The Chairman welcomed Councillors, representatives of the public, press and officers to the meeting. He extended a special welcome to the Council’s Honorary Aldermen present.

The Chair confirmed that this meeting was being held in accordance with the resolution made at the Extraordinary Council Meeting held on 12 May 2021 (Minute 551) which continued Section 5 Part 5 of the Constitution (The Virtual Meeting Procedure Rules) and declared the use of Council powers, under Section 111 of the Local Government Act 1972, and the general power of competence under Section 1 of the Localism Act 2011, for making advisory decisions, as appropriate.

The Chair announced the death of former member of staff Penny Rendell who sadly passed away on 12 July 2021 and had worked for Arun from 1993 until she retired in 2012 on the Benefits reception desk at the Arun Civic Centre.

The Chair asked all those in attendance to take part in a minute’s silence to her memory and the Council’s condolences were passed onto Penny’s family and friends.

            Apologies for absence had been received from Councillors Baker,  Jones, Northeast, Purchese and Rhodes and from Honorary Aldermen, Mrs Goad and Mr Dingemans.

Members and Officers are invited to make any declarations of pecuniary, personal and/or prejudicial interests that they may have in relation to items on this agenda, and are reminded that they should re-declare their interest before consideration of the item or as soon as the interest becomes apparent.

Members and Officers should make their declaration by stating:

a)  the item they have the interest in

b)  whether it is a pecuniary, personal and/or prejudicial interest

c)  the nature of the interest

d) if it is a pecuniary or prejudicial interest, whether they will be exercising their right to speak under Question Time

Councillor Elkins declared a Personal Interest in Agenda Item 8 [urgent Matters – Recommendations from the Special Meeting of the Development Control Committee – 18 May 2021 – Minute 577 (Fitzalan Link Road Acoustic Fence) in his capacity as a Member of West Sussex County Council.

The Declaration of Interest Sheet set out below confirms those Members who had made a declaration of their personal interest as a Member of a Town or Parish Councillor or a West Sussex County Councillor, as confirmed in their Register of Interest as these declarations could apply to any of the issues to be discussed at the meeting. 

To receive questions from the public (for a period of up to 15 minutes)

The Chairman invited questions from members of the public who had submitted their questions in advance of the meeting in accordance with the rules of the Council’s Constitution and the Virtual Meeting Procedure Rules amended by the Council on 15 July 2020 and extended by the Extra-ordinary Meeting of the Council on 12 May 2021.

The Chairman confirmed that five questions had been submitted – these have been very briefly summarised below:

1. From Mr Cosgrove to the Chair of the Economic Committee regarding the Council’s bid to the Levelling-Up Fund.
2. From Mr Meadmore to the Chair of the Planning Committee, Councillor Chapman regarding increasing incidences of discharges of untreated wastewater and sewage into its waterways.
3. From Mr Hagger to the Chair of the Economic Committee, Councillor Cooper regarding Regeneration in Bognor Regis.
4. From Mr Cosgrove to the Chair of the Economic Committee, Councillor Cooper regarding Levelling-Up Fund
5. From Mr Cosgrove to the Chair of the Economic Committee, Councillor Cooper regarding the Levelling-Up Fund.

Supplementary questions were asked by Mr Cosgrove and Mr Hagger.

            (A schedule of the full questions asked and the responses provided can be found on the Pubic Question Web page at: https://www.arun.gov.uk/public-question-time and Full Council Web Page – Public Question Time Schedule

            The Chairman then drew Public Question Time to a close.

To receive questions from Members with pecuniary/prejudicial interests (for a period of up to 15 minutes)

            No questions were asked.

To consider any petitions received from the public.

Petition Relating to Development in Pagham - Planning Applications P/25/17 OUT, P/140/16 OUT, P/134/16 OUT and P/30/19 OUT

A Petition has been submitted to the Council from Mr and Mrs Rawlins in relation to planning applications P/25/17 OUT, P/140/16 OUT, P/134/16 OUT and P/30/19 OUT. 

The petition organiser will be given 5 minutes (maximum) to present the

petition at the meeting. The relevant Committee Chairman will be given 5

minutes (maximum) for a right of reply before Councillors discuss the petition.(10 Minutes)

As the Petition contains over 1,500 signatures it requires a debate by Full Council.

Following the presentation of the Petition Members are invited to debate the Petition for thirty (30) minutes with each councillor allowed to speak for a maximum of 3 minutes. The attached report provides the background information for the Council to consider in holding this debate. (30 minutes)

            There were no petitions presented to this meeting.

            The Chair confirmed that a petition relating to development in Pagham covering planning applications P/25/17/OUT, P/140/16 OUT, P/134/16/OUT and P/30/19/OUT had been received by the Council and required Full Council debate as the number of signatures exceeded the  1,500 stipulation set out in the Council’s Constitution triggering a Full Council debate.

            The wording of the Petition was shared to the meeting confirming that:

            We, the undersigned, petition Arun District Council – Ref: P/25/17/OUT, P/140/16 OUT, P/134/16/OUT and P/30/19/OUT with the purpose of the petition being to ensure that the Full Council of Arun District Council give consideration to the revocation of the extant but unimplemented outline planning permissions as referred above under Section 97 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) which reads as follows:  97 Power to Revoke or Modify Planning Permission.

            A report from the Director of Place had been provided to Members to assist in debating the petition. The report had four appendices containing the following information. Appendix A [Statement - the case on behalf of the petitioners]: Appendix B [Briefing Paper on Revocation produced by the House of Commons Library): Appendix C [Plan indicating four sites); and Appendix D [Statements from parties representing each of the four sites). Councillors had also received external QC advice which had been circulated under legal professional privilege.

            In line with the Council’s Petition Scheme, set out in the Council’s Constitution at Part 8 – Codes and Protocols, Section 4 – Petitions Scheme  - Paragraph 5.0 Full Council debates, the Chair firstly invited the Petition Organiser, Mr Rawlins, to present the petition.

            Mr Rawlins confirmed the purpose of the petition which was to ensure that the Full Council of Arun District Council gave consideration to the revocation or modification of extant unimplemented outline planning applications as listed in the report under Section 97 of the Town and Country Planning Act  1990, as amended. He explained how the petition had originally been submitted to the Council on 8 February 2021 with 2,192 signatures but Officers had claimed that the number of signatures were invalid preventing the petition from being presented to the meeting of Full Council held in March 2021.   The petition had been resubmitted to the Council on 11 May 2021 with a total of 3,019 signatures, however, it had been confirmed that the petition could not be presented to either of the May Council meetings.  Mr Rawlins claimed that the Officer report in response to the petition was seriously and legally flawed in that it misrepresented the petition and the options available to the Council regarding a response under the Council’s Constitution.  Mr Rawlins further claimed that the report was misleading in respect of the Development Plan and all of the material considerations relevant to revocation and failed to provide all of the relevant facts, reliable evidence or information to support and justify the recommendations set out in the Officer report. In summing up, Mr Rawlins outlined that he  ...  view the full minutes text for item 113.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Council held on 19 May 2021, which are attached.

            The Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Council held on 19 May 2021 were approved by the Council as a correct record and would be signed by the Chair when normal office functions started again.

            The previous Chair, Councillor Worne, asked if a slight adjustment could be made to her closing speech to reflect that she had completed two marathons.

To receive such announcements as the Chair may desire to lay before the Council.

            The Chair then made a statement.  This was that following the last Full Council meeting held on 12 May 2021, the Monitoring Officer had written to all Members about information and complaints he had received about Member conduct. One related to comments made during voting; one related to whether Members were in the meeting or in a restaurant; one related to whether Members should be eating or drinking during Zoom meetings.  A Member had since written to the Monitoring officer explaining why they appeared to be in a café or restaurant and had offered his apology. The Chair confirmed that he had accepted the apology and now considered the matter as closed.  The issue of eating and drinking during Zoom meetings had been referred to the Standards Committee to discuss whether a protocol was required.

            The Chair confirmed that he would report back via email on events he had attended since the Annual Meeting of the Council.  Via this meeting, he stated that if any organisation wished to invite him or the vice-Chair to an event, then they could use the Chair’s invite form which could be found on the Council’s web site.

To deal with business not otherwise specified in the Council summons which, in the opinion of the Chair of the Council (in consultation with the Chief Executive), is business of such urgency as to require immediate attention by the Council.

(Prior to the commencement of this item, Councillor Elkins re-declared his interest made at the start of the meeting).

            The Chair confirmed that there was one urgent item to consider which was a recommendation from the Special Meeting of the Development Control Committee held on 18 May 2021 as this had been omitted from the agenda and required Council decision.  The minutes from that meeting had been uploaded to the Full Council web pages on 5 July 2021.

            The then Chair of the Development Control Committee, Councillor Bennett, formally proposed the recommendation at Minute 577 [Fitzalan Link Road Acoustic Fence] and confirmed that it was necessary to make an amendment to the amount of supplementary estimate required from a figure of up to £15,000 to up to £25,000.  This was because

            Councillor Lury then seconded this amendment.

            In discussing the amendment, this saw wide support from Members as it was accepted that this matter needed to come to a satisfactory conclusion, not just for the residents affected but also for the District Council, the County Council, and the developer.

            Following some further discussion,

            The Council

                        RESOLVED

That a supplementary estimate be agreed for up to £25,000 to fund the commissioning of an independent expert to undertake the following actions [this amount representing a Band D equivalent of Council Tax in the sum of £0.40:

a)    Review the decisions already taken to establish if there are any issues (process and judgement)

b)    Identify what legal options exist for securing changes to the acoustic fence

c)    What are the implications of the above, including financial (compensation) and legal.

To consider any Notices of Motions submitted in accordance with Council Procedure 15.

The Chair confirmed that no Motions had been submitted for this meeting.

The Aldingbourne Neighbourhood Development Plan 2019-2031 passed Examination in May 2021.  The Examiner of this modified Plan concluded that the Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) passed the Examination and that the material modifications do not change the nature of the NDP which does not therefore, require a Referendum and so should proceed to be ‘made’.

The ‘making’ of the NDP will give it legal force and it will form part of the statutory Development Plan for that area. Consequently, decisions on planning applications in the neighbourhood area will need to be made in accordance with the NDP, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

            The Chair of the Planning Policy Committee, Councillor Bower, presented this report which confirmed that the Aldingbourne Neighbourhood Development Plan 2019-2031 has passed Examination in May 2021.  The Examiner of this modified Plan had concluded that it had passed the Examination and that the material modifications did not change the nature of it and it did not therefore require a Referendum and so should proceed to be ‘made’.

            The ‘making’ of this Plan would give it legal force and it would form part of the statutory Development Plan for that area.  Consequently, decisions on planning applications in the neighbourhood area would need to be made in accordance with the Neighbourhood Development Plan, unless material considerations indicated otherwise.

            Councillor Bower formally proposed the ‘making’ of this Plan which was seconded by Councillor Hughes.

            In considering this matter, congratulations were extended to Aldingbourne Parish Council and to the work of Arun’s Planning Officer and her team.

            The Council

                        RESOLVED

That it ‘makes’ the Aldingbourne Neighbourhood Plan 2019-2031 and it becomes part of the Development Plan for Arun District Council.

The Walberton Neighbourhood Development Plan 2019-2031 passed Examination in February 2021.  Given the nature of the Policies in the submitted review of the Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP), the Examiner’s report concluded that subject to making the modifications recommended by the Examiner, the Plan meets the basic conditions set out in the legislation and should proceed to a Neighbourhood Planning Referendum. 

A successful Neighbourhood Planning Referendum on the Walberton NDP 2019-2031 was held on 6 May 2021, where 91.9% of voters casted a Yes vote.

If more than 50% of those voting on the day, vote ‘yes’ then the local planning authority under section 61E(4) of the 1990 Act, needs to ‘make’ (adopt) the Plan.  The ‘making’ of the plan by Full Council will give it legal force and it will form part of the statutory Development Plan for that area.  Consequently, decisions on planning applications in the neighbourhood area will need to be made in accordance with the NDP, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

The Chair of the Planning Policy Committee, Councillor Bower, presented this report which confirmed that the Walberton Neighbourhood Development Plan 2019-2031 had passed Examination in February 2021.  Given the nature of the Policies in the submitted review, the Examiner’s report had concluded that subject to making the modifications recommended, the Plan had met the basic conditions set out in the legislation and should proceed to a Neighbourhood Planning Referendum.

     The referendum had taken place on 6 May 2021 and 91.9% of voters had casted a ‘Yes’ vote.  This meant that under Section 61E (4) of the 1990 Act, the Council now needed to ‘make’ [adopt] the Plan.

            The ‘making’ of this Plan would give it legal force and it would form part of the statutory Development Plan for that area.  Consequently, decisions on planning applications in the neighbourhood area would need to be made in accordance with the Neighbourhood Development Plan, unless material considerations indicated otherwise.

            Councillor Bower then formally proposed the recommendation which was seconded by Councillor Hughes.

Having received words of congratulations from Councillors extended to Walberton Parish Council and the Council’s Planning staff, the Council

RESOLVED

That it ‘makes’ the Walberton Neighbourhood Plan 2019-2031 and it becomes part of the Development Plan for Arun District Council.

Full Council is asked to agree the recommendations of the Constitution Working Party held on 28 June 2021 on the suggested amendments to the Constitution following implementation of the Committee style of governance and following the first round of Committee meetings. 

The Chair of the Constitution Working Party, Councillor Bower, presented a report from the Interim Monitoring Officer requesting the Council to agree the recommendations from the meeting of the Constitution Working Party held on 28 June 2021.

The recommendations suggested that amendments be made to the Council’s Constitution following the implementation of the Committee style of governance and following the first round of Committee meetings.

In proposing the recommendations, Councillor Bower suggested that each recommendation be debated and voted upon separately.

The first recommendation to be debated was Recommendation 2 in the report [Agree to the name changes of Committees set out in Appendix 1, Part 1.]

Councillor Bower explained that the Working Party had received a request to consider changing the names of 4 out of the 6 new Service Committees to provide better understanding of what that Committee did and to make those Committees more understandable to members of the public. 

The changes presented were:

Current Name                                                     New Name

Corporate Policy & Performance                    Policy and Finance Committee

Residential & Wellbeing Services

Committee                                                           Housing and Wellbeing Committee

Environment & Neighbourhood

Services Committee                                          Environment Committee

Economic Committee                                        Economy Committee

Councillor Bower outlined that at the Working Party meeting he had been disappointed to learn that no change of name had been proposed for either the Planning Policy or Planning Committee and that he strongly believed that the Council should not have two Committees containing the word ‘Planning’ which was confusing for the public and could cause misunderstanding with regard to each Committee’s functions.  In view of this, Councillor Bower confirmed that he had proposed an amendment to change the name of the Planning Committee to the Development Management Committee based upon recommendations contained within the Hannaby report reviewing the Planning service.  The Council therefore also needed to consider this additional change in name.  The name changes of Committees were then seconded by Councillor Cooper.

In debating this there were Councillors who disagreed with the change in name proposed for the Planning Committee since the Council was the Planning Authority and that the Planning Committee determined planning applications.  Its name was therefore not misleading.  Other concerns were expressed in terms of the name changes proposed for the Residential and Wellbeing Services and Environment & Neighbourhood Services Committees.  The new names cut out reference to other services which could cause confusion and did not therefore provide the full benefit of what each of those Committees did.  These proposed changes in name should not therefore change as they were seen to be a misrepresentation of what those Committee’s functions were.

Following further debate, the Chair of the Planning Committee, Councillor Chapman, asked the Interim Monitoring Officer is there was merit in considering deferring making a decision on the future name of the Planning Committee as the recommendations from the Hannaby review would be considered at the next meeting of the Planning Committee on 21 July 2021, one of those recommendations covered what the name of the Planning Committee should be. The Planning Committee could consider this and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 120.