Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - Epsom Town Hall, https://www.youtube.com/@epsomandewellBC/playlists. View directions

Contact: Fiona Cotter, tel: 01372 732124  email:  fcotter@epsom-ewell.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

13.

Declarations of Interest

To receive declarations of the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests from Members in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.

Minutes:

On the grounds of her employment with the NHS, Councillor Liz Frost informed the meeting that her current employment within NHS England could be said to give rise to a disclosable pecuniary interest under the Council’s Local Code of Conduct for Members.  However, the Council’s Standards Committee had discussed this and did not consider that, in most circumstances, this would damage the public’s confidence in the authority’s business and, for the avoidance of doubt, she had been granted a dispensation by the Standards Committee to speak and vote on matters related to health.

 

14.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 124 KB

To confirm the Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Council held on 15 may 2018.


Minutes:

The Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Council held on 15 May 2018 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Mayor.

15.

Councillor David Wood

Minutes:

It was with great sadness that the Mayor announced the sudden death of Councillor David Wood, who passed away in his sleep on 6 July. Councillor Wood had been ill for some time.

As a mark of respect, the Council stood in a minute’s silence.

Councillors Michael Arthur, Graham Dudley and Chris Frost paid tribute to Councillor Wood as a colleague, Ward Councillor and friend. Councillor Vince Romagnuolo and Councillor Omer KoKou-Tchri also extended condolences on behalf of the Labour and Conservative Groups.

Elected to the Borough Council in 1995 as a Ward Councillor for Stoneleigh, Councillor Wood was re-elected in the following Borough Council election in 1999 to serve Nonsuch Ward, the Ward he continued to serve until he passed away.

Councillor Wood also served as a County Councillor from June 2009 to May 2013 representing the Division of Epsom and Ewell North East.  In 2006/7 he held the office of Mayor, serving as Deputy Mayor the following year.  He had served as Chairman and Vice Chairman on several committees and sub-committees and had been a member of a range of working parties, groups and panels, as well as representing the Council on many other organisations over the years.  At the time of his death, he was serving as Vice Chairman of Licensing and Planning Policy Committee.

(The Meeting adjourned for 5 minutes)

16.

Mayoral Communications/Business

To receive such communications or deal with such business as the Mayor may decide to lay before the Council.

Minutes:

The Mayor informed the Council that the Zig Zag café had been recognised as a café of sanctuary for its work with refugees and that it was hoped that the Borough would achieve recognition as a Borough of sanctuary.

The Mayor congratulated Councillor Clive Woodbridge on his election as the Deputy Leader of the Local Government Association’s Independent Group.

Finally, the Mayor thanked those who had attended his Civic Service and for the support of his charity events so far, commending a number of up and coming events to colleagues.  These included a Golf Day on 23 July, a Quiz Night on 10 November and the Mayoral Ball on 11 May next year.

 

17.

Questions from Councillors pdf icon PDF 81 KB

To answer any written questions from Councillors

 

Note:  The deadline for questions is 5pm on 11 July 2018 (17.00 hours on the third clear working day before the meeting).


Minutes:

Five questions had been addressed to Committee Chairmen to which written answers had been provided and published on the Council’s website.  Supplementary questions relevant to the subjects of four of the written questions were asked at the meeting and received a verbal response from the relevant Chairman.

 

18.

Revisions to Constitution pdf icon PDF 93 KB

Proposed changes to Part 3 and the Protocol for Managing Member/Officer Relations of the Council’s Constitution.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Council received and considered the report of the Chief Legal Officer that proposed changes to Part 3 and the Protocol for Managing Member/Officer Relations of the Council’s Constitution.

Councillor Eber Kington MOVED and Councillor Guy Robbins SECONDED the recommendations in the report.

Upon being put, the motion was CARRIED (without a division).

Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED that Council:

(1)          Approve the changes to the Part 3 of the Constitution as set out at Annex1

(2)          Approve the new Protocol for Managing Member/Officer Relations at Annex 2

(3)          Subject to recommendations (1) and (2) above, authorise the Monitoring Officer to make all the necessary amendments to the Constitution.

19.

Film Classification Policy pdf icon PDF 87 KB

The Council is requested to adopt the Film Classification Policy recommended by the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Council received and considered the report of the Head of Housing and Community proposing the adoption of a Film Classification Policy.

Councillor Graham Dudley MOVED and Councillor Humphrey Reynolds SECONDED the recommendation in the report.

Upon being put, the motion was CARRIED (without a division).

Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED that

Council adopt the recommendations of the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee on 10 July 2018

 

 

20.

Statement of Policy Gambling Act pdf icon PDF 86 KB

The Council is requested to adopt a renewed Statement of Policy (Gambling Act).

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Council received and considered the report of the Head of Housing and Community proposing the adoption of a renewed Statement of Policy in accordance with the Gambling Act 2005.

Councillor Graham Dudley MOVED and Councillor Humphrey Reynolds SECONDED the recommendation in the report.

Upon being put, the motion was CARRIED (without a division).

Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED that

Council adopt the recommendations of the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee on 7 June 2018

 

 

21.

Statement of Policy - Licensing Act pdf icon PDF 71 KB

The Council is requested to adopt a renewed Statement of Policy (Licensing Act).

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Council received and considered the report of the Head of Housing and Community proposing the adoption of a revised Statement of Policy in accordance with the Licensing Act 2003.

Councillor Graham Dudley MOVED and Councillor Humphrey Reynolds SECONDED the recommendations in the report.

Upon being put, the motion was CARRIED (without a division).

Accordingly, it was

RESOLVED that

Council adopt the recommendations of the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee on 10 July 2018

 

22.

Council Motion: Disposal of land by the Hospital Trust of Land forming part of the current Epsom Hospital Site

Minutes:

 

Note: In accordance with advice given to members of the Planning Committee, members of the said Committee, and those members likely to act as a substitute if required to do so, left the Chamber for items 22 and 23 and took no part in the debate on these motions.

In pursuance of the Council’s Rules of Procedure, Councillor Tony Axelrod MOVED and Councillor Richard Baker SECONDED that:

“This Council has previously confirmed its support for the option proposed by Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust (ESHUH NHS Trust) to have a new acute unit constructed on the current Epsom Hospital site, to maintain all other remaining services on this site and to expand speciality facilities. These would include a 24-hour Accident and Emergency service. However, this Council views with concern the proposal, made public recently, to dispose of land forming part of the current Epsom Hospital site. This Council requests ESHUH NHS Trust to halt any site disposal, enabling the site to remain available for the provision of future health and social care services for the residents of Epsom and Ewell and East Surrey and to await decisions in regard to:

a)            The location of any acute hospital unit to serve the needs of residents in Epsom and Ewell and East Surrey,

b)            The relocation of any services that are currently located at West Park hospital, which has been the subject of a recent public consultation,

c)            The location of an acute mental hospital for the residents of Epsom and Ewell and East Surrey, which was due to be the subject of a public consultation in early 2017, but has yet to take place.

Given the housing pressures imposed on this Borough by central Government’s requirement of 579 housing units constructed per year for at least the next 20 years, the number of residents in our Borough could increase significantly, by an estimated 25,000 to 30,000. Residents of Epsom and Ewell require certainty with regard to their local hospital services and without the loss of service availability, and the disposal of land forming part of the Epsom Hospital site by ESHUH NHS Trust can only serve to reduce options for the future and threaten those locally delivered services. In view of these pressures, this Council agrees that:

d)            The cost of repairs and renovations to the existing Epsom Hospital buildings must be funded via other means than the sale of land and buildings, and calls upon NHS England to support ESHUH NHS Trust in bringing the hospital buildings up to the required standard of a 21st century hospital without having to sell any part of the existing estate, which is an unsustainable approach.

Upon being put, the Motion was CARRIED (unanimously).

 

23.

Council Motion: Government Housing Target

Minutes:

Note: In accordance with advice given to members of the Planning Committee, members of the said Committee, and those members likely to act as a substitute if required to do so, had left the Chamber for items 22 and 23 Chamber and took no part in the debate on these motions.  In particular, in order to preserve her position, following advice, Councillor Tella Wormington had left the Chamber for items 22 and 23 and Councillor Clive Woodbridge seconded the motion in accordance with the Council’s Rules of Procedure.

Note: Councillor Omer KoKou-Tchri left the Chamber prior to the vote being taken.

In pursuance of the Council’s Rules of Procedure, Councillor Liz Frost MOVED and Councillor Clive Woodbridge SECONDED that:

(1)          This Council acknowledges the need to tackle the national housing shortage and agrees that local authorities must play their part in planning for the right homes in the right places.

(2)          However, this Council also notes that the current Government target of at least 8,685 additional new homes for Epsom and Ewell is arbitrary and takes no account of:

a)            The acute shortage of available & deliverable sources of housing land supply within the Borough;

b)            The requirement for substantial additional infrastructure, including schools and healthcare facilities, needed to support such a large increase in prospective additional residents; and

c)            The significant threat posed to the Borough’s green belt, parks and other open spaces.

(3)          This Council therefore agrees that in addressing the Government’s housing target it will seek to develop innovative solutions aimed at:

a)            Retaining as far as possible the existing character of the borough and the quality of design and build that our residents prefer.

b)            Directing new development towards existing urban areas and brownfield sites and, where appropriate, permitting higher and denser development than at present.

c)            Discussing with neighbouring councils how we might work together to accommodate new housing.

d)            Affording maximum protection for our much-prized Green Belt, parks and other important open spaces.”

Pursuant to the Council’s Rules of Procedure, a recorded vote was requested by eight members of the Council.

Upon being put, the MOTION was CARRIED, there being 19 members in favour and 0 against and 14 members not voting as follows:

 

For the Motion (19)

Against the Motion (0)

Not voting (12)

Tony Axelrod

 

Michael Arthur *

Richard Baker

The Deputy Mayor *

Steve Bridger

Lucie Dallen *

Kate Chinn

 

The Mayor

Alex Coley

Jan Mason *

George Crawford

Peter O’Donovan *

Hannah Dalton

 

Martin Olney*

Graham Dudley

David Reeve*

Robert Foote

 

Humphrey Reynolds *

Chris Frost

 

Vince Romagnuolo *

Liz Frost

 

Jean Steer *

Rob Geleit

 

Tella Wormington *

Eber Kington

 

 

Barry Nash

 

 

Guy Robbins

 

 

Alan Sursham

 

 

Mike Teasdale

 

 

Peter Webb

 

 

Clive Woodbridge

 

 

*           Members of the Planning Committee who, following advice, had       left the Chamber