Meeting documents

Prior to the commencement of the formal business of the meeting all those present stood in silent tribute to Mr Graham Webster, Member of the Council for the Aylesbury Central Ward from 2010 to 2011, who had sadly passed away recently.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 19 September, 2018, copy attached as an appendix.

RESOLVED –

That the Minutes of the meeting of Council held on 19 September, 2018, be approved as a correct record.

By the Chairman of the Council.

By the Leader/Cabinet Members.

(a)          Chairman of the Council

            Chairman’s Quiz Night – The Chairman of the Council thanked all those Members and staff who attended the quiz night on19 October, 2018.  The event had raised over £2000 for her nominated charities.

(b)          Leader of the Council/Cabinet Members

There were none

There were none.

No written questions were submitted by Members during September 2018.

Previous Members’ Written Questions and Answers can be accessed at http://democracy.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeId=441

The written questions received since the last Council meeting could be accessed at http://democracy.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?Committeeld=441

Councillor Sir Beville Stanier

Cabinet Member for Waste and Licensing

To consider the attached report.

Council received a report that had been considered by the Licensing Committee on 10 September 2018 and by the Environment and Living Scrutiny Committee on 25 September 2018 on the proposed Gambling Policy 2019-22.

Section 349 of the Gambling Act 2005 required all licensing authorities to prepare and publish a statement of principles that they proposed to apply in exercising their functions under the Act.  The statement of principles or licensing policy had to be reviewed and republished every three years. The Council’s policy was now due for revision and a new version had to be published in January 2019.

The Licensing Committee had met on 2 July 2018 to discuss the new draft policy. Following their discussions, the main changes made related to the preparation and publication of a Local Area Profile and expansion of the sections referring to risk assessments and licensing objectives.  There had also been some minor changes to other sections within the policy.

There had been a legal requirement for the new draft policy to be distributed for consultation which had taken place between 9 July and 31 August 2018. The policy had been made available for inspection on AVDC’s website and a wide range of potential stakeholders had been consulted which had included:-

·                    Responsible authorities under the Gambling Act.

·                    Local organisations working with those potentially vulnerable to gambling related harm.

·                    Premises licence and permit holders within the District.

·                    Organisations representative of gambling businesses.

·                    District and Borough Councillors.

·                    Parish Councils and neighbouring Districts

AVDC had received one response throughout the consultation from GamCare. The Licensing Committee had met again on 10 September 2018 to consider the policy further and made no further changes.  The draft policy had then been considered by the Environment and Living Scrutiny Committee on 25 September.  Members of the Committee had been supportive of the draft policy although they had continued to be concerned by the high concentration of gambling premises, notably in the Aylesbury Town area.

A separate document alongside the policy would also be published entitled Local Area Profiles.  This was a statistical document with its contents governed by the policy. The Licensing Committee had agreed that this document should be fluid in nature to allow timely changes to be made without the requirement for full consultation and Council approval.

It was proposed by Councillor Sir Beville Stanier, seconded by Councillor Mrs Glover and

RESOLVED –

That the Council’s Gambling Policy be approved and adopted.

Councillor Mrs Ward

Cabinet Member for Civic Amenities

To consider the attached report.

Council considered a report that had been submitted to the Economy and Business Development Scrutiny Committee on 11 September 2018 and Cabinet on 16 October 2018 in relation to a car parking strategy for Aylesbury Town Centre.  The draft Strategy was appended to the Cabinet report and could also be viewed on the Council’s website.

The strategy would be used not only to inform the Council’s investment decisions relating to car parking, but also to provide information for the Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan.  The brief for the study that had resulted in the production of the strategy had been developed in consultation with the County Council to ensure that all parking issues related to the town centre were considered.  The strategy set out how AVDC would work with key stakeholders to deliver integrated, innovative, sustainable and financially affordable service provision that met the needs of residents, visitors, local communities and businesses, whilst also encouraging sustainable modes of travel.  The study leading to the production of the strategy had been produced by ARUPS.  Cabinet had taken on board all of the suggestions made by the Scrutiny Committee relating to the phasing of particular aspects of the strategy.

It was proposed by Councillor Mrs Ward and seconded by Councillor Branston:-

"That the recommendations contained in the Council report be approved and adopted".

It was thereupon proposed by Councillor Bateman and seconded by Councillor Stuchbury:-

"That the recommendation referred to in the first bullet point of paragraph 2.2 (of the Council report relating to the proposed joint delivery board) be amended by the addition at the end of the words " and should include a market trader and an independent shop trader from the town centre"."

Upon being put to the meeting, the amendment was declared to be LOST.

It was thereupon proposed by Councillor Stuchbury and seconded by Councillor Bateman:-

That the Council report be amended by the inclusion of an additional recommendation as follows:-

"That all elected Councillors should relinquish the right to free car parking"."

Upon being put to the meeting, the amendment was declared to be LOST.

The original motion proposed by Councillor Mrs Ward was then put to the meeting and declared to be CARRIED.  It was therefore,

RESOLVED –

(1)          That the Car Parking Strategy as set out in Appendix 2 to the Cabinet report be approved and adopted.

(2)          That the phase one and two recommendations set out in Appendix 3 of the Cabinet report also be approved and adopted, in particular:-

(i)            the recommendation (SM1) to set up a Joint Delivery Board with Bucks County council to oversee the delivery of the strategy.

(ii)           the proposed capital investment of approximately £400,000 (estimated by ARUPS), to upgrade the payment options (OM6).

(3)          That it be noted that a further request for capital expenditure to upgrade payment equipment in AVDC car parks in other towns would be forthcoming , once the draft strategies for parking in Buckingham, Wendover and Winslow had been received.

There will be an opportunity for Members to ask questions of individual Cabinet Members and Committee Chairmen.

Members had the opportunity to ask questions of individual Cabinet Members and Committee Chairmen about issues affecting their portfolios/Committee activities:-

(a)          VALP Update (Councillor Whyte) – the Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure provided Members with a brief summary of the VALP Inspector’s findings, which included providing an additional 1,950 houses up to 2033.  The findings had been reported separately to Councillors at a recent Members’ seminar.  Officers were working to respond to the issues raised by the Planning Inspector so that the plan could be found sound as soon as possible.

(b)          Aylesbury’s Forgotten Estate (Councillor A Cole) – the Cabinet Member for Environment and Leisure informed Members of the work that had recently been done by AVDC in response to the concerns of Prebendal Farm residents about the general disrepair in that area.  The Cabinet Member would be meeting with representatives from the County Council and VAHT to address issues identified that were the responsibility of these organisations.

The Cabinet Member also thanked Officers who had assisted with the work undertaken in Prebendal Farm.

(c)          Member Briefings (Councillor Christensen) – the Leader of the Council gave an undertaking to Members to look into different ways to deliver future Members’ briefings and seminars, e.g. webcasts and webinars.

(d)          Bucks County Council Health OSC (Councillor Stuchbury) – the Member made a statement in relation to the community application for a Health Centre at Buckingham and asked that the applicants be contacted by AVDC.  However, as the question had not been directed towards a Cabinet Member a response was not forthcoming.

(e)          New Buckingham Cemetery on the Tingewick Road (Councillor Stuchbury) – the Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure gave an undertaking to ask Officers to provide the Member with an update on this planning application that had been submitted in 2015.

(f)           Aylesbury Town Market (Councillor Bateman) – the Cabinet Member for Civic Amenities informed Members that the Aylesbury Town market continued to thrive and offered a diverse range of stalls and products for market goers.  Market stalls continued to be competitively priced for market traders with regular events such as Foodie Fridays proving to be very popular.  The Cabinet Member encouraged all Members to promote the market to local residents.

(g)          Modernising Local Government in Buckinghamshire (Councillor C Adams) – the Leader of the Council informed Members that a response had still not been received from central Government.  However, once a decision was made then the Council would ensure that it worked hard in the best interests of local residents and staff.

(h)          Leisure provision, Haydon Hill (Councillor C Adams) – the Cabinet Member for Environment and Leisure updated Members in relation to a scheme for a Ball Hoop facility in the Haydon Hill area  The Cabinet Member gave an undertaking to meet, and work, with local people regarding some concerns that had been expressed.  The 3 local AVDC Councillors had been kept informed throughout the process.