Meeting documents

To sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 1 July and 15 July 2014.

The Minutes of the Cabinet meetings held 1 July and 15 July 2014, copies of which had been previously circulated, were approved and signed by Councillor Mrs Isobel Darby, Cabinet Leader, as a correct record.

Councillor Mrs I A Darby declared a personal and prejudicial interest in Agenda Item 11 - Community Grant Awards 2014 due to her role on the Village Older People’s Action Group at Chalfont St Peter (VOPAG).

Councillor Mrs I A Darby declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 11 - Community Grant Awards 2014 due to her appointment on the Chalfont St Peter Youth Centre Committee.

Councillor P E C Martin declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 11 - Community Grant Awards 2014 due to his appointment on the Little Chalfont Community Association.

Councillors P Hudson and F Wilson declared personal interests in Agenda Item 11 - Community Grant Awards 2014 due to their roles at Town Councillors for Chesham Town Council.

The Cabinet received a report attaching the draft 28-Day Notice which provided a forward look at the Agenda for the next meeting of the Cabinet.  The Notice was published on 22 August 2014.

The Chief Executive reported that an additional item was to be included in the 28 Day Notice Forward Plan in relation to Broadband in the Chiltern District.

RESOLVED -

That the Draft 28-Day Notice / Forward Plan, published on 22 August 2014, be noted.

(i)        Councillor Darby - Policy Advisory Groups (PAGs) appointments - advised of the appointments to the recently established PAGs which is attached to the minutes of the meeting for information.

(ii)       Councillor Martin - Fly tipping incidents.  Reported that there had been fly tipping incidents within the District which had included the dumping of waste chicken and another incident, recorded on CCTV, involving rubble being dumped outside a charity shop where the Council acting through the Waste Partnership for Bucks had secured successful prosecutions.  The Cabinet Member for Environment advised that these incidents were unacceptable and the Council would take action to prosecute any such offenders.

(iii)     Councillor Harris - Changes to Permitted development - It was reported that the Government was consulting on changes in respect of permitted development rights including use of retail, offices, industrial and warehouse units and other uses for residential accommodation and potentially to increase in the future. There was a concern that this could lead to a lack of available units for small businesses in the future.

Cabinet considered a report which outlined the requirement of the Council to prepare an annual housing trajectory, and were asked to approve the content and format of the Housing Land Supply Trajectory 2006 to 2029 attached to the report which was an evidence document for the Submission Delivery Development Plan Document February 2014 and to be included in the 2013/14 Annual Monitoring Report to be published in early 2015.  The trajectory is a key indicator on when to review the Local Plan.

It was reported that the document was necessarily detailed as robust evidence provided by the 2014 Trajectory was needed to support the Submission DDPD, for planning applications and appeals should housing land supply become a material consideration or is challenged at appeal or ultimately becomes the subject of a legal challenge to the High Court.  The Trajectory had a base date of 31 March 2014 but included more recent evidence that was known when the report was prepared.

In conclusion the Submission DDPD needed to ensure the Council can demonstrate sufficient housing opportunities to meet both the housing delivery requirements of the Core Strategy and a rolling ‘5 year supply’ of housing land in the years ahead.  A purpose of the trajectory was to also inform the timing for future plan making.  The 2014 trajectory indicated the start of potential supply concerns from 2018 onwards as supply from committed sites starts to reduce.  The trajectory has informed the timetable for a new local plan to cover the period to the year 2036 elsewhere on the agenda.  The recommendation was to have a new local plan submission in 2017 and adoption in mid 2018.  A new local plan would need to address housing supply over the period up to 2036.

RESOLVED:

That the 2014 Chiltern District Housing Land Supply Trajectory 2006 to 2029 for publication as an evidence document for the Submission Delivery Development Plan Document and for inclusion in the 2013/14 Annual Monitoring Report.

Cabinet received a report which outlined that local planning authorities were required to publish a timetable for production of development plan documents / local plans that they intend to produce.  The timetable was part of a ‘local development scheme’ (LDS) which also included more information to justify and inform the plan making timetable.  The LDS was important as councils are required to produce development plan documents/local plans in accordance with its timetable.

It was reported that the work programme for the Planning Policy Team over the next four years was challenging and would require careful management and additional resources to be delivered.  By agreeing the revised LDS the Council will be able to establish its work priorities and be clear on resource implications in future budget setting processes.  The LDS was to be monitored and reviewed again as necessary and resources  kept under close review and if necessary further reports brought to Cabinet if additional resources were needed.

The Leader sought clarification on future funding for Neighbourhood Plans and it was noted that funding of £20K was due to be received from September for Chalfont St Peter to cover the Councils costs for pre and post examination and the referendum and a similar figure was expected in 2015 for Chalfont St Giles.  Future funding however, could be subject to Government changes.

RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL:

i)     That Council adopt the Local Development Scheme 2014 to 2018 attached as Annex 1 to the report;

ii)    The need to replenish the Local Development Framework Reserve to be considered as part of the 2015/16 budget process.

Consideration was given to the report which set out the background of The Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Management Plan 2014- 2019. It was a statutory duty of all public bodies to conserve and enhance the Natural Beauty of the AONB.

RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL:

That the AONB Management Plan 2014 - 2019 be endorsed as a material consideration in the exercise of the Council’s planning powers.

Consideration was given to a report which covered four main areas which were the Chiltern District Heritage Strategy; the Conservation Area Appraisal and Conservation Areas Review Programme; to consider the justification for a local list of heritage assets and to consider a consultation by English Heritage on three new heritage advice notes. 

The purpose of the Heritage Strategy was to be a stand-alone document which forms part of the Council’s evidence base in relation to the formulation of planning policy but also as a useful source of evidence in the planning application decision making process and to provide a future work programme.

The Heritage Strategy contents were outlined as follows:-

a)    Describes the location of the District

b)   Defines a heritage asset

c)   Describes the development pressures facing the District

d)   Describes other pressures facing heritage assets such as climate change and the drive for sustainability

e)   Lists the currently identified heritage assets within the District

f)    Raises the possibility that as the District is altered through new developments that more heritage assets may be discovered

g)   Describes how the Council will deal with heritage assets at risk

h)  Proposes setting up a local list of heritage assets

i)    Outlines areas where the Council’s current evidence was out of date

j)     Describes the process of conservation area appraisals and review

k)   Lists the current heritage asset evidence base available to the Council

l)    Sets out a Heritage Strategy Statement and actions

It was important to involve local residents and stakelholders in the strategy and a number of consultations had been undertaken.  The latest consultation during June - July 2014 had involved councillors, parish councils and local amenity groups. 

The consultation on the Heritage Strategy invited consultees to suggest local heritage assets that they may wish to be included on a local list.  The suggested criteria for considering inclusion of a heritage asset on the local list was as follows:

a)    The historic asset is demonstrably of local importance in its architectural design, decoration or craftsmanship.

b)    The historic asset illustrates important aspects of the District’s social, economic, cultural, agricultural, or military history and/or have close historical associations with locally important people or groups.

c)     The heritage asset is a key building or feature within a conservation area

d)    The heritage asset has a demonstrably important role in the local community or place identity

e)    A site of an important local historical event.

f)     Nationally designated historic assets may be included on the local list where in local terms the historic asset is of great significance to the heritage of the District or is the last remaining example of that type of asset in the District. (ie has a higher value locally than nationally even though it has national protection)

It was noted that the creation of the local list may require additional resources but once it was generated then the ongoing amount of work was not excessive.  Cabinet were advised that as a result of the ongoing work in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

Cabinet  considered a report which updated members on the development of the Council’s Community Grant Aid Scheme.  The Scheme supported the Council in delivering the Five Ways to Wellbeing programme; through supporting local voluntary and community organisations to deliver a diverse and exciting range of services for local residents, older and younger people by enabling people to:-

i)    Connect with others in the community

ii)   Be active by participating in sports or community activities

iii)  Take notice of what is going on in the community

iv)  Learn new skills or pass on their skills to others

v)   Give through volunteering.

While meeting all corporate objectives and cross cutting issues, the Scheme also helped to align to county projects.  The high volume of applications generated through the Scheme had helped to lever in a large amount of additional funding.

It was reported that this year’s scheme had attracted 45 applications that collectively requested funding totalling £68,057.  The cumulative value if all the applicants’ schemes were delivered totalled £255,478, which was to be achieved by applicants accessing funding from other grant awarding bodies, running internal fundraising events and utilising reserves.  Members considered, in detail, how the applying organisations were categorised as Green, Amber and Red which had resulted in the Council awarding £32,250 to 35 community organisations.  There were some discrepancies identified in the figures which were clarified and a revised table of allocations was to be produced.

In addition to the allocated funding it was agreed that Amersham Action Group should receive a grant of £1,200 which would be financed through the Economic Development Reserve.

RESOLVED:

That the allocation of funding from the 2014/15 Community Grant Aid Scheme be agreed.

Consideration was given to the report which sought to clarify the delegated authority to agree discounts for the ‘Group D’ season tickets, following the introduction of a Group D season ticket in July 2013.

RESOLVED:

That the Head of Environment, in consultation with the portfolio holder, be given delegated authority to agree discounts for the ‘Group D’ season tickets.

The Buckinghamshire Joint Waste Committee had undertaken a review of the county-wide Joint Waste Strategy, and the report considered by the Cabinet set out the aims and objectives for both District and County Councils in terms of waste prevention, collection and disposal.

The report reflected on the significant progress made in Buckinghamshire over the past five years and the key aims and objectives of the strategy over the next five years.  The targets set a minimum of 60% recycling, reuse or composting by 2020, and to reduce residual waste generated per household by 2020 were challenging but achievable.  The report had been presented to South Bucks District Council and was due to be considered by Wycombe and Aylesbury Vale District Councils prior to formal approval by the Joint Waste Committee in November 2014.  It was noted that through the Joint Waste Committee there had been significant member involvement in the process and the proposed targets.

The Leader of the Council, supported by the Cabinet, congratulated the Waste Team on their hard work to date to progress the Strategy and to achieve excellent results.

RESOLVED:-

That the Joint Waste Strategy for Buckinghamshire be adopted.

Consideration was given to the report which provided information on the targets set for performance indicators for 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17.  The report identified the main changes for 2014/15 in respect of several new indicators introduced for the housing team for 2014/15 to reflect the new joint housing service and the introduction of joint performance indicators for the Building Control Service.  Members also noted the changes to the joint targets set for waste performance indicators. 

A further review of performance indicators was currently in progress to result in an overall improvement to the monitoring of performance indicators and target setting across all Council Services.

RESOLVED:

That the Performance Indicators and Targets for 2014-17 be approved.

Consideration was given to the report which outlined the performance of Council services against performance indicators and service objectives during April to June 2014

It was reported that Building Control indicators were now jointly reported with South Bucks District Council to reflect the shared service, except for the indicator relating to applications checked within 10 days, which was reported separately

RESOLVED:

i)    That the performance report be noted;

ii)   That the change to the targets relating to the joint indicator reporting on the overall satisfaction with the service across Chiltern and South Bucks is approved; and

iii)  That the targets be amended for 2014/15 from 94% to 93%, for 2015/16 from 95% to 94% to enable the new shared service to settle down, with the 2016/17 target reverting to 95%.

In accordance with the Treasury Management Policy, consideration was given to the report which set out the activities of the Treasury Management operation for the quarter ending 30 June 2014.  It was noted that, based on the first quarter’s performance, the Council was on target to achieve the annual budget estimate for interest.  Members were updated on the progress with the joint banking services tender with a move to Barclays to be implemented on 15 September 2014.

RESOLVED:

That the treasury management activity in the quarter April to June 2014 to noted.

Members are asked to note the attached information item.

Cabinet Members attention was drawn to the South East England Councils Annual Report for information and it was noted that the Leader of the Council recently attended the South East England Councils Conference.

Members considered the Minutes of the following Joint Executive Committee meetings:

·       Chiltern & South Bucks Joint Committee - 16 July 2014

·       Chiltern & Wycombe Joint waste Collection Committee - 26 June 2014

·       Chilterns Crematorium Joint Committee - 6 August 2014

RESOLVED:-

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Chiltern and South Bucks Joint Committee held on 16 July 2014; the meeting of the Chiltern and Wycombe Joint Waste Collection Committee held on 26 June 2014; and the meeting of the Chilterns Crematorium Joint Committee held on 6 August 2014, be noted.

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Paragraph 3 - Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Consideration was given to the report which sought approval of each Cabinet from Chiltern, Aylesbury Vale and Wycombe District Councils for expenditure from the Chilterns Crematorium Joint Committee revenue reserves to purchase land, build and operate a new crematorium for Aylesbury.

RECOMMENDED -

i)     That the content of the attached report to the Chilterns Crematorium Joint Committee be noted; and

ii)    That Chiltern District Council confirm their agreement to the recommendations contained within the private report appended to the Cabinet report

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Consideration was given to the report which confirmed the conclusion of the investment works project at the London Road Depot.

RESOLVED:-

i)    That the successful conclusion for the project be noted; and

ii)   That the project underspend of £14,000 which had been allocated towards roofing work required on the main site office in order to assist the conclusion of the lease review between Chiltern District Council and Bucks County Council be noted.

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The Cabinet considered a report which reviewed the Leisure Capital Programme progress against the leisure centre capital programme and identified future projects scheduled to be undertaken in 2014/15.

RESOLVED:-

i)    That the 2013/14 Leisure Capital Works as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report, be noted;

ii)   That the 2014-15 Leisure Capital and Repairs and Renewal Programme as detailed in Appendix 2, be agreed; and

iii)  That a transfer of £191,500 form the Approved but not committed Capital Programme to the Approved and committed Leisure Capital programme be agreed, to enable the various works detailed in Appendix 2 to be completed by 31 March 2015.