responses back from Councillors. The Councillors that are to make up the advisory panel are: Councillor S Heap, representing the Green Party, Councillor Jon Whitehouse, representing the Liberal Democrats, Councillor Chris Pond representing the LRA. The Conservative group will be represented by myself as Chairman, Councillor P Stalker, Councillor P Keska and Councillor D Dorrell. The first meeting was scheduled for the 3 March 2021 at 5.30pm to discuss the aspirations of the Panel followed by the second meeting on the 23 March 2021 where there will be a presentation by AECOM and a discussion around the terms of reference.
With regard to building in the north of the District, the Local Plan was submitted to the Inspector and the development was structured across the district. The Council was working to minimise the take up of the green belt and moving to build in the north of the District would have a massive impact on the SAC. To land grab in the north of the district would not mitigate anything as nearly all of the district was within 6.2 miles of the SAC and this in turn would have a massive impact on Epping, Sheering and the surrounding areas which needed to be avoided especially as it would mean grabbing even more of the green belt.
(d) Epping Forest Care and Repair Service
Councillor J H Whitehouse stated that at a previous Council meeting in October 2020 she had asked under the item ‘Joint Arrangements and External Organisations’ for a report on the Epping Forest Care and Repair service (CARE). Nothing was reported at the meeting in December 2020 and she advised that she had contacted the Councillors who were appointed to that body and was told that CARE no longer existed. CARE used to administer a handy person scheme for older homeowners and had a vetted list of traders which was very much valued by the older homeowners. My question to the Housing and Community Services Portfolio Holder was were are the services now and how was the handy person scheme being advertised.
Councillor H Whitbread apologised for not getting back directly to the Council. She advised that she would give Councillor Whitehouse a written response so that she could answer the question in more depth.
(e) Distribution of Grants to Businesses in the District
Councillor P Keska asked the Customer and Corporate Support Services Portfolio Holder if he could give Members an update on the distribution of grants to businesses in the district and could he comment on future plans to reach those that may have missed out.
Councillor S Kane advised that Rob Pavey and his team have over the past few months have done a fantastic job of distributing the Government funded grant scheme. The administration of the scheme had rules and guidance which varied with different qualifying criteria with the whole process being further complicated as we moved through the various tiers of lockdown with an associated grant for each tier. To date the Council have distributed almost £40 million pounds worth of grants with over 6,000 individual claims being processed. Presently there were 103 claims still to be determined.
The Council were currently working with ECC for additional grant relief funds to further support other areas which may have been excluded from the grant support scheme or that had failed to be noticed or assisted.
(f) Debden Library
Councillor S Murray stated that given Essex County Council’s ill-considered plan for Debden Library with the College which had now fallen through could the Leader of Council give a serious undertaking to investigate the possibility and indeed promote the possibility of Debden library going back to its rightful place on the Broadway in one of the EFDC shop units. This would increase the footfall on the Broadway and would act as an anchor for other businesses on the Broadway.
Councillor C Whitbread advised that he would have discussion with the Essex County Council Cabinet Member for libraries and would explore the opportunities that Councillor Murray had put forward this evening. He stated he would further discuss this with Councillor Murray to furnish him with more details.
(g) Centric Parade, Loughton
Councillor D Sunger asked the Commercial and Regulatory Services Portfolio Holder if could he update Members on the Centric Parade from 202-226 High Road Loughton and comment on the various rumours that were being spread about the various vacant shops.
Councillor A Patel advised that the Council had purchased the freehold of Centric Parade Loughton from 202-226 in December 2019 for a net sum of £18.645 million there was no VAT to be paid on this purchase. Including the stamp duty, land tax and legal services which brought the total spend to £19.834 million. Situated above the retails premises were 9 residential flats and 1 office tenant.
With the exception of the former Pak Choi restaurant at 202 Centric Parade the commercial premises were all let. The Pak Choi premises was subject to an agreement for lease to McDonalds, conditional on receipt of suitable planning permission. The planning permission was granted on the 1 June 2020 at Area Plans South Sub-Committee was subject to several extra conditions that were unfortunately unacceptable to McDonalds and they terminated the agreement to lease the premises.
Due to the Covid Pandemic and further lockdowns the Council have also received back shops from various tenants, Clinton Cards, Rush Hair, Percy Ingles and Thomas Cook. In addition both New Look and Clarkes have entered into a CVA (Company Voluntary Arrangement).
Due to New Look entering into a CVA they were paying less than half of the rent and the Council had now given them notice as another tenant had been found and would be paying the market value.
The vacant premises have been marketed and despite Covid there had been a significant amount of interest and advanced discussions were in progress.
(h) Clean Air Zones – ECC Liberal Democrat Newsletter
Councillor L Burrows asked the Finance and Economic Development Portfolio Holder if he was aware of the recent fake newsletter from the Liberal Democrats claiming that they were against the Clean Air Zone and that this week the Liberal Democrats at Essex County Council called for local residents to pay £7 million extra on their Council Tax to pave the way for Clean Air Zones in Essex. How can residents trust the Epping Liberal Democrats.
Councillor J Philip stated that he had received the newsletter which did have a degree of inaccuracy in it and he was also aware of the amendment put forward by the ECC Liberal Democrats to put forward money from Council Tax to fund Clean Air Zones. He advised that it was for £2 million and not £7 million in terms of the budget for the Clean Air Zones.
He further advised that EFDC had not set aside any money in their budget for the implementation of a Clean Air Zone in Epping Forest. The Planning and Sustainability Portfolio Holder had set up an advisory group to look at appropriate ways to make sure that Epping Forest did not need a Clean Air Zone and the Council was against spending money which wasn’t needed. If the Council can preserve the forest without a Clean Air Zone that was definitely the right direction to be going. The key here has been consistency all along and what the Council say they will do they can be trusted to do it.
(i) The Landmark Building, The Broadway, Loughton
Councillor D Wixley stated that his question was to the Commercial and Regulatory Services Portfolio Holder and advised that it was a repeat of his question asked at the last Council meeting when the Portfolio Holder was absent.
He advised that for several weeks there had been scaffolding up at the Landmark Building and it looked like there was work being done on the cladding, therefore concern had arisen whether the cladding was safe from a fire point of view and if there was an issue. If there was an issue would the Council have to bear the cost of any such remedial work or would it be down to the company that built the building.
Councillor A Patel stated that EFDC were aware that a Government office had identified the Landmark Building in Debden as having ACM cladding and that Higgins Homes had been instructed by the Government to remove the ACM cladding. The building is leased to Higgins Homes on a long lease from EFDC and therefore an active interest was taken by EFDC to ensure that the works were carried out and asked for regular updates on the progress of the works. The ACM cladding was only installed on a section above the main doorway.
On the 20 January 2021 Higgins Homes advised that all the ACM cladding had now been removed.
(j) Country Care Volunteers
Councillor C McCredie stated that her question was to the Environmental and Technical Services Portfolio Holder following on from his report regarding Country Care, page 43 of the agenda, where he reported that Peter Spence who had been a volunteer for 30 years. Mr Spence had unfortunately passed away and she asked if the Portfolio Holder would recognise the value of the volunteers.
Councillor N Avey replied that the volunteers are superb and do a great job and are very valued members of the Country Care team.
(k) DaRT87 Demand Responsive Transport Trial
Councillor J M Whitehouse advised that his question was to the Environmental and Technical Services Portfolio Holder regarding the bus route 87 that was currently being trialled and agreed that during the current lockdown it probably wasn’t a good time to trial the service but stipulated that it was an important link between the various communities the service covered. He asked for an update of what the next steps were, considering that the funding would run out shortly.
Councillor N Avey advised that there would be a report going to the next Cabinet meeting on next steps on the DaRT87 service.
(l) Council House Building Programme
Councillor J McIvor asked the Housing and Community Services Portfolio Holder if she could give an update on Cyril Hawkins Close in North Weald and an update on the Council House Building programme.
Councillor H Whitbread advised that she had been to view Cyril Hawkins Close in North Weald and was pleased to report that the 12 new family high quality homes were all occupied with plenty of parking spaces.
The Council’s House Building Programme was progressing well Phase 4 was currently in progress and Phase 5 sites were being considered for progressing where 500 more homes were hoped to be delivered.