Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed members of the public, Councillors and Officers present to the meeting.

He extended a special and warm welcome to Harvey Cottam from the sixth form at the Angmering Community School who was conducting a week’s work experience with the Council in the Committee Services section.

The Chair stated that it was with great sorrow that he had to commence the meeting by announcing some sad news which was the death of former Councillor Colin Oliver-Redgate.

          The Chair confirmed that the Council had received confirmation that in the early hours of 17 May 2024, former Councillor Oliver-Redgate had passed away peacefully at home following a brave battle with cancer.

          The Chair informed those present that Colin had become a Councillor on 3 May 2007 serving the ward of Ferring until he stepped down in May 2023. During that time, Colin had sat on many Committees mainly the then Development Control Committee and the Licensing Committee.

          It was a well-known fact that Colin would mostly be remembered for his passion for cricket and had been active in arranging a couple of fundraising matches for previous Chairs of the Council. The Chair passed on his and the Council’s condolences to Colin’s family and friends at this sad time.

          Having received tributes from Councillors Turner, Pendleton, Huntley, Lury, Northeast and Wallsgrove the Council then conducted a minute’s silence to his memory.

Apologies for Absence had been received from Councillors Batley, Elkins, English, Hamilton, Haywood, Madeley, May, McAuliffe, Needs, Stainton, Stanley, Wiltshire, Miss Worne and Mrs Worne and from the Council’s Honorary Aldermen Mr Dingemans and Mr English.

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

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

There were no Declarations of Interest made.

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

The Chair confirmed that two questions had been submitted for this meeting.  The questions have been very briefly summarised below:

1)    From Mr Coster to the Chair of the Environment Committee, Councillor Wallsgrove regarding the petition regarding parking at Middleton-on-Sea considered by the Council at its meeting held on 9 May 2024.  A supplementary question was asked with Councillor Wallsgrove confirming that a written response would be provided.

2)    From Mr and Mrs Smith to the Chair of the Corporate Support Committee, Councillor Oppler regarding Mr and Mrs Smith historically having been classified as vexatious complainants.

The Chair then drew Public Question Time to a close.

(A schedule of the full questions asked, and the responses provided can be found on the Public Question Web page at: Arun District Council )

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

The Chair confirmed that there were no questions for this meeting

To consider any petitions received from the public.

The Chair confirmed that no petitions had been received.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Council held on 15 May 2024, which are attached.

The minutes from the Annual Meeting of the Council held on 15 May 2024 were approved by the Council as a correct record and would be signed by the Chair at the end of the meeting. 

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

The Chair confirmed that it was with the greatest of pleasure to be able to congratulate Mr Nathan Abbott who had been awarded a Medallist of the Order of the British Empire in the King’s Birthday Honours in recognition of his services to charity and to Cleft Lip and Palate Awareness.

On behalf of the Council, the Chair extended its thanks to Mr Abbott for his excellent work and he confirmed that he had written to Mr Abbott on 19 June 2024 to personally congratulate him on his amazing achievement.

The Chair confirmed that he had attended the following events since the Annual Council Meeting held on 15 May 2024:

·       20 May 2024 - The Arun District Guides AGM at Arundel Castle

·       24 May 2024 – Raising of Blue Flags at Bognor Regis and Littlehampton beaches

·       28 May 2024 - Reopening of the World War II Pill Box situated on Ferring Seafront

·       6 June 2024 – D-Day Beacon Lighting at Littlehampton seafront

·       14 June 2024 – Opening of the new Shopmobility facility in Littlehampton with the Mayor of Littlehampton Town Council

·       16 June 2024 – Littlehampton Twinning Association’s Strawberry Tea

·       29 June 2024 – Armed Forces Day event in Littlehampton with the Vice-Chair of the Council and with many other Councillors also being in attendance

·       15 July 2024 – Opening of the Changing Places Toilet in Hotham Park, Bognor Regis

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

          The Chair confirmed that there were no urgent items to present to this meeting.

To seek approval for the allocation of seats to political groups and the appointments to Committee for the remainder of the municipal year.

The Group Head of Law & Governance and Monitoring Officer presented this report which updated Members on changes to the allocation of seats to Political Groups and appointments to committees for the remainder of the municipal year following the resignation of Councillor Bence from the Conservative Group and confirmation received that he wished to be an Ungrouped Independent.

It had therefore been necessary to review the proportionality of the Council and allocation of seats on Committees. This exercise had confirmed that the Conservative Group needed to give up one seat from one of the Committees set out in the table at Paragraph 4.7 of the report.

The Leader of the Opposition and Conservative Group, Councillor Gunner, had confirmed that he wished this to be one of his Group’s seats on the Standards Committee and this was confirmed by Councillor Gunner to be Councillor Lloyd. Full Council needed to confirm if it supported this seat being gifted to Councillor Bence as an Ungrouped Independent. Councillor Bence had been contacted in advance of the Council meeting to be informed of the intention to gift him a seat on the Standards Committee and had confirmed that he did not wish to take up this seat. In considering the recommendations, Council therefore needed to consider how it wished to address this position. In the absence of any instruction, this seat would remain vacant.

Councillor Lury then formally proposed the recommendations set out in the report which were then seconded by Councillor Nash.

The Council

          RESOLVED – That

(1)  The outcome of the review of entitlement of political groups to seats on committees, based upon proportionality rules, set out in Appendix 1 be noted;

(2)  The allocation of seats to political groups be approved; and

(3)  The appointments to Committees for the remainder of the municipal year, as outlined in Paragraph 4.11 of the report and as reported to the meeting be approved.

The Chair of the Standards Committee, Councillor Huntley, will present any recommendation from the Standards Committee held on 11 July 2024.

The minutes from this meeting to include any recommendations to Council will be circulated separately to this agenda.

The Chair, Councillor Huntley, presented recommendations following the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 11 July 2024.

An extract from the minutes outlined a recommendation for Council to consider regarding the recruitment of Independent Persons to the Standards Committee.  This minute extract had been circulated separately to the agenda as an additional supplement which had been circulated to Members on 16 July 2024 and uploaded to the Full Council web page on that date.  Councillor Huntley then formally proposed the recommendation which was seconded by Councillor Woodman. 

The Chair announced that the fire alarm had been activated and so it was necessary to safely evacuate the building using the Council’s emergency procedures announced at the commencement of the meeting. He instructed the Committee Services team to pause the live webcast and assist with the evacuation.

The meeting was therefore adjourned to allow the evacuation to take place [18.30].

The meeting resumed at [18.43]

The Council

          RESOLVED

That the terms of office of the Council’s current Independent Persons be extended to 6 November 2024.

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

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

To consider general questions from Members in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 14.3.

The Chair referred Councillors to the Questions from Members that had been submitted in line with Council Procedure Rule 14.3 and the schedule of questions that had been circulated to the meeting. This confirmed that four  questions had been received.  

The Chair invited Councillors who had submitted questions to read out their questions which would be responded to by the appropriate Committee Chair. It was explained that the schedule of questions would be updated to include the responses provided, supplementary questions and responses and would be uploaded to the Council’s web page within ten working days of the meeting, in line with the Council’s Constitution.

          The questions have been summarised below:

Question (1) From Councillor Andy Cooper to the Chair of the Planning Policy Committee – Councillor Yeates regarding the introduction of mandatory housing targets. 

Question (2) From Councillor Kelly to the Chair of the Planning Policy Committee – Councillor Yeates regarding the regarding the proposed toughening up of the presumption in favour of sustainable development.  

Question (3) Lloyd to the Chair of the Planning Policy Committee – Councillor Yeates regarding the Government’s proposed changes to the planning system. 

Question (4) From Councillor Greenway to the Chair of the Environment Committee – Councillor Wallsgrove regarding the Bersted Brooks Country Park. 

Any changes to Committee Memberships that need noting by the Council will be reported at the meeting.

The Chair invited the Leader of the Opposition and Conservative Group, Councillor Gunner, to report any changes to Committee Memberships following consideration of Agenda Item 9.

          Councillor Gunner confirmed the following changes to Committee Memberships:

·       Councillor Pendleton would replace Councillor Bence as a Member of the Economy Committee;

·       Councillor Kelly would replace Councillor Bence as a Member of the Licensing Committee;

·       Councillor Purser would replace Councillor Bence as a Member of the Staff Appeals Panel and Housing Appeals Panel.

          These changes in Committee Memberships were noted by the Council.

The Council is asked to approve any changes to its representation on Outside Bodies.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Lury, proposed the following changes to representations on Outside Bodies, which were seconded by Councillor Nash:

·       Councillor Tandy would replace Councillor Oppler as one of the Council’s representatives on South-East Employers; and

·       The West Sussex Mediation Service had been disbanded and so no longer existed as an Outside Body.

          The Council, therefore

                     RESOLVED

That the following changes to representation on Outside Bodies be approved:

·                 Councillor Tandy would replace Councillor Oppler as one of the Council’s representatives on South East Employers; and

·       The West Sussex Mediation Service had been disbanded and so no longer existed as an Outside Body.