Meeting documents

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Honorary Aldermen: P Cartwright, E H Collins, M B Oram and Mrs K M Peatey MBE. Councillors: Mrs L M Clarke OBE, M Davy, G Hall, M Hanif, Mrs G A Jones, N Marshall and D Shakespeare OBE. 

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meetings of Council held on 18 July 2016 (attached)

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 18 July 2016 be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chairman, subject to the inclusion of Honorary Alderman R Pushman in the list of those present.

To receive any disclosure of disclosable pecuniary interests by Members relating to items on the agenda. If any member is uncertain as to whether an interest should be disclosed, he or she is asked if possible to contact the District Solicitor prior to the meeting.

Members are reminded that if they are declaring an interest they should state the nature of that interest whether or not they are required to withdraw from the meeting.

No declarations of interest were received

To receive such communication as the Chairman of the Council may wish to make.

The Chairman highlighted some of the events and activities he had undertaken between 19 July and 10 October.  These included:

(a)  Attendance at graduations at BNU in early September

(b)  Battle of Britain Sunday Commemoration Service in Marlow

(c)  One Can Trust opening of new premises

(d)  Rio 2016 celebration of our Olympians and Paralympians event.

 The Chairman stated that these people were a true inspiration to the country as a whole and that Councillors needed to offer greater support at such events.

Written questions may be asked of the leader or any Cabinet member if submitted to the Head of Democratic, Legal and Policy Services no later than 12 noon on Monday 3 October 2016. Questions will be submitted in the order they which they were received.

A questioner will have a maximum of 1 minute to ask a question and the answer shall not exceed 3 minutes. Any Questioner may put one supplementary question without notice within a maximum time of 1 minute and the answer may not exceed 2 minutes.  

(a)Question from Mr J Hoggett to the Leader of the Council

"The Town Council model is one that has given many more urban towns a greater say in their own affairs given that the needs of a town and a district-at-large can often be very different. The model gives citizens more devolved powers in order to have a greater say on more specific issues with in their communities. Will the Leader of the Council look in to establishing a High Wycombe Town Council?"

Response from Councillor Ms K Wood (Leader of the Council)

"Thank you for your question Mr Hoggett. There are many ways of securing devolution with strong democratic representation without the need to establish a High Wycombe Town Council. The democratically elected members of the unparished area here in High Wycombe already come together and meet as the High Wycombe Town Committee to consider and take action on behalf of the residents of our Town."

Supplementary Question

"Clearly people have different socio economic needs. If you cannot consider establishing a Town Council for High Wycombe, perhaps you could consider changing the status of the High Wycombe Town Committee from an advisory body, to one that has a veto over Cabinet decisions on matters relating to High Wycombe Town." 

Supplementary Response

"The people of High Wycombe are understandably concerned regarding services and facilities available to them. The District Council provides many of these functions, with a strong track record of delivering improvements across the whole district. I do not believe the Town has suffered from not having a Town Council. We are one Council for one community."

(b)Question from Mr D Chandler to the Cabinet Member for Community

"Six years ago, on 30th September, my eight year old daughter Olivia tragically died from an asthma attack. A week ago, on the anniversary of her death, my wife and children visited her grave together at High Wycombe Cemetery. We were very upset to discover that many personal items had been removed from her grave. We know that other families have also had the graves of loved ones vandalised in this way. Can you tell me what security is already in place to keep the cemetery safe and secure and what else could be done to prevent other families experiencing the same distress that we have?"

Response from Councillor Mrs J A Adey (Cabinet Member for Community).

"We appreciate how distressing it is for friends and family when the grave of a loved one is damaged or vandalised. Over the years we have fortunately had very few acts of vandalism and, while we know of complaints about cemetery maintenance practices we are not aware of any on-going issue of vandalism within the Snowdrop Garden or other parts of the cemetery.

We periodically remove items from graves as stated on the signs clearly displayed in the Cemetery and this is likely to be the reason some items have been removed from your daughter’s grave. The Cemetery is largely maintained as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

Questions to the Leader or any Cabinet Members must be submitted by 12 noon on Monday 3 October 2016. Questions shall be taken first from the Group Leaders of the political parties who shall be entitled to ask on initial Leader`s question, including the right to adopt another Member`s question from his/her group, of which written notice shall have been given to the Head of Democratic, Legal and Policy Services prior to the meeting. 

The order of questions shall then permit the first question from each other Councillor to be asked before any subsequent questions from the same Councillor. One question will be taken in turn from the same Councillor unless there are no other questions to be asked.

Every Member asking an oral question is permitted to ask one supplementary question without notice provided that it not substantially the same as a question that was put to a Council meeting during the past six months.

The appropriate member will respond to any questions remaining unanswered at the expiry of 30 minutes in writing. Any question remaining unanswered after 30 minutes will be answered within 10 working days in writing after the meeting by the appropriate Member and appended to the minutes of the meeting.  

(a)Question from Councillor R Raja to the Leader of the Council

"The draft Local Plan, (as it says in the foreword to the document) "sets out the long term vision for the District, identifying where new homes, jobs and infrastructure will be created..." The plan also states that by the year 2033 (which is roughly as many years away as we are from the end of the last century), about 15,000 homes will need to be built, of which the unmet need for a third will be provided by AVDC.

 Now that the consultation has been completed and in the face of vociferous NIMBY opposition from some areas can the leader tell us whether the draft plan is still on track, and is AVDC still interested in collaborating with WDC about accepting 5,000 homes?"

Response from Councillor D Johncock (Cabinet Member for Planning) on behalf of Councillor Ms K Wood (Leader of the Council)

"Thank you for the question. You are right to suggest that we have received a large response to the consultation on the draft plan – in excess of 3,000 people and organisations responded to it, and I am pleased that our consultation has been so effective in involving people in preparing the Plan.

We are still on track to produce a plan in early 2017 in line with the Government’s deadline but we do have a lot of work to do to consider all the comments we have had and to revise the Plan as appropriate.

Under the legal Duty to Cooperate, AVDC have to collaborate with WDC and WDC have to collaborate with AVDC in preparing their respective plans. There is an agreed Memorandum of Understanding between all the Bucks authorities which indicates that, in principle, AVDC will accommodate the unmet need from the three southern districts. However this agreement does not establish the amount of housing that AVDC should accommodate. The onus is on WDC to have explored all the reasonable options for accommodating its housing needs within Wycombe District before asking AVDC to accommodate any of those needs. We continue to be in close dialogue with AVDC and the other Bucks authorities on this issue with the aim of reaching agreement during this autumn period."

Supplementary Question

"Most of the housing initiatives listed in the Local Plan do not have costs assigned. Does this mean they are unfunded or that they will be funded by third parties? As usual only lip service is paid to affordable housing. How much of this will be social housing or for housing associations and what is your definition of affordable?"  

Supplementary Response

"We do not provide funding for housing, we simply establish the demand, and leave it to the market to deliver. It is the market which decides what will be affordable housing. We have a housing policy which states that 40% of affordable housing will be built on green field sites. The definition of affordable housing is whereby 80% of the market rate is paid  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

(i)            Council to receive any petition from a member of the public who lives, works or studies within the district or from a Councillor on his/her behalf as notified by the deadline of 5pm on Monday 3 October 2016. 

(ii)          Council to consider any petition already received that meets the required number of signatures to qualify for a debate by Full Council. (The petition organiser will have 5 minutes to present the petition and then the Council will debate the matter for a maximum of 15 minutes and decide how to respond to the petition)

Mr D Chandler (member of the public) handed in a petition, which read as follows:

 "Provide CCTV to protect graves from people stealing and anti-social behaviour within the cemetery". Cllr Matt Knight spoke on behalf of Mr Chandler.

The Chairman received the petition and commented that it would be validated against the Council’s Petitions Scheme.

Members, and the lead petitioner, would be informed outside of the meeting how the petition would be administered following the validation process.

To receive the minutes of and consider any recommendations from the following meeting:

Cabinet                      19 September 2016

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of Cabinet held on 19 September 2016 be received and the recommendation as set out at minute number 35 be approved and adopted.

To receive the minutes of and consider any recommendations from the following meeting:

Improvement & Review Commission                   14 September 2016            

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Improvement & Review Commission held on 14 September 2016 be received.

To receive the minutes of and consider any recommendations from the following meeting:

Audit Committee                  22 September 2016            

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Audit Committee held on 22 September 2016 be received and the recommendation as set out at minute number 18 be approved and adopted.

To receive the minutes of and consider any recommendations from the following meetings:

Special High Wycombe Town Committee                       28 July 2016

High Wycombe Town Committee                                     13 September 2016

Minute 11 – Next Phase Of concrete Burial Chambers

A Member rose to reiterate the importance of Cemetery security, and felt that the matter should be referred to the High Wycombe Town Committee as an item for discussion.

The Chairman of the Committee concurred with the Member and stressed that the Committee had always taken a great interest in matters relating to the cemetery. He stated that this could be included as an item for consideration at a future meeting of the High Wycombe Town Committee at the request of Members.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the High Wycombe Town Committee held on 28 July 2016 and 13 September 2016 be received.

To receive the minutes of and consider any recommendations from the following meetings:

Planning Committee                       29 June 2016

Planning Committee                       27 July 2016

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 29 June 2016 and 27 July 2016 be received.

A question was submitted by Councillor M Hanif to Councillor Mrs J Adey and Councillor D Carroll (Cabinet Member for Community and Cabinet Member for Youth & External Partnerships).

In accordance with Standing Order 11.2 a written answer was provided to all Members and no discussion took place at the meeting.

Question from Councillor M Hanif to the Cabinet Member for Community / Cabinet Member for Youth & External Partnerships

"I have attended students graduation ceremony at BNU recently and there was talk about students going out of town because there is not much night life entertainment for them in our town. Students contribute a lot in the success and prosperity of our town. We should work closely with BNU and see what the best way forward is in catering for the need of the students.

Are there any plans to provide any entertainment in the form of night clubs or something along those lines in the near future?"

Response from Councillor Mrs J A Adey (Cabinet Member for Community) or Councillor D Carroll (Cabinet Member for Youth and External Partnerships).

"We are proud to be the home of Bucks New University.  I made it one of my first priorities as Cabinet Member to meet with the Vice Chancellor Rebecca Bunting and look forward to continuing the successful partnership between the Council and the University.

High Wycombe is well provided with a range of restaurant and bars, including two new craft beer establishments and the Antelope, now open until 6am, along with two cinemas, bowling and arts centre.  The University has its own on campus late night entertainment as well.  We have to accept though that High Wycombe is not a major city and we are dependent on a night club operator seeing the town as an attractive and viable location for a nightclub.  Having said that the Council has plans to re-attract Luminar, one of the UK’s leading nightclub operators, to the town, with the aim of plugging a gap."

To note the following changes to Committee membership in accordance with Standing Order 18(9):

Councillor D Carroll to replace Councillor R Newman as Cabinet Member for Youth and External Partnerships

Councillor T Lee to replace Councillor Carroll as Deputy Cabinet Member for Housing  

Councillor R Newman to replace Councillor T Lee as a member of the Improvement & Review Commission.

The following changes made to Committee membership in accordance with Standing Order 18(9) as set out in the summons were noted:

(i)            Councillor D Carroll to replace Councillor R Newman as Cabinet Member for Youth and External Partnerships

(ii)          Councillor T Lee to replace Councillor Carroll as Deputy Cabinet Member for Housing 

(iii)          Councillor R Newman to replace Councillor T Lee as a member of the Improvement & Review Commission.

(i)            Lease of vacant Kingsmead Recreation Ground changing rooms by the Men in Sheds Community Project in Wycombe

(ii)          Addition to the membership of the Planning Policy Advisory Group

(iii)         Upgrade and refurbishment of the existing play area at Hughenden Park High Wycombe.

The individual decisions published since the last ordinary meeting of the Council held on 18 July as set out in the summons were noted.