Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, at the Arun Civic Centre, Maltravers Road, Littlehampton, BN17 5LF - venue could change if needed

Contact: Jane Fulton (Ext 37611) 

Note: Venue to be confirmed if not at the Arun Civic Centre 

Items
No. Item

685.

Welcome

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed Councillors, representatives of the public, press and Officers to this Special Meeting of the Council.   

 

686.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

            Apologies for absence had been received from Councillors Baker, Batley, Bennett, Charles, Chapman, Goodheart, Huntley, Kelly, Purchese, Seex, Tilbrook and Warr and from Honorary Aldermen Mrs Stinchcombe and Mr Dingemans. 

 

687.

Declarations of interest

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

Minutes:

            Councillor Roberts declared a Personal Interest in Agenda Item 7 [National Highways Proposals for the A27 Arundel Improvements – response to Statutory Consultation (Grey route). This was because of where he lived, and he confirmed that the Bypass would be of benefit to him and his family. This was a personal benefit that would not influence his decision making. Councillor Roberts confirmed that he would be taking part in the debate and the vote on this item.

 

 

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. 

 

           

Name

Town or Parish Council or West Sussex County Council [WSCC]

Councillor Tracy Baker

Littlehampton

Councillor Kenton Batley

Bognor Regis

Councillor Jamie Bennett

Rustington

Councillor Paul Bicknell

Angmering

Councillor Billy Blanchard-Cooper

Littlehampton

Councillor Jim Brooks

Bognor Regis

Councillor Ian Buckland

Littlehampton and WSCC

Councillor David Chace

Littlehampton

Councillor Mike Clayden

Rustington

Councillor Andy Cooper

Rustington

Councillor Alison Cooper

Rustington and WSCC

Councillor Sandra Daniells

Bognor Regis

Councillor Roger Elkins

Ferring and WSCC

Councillor Paul English

Felpham

Councillor Steve Goodheart

Bognor Regis

Councillor Pauline Gregory

Rustington

Councillor June Hamilton

Pagham

Councillor Shirley Haywood

Middleton-on-Sea

Councillor David Huntley

Pagham

Councillor Henry Jones

Bognor Regis

Councillor Martin Lury

Bersted

Councillor Claire Needs

Bognor Regis

Councillor Mike Northeast

Littlehampton

Councillor Francis Oppler

WSCC

Councillor Jacky Pendleton

Middleton-on-Sea and WSCC

Councillor Vicky Rhodes

Littlehampton

Councillor Emily Seex

Littlehampton

Councillor Martin Smith

Aldwick

Councillor Samantha Staniforth

Bognor Regis

Councillor Matt Stanley

Bognor Regis

Councillor Isabel Thurston

Barnham & Eastergate

Councillor Will Tilbrook

Littlehampton

Councillor James Walsh

Littlehampton and WSCC

Councillor Jeanette Warr

Bognor Regis

Councillor Amanda Worne

Yapton

Councillor Gillian Yeates

Bersted

 

688.

Public Question Time pdf icon PDF 401 KB

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

Minutes:

The Chair confirmed that this Council had been invited to respond to the Statutory Consultation put forward by National Highways. Until Councillors had considered the Officer report and taken part in a debate, it was not possible to anticipate if the recommendations would be adopted, rejected or amended.

Based on this, the Chair confirmed that he would be responding to the two questions put before the Council this evening as the meeting was meant to be deciding its response to the consultation of which the Officer report was merely a suggested response.

The Chair confirmed that two questions had been submitted – these have been very briefly summarised below:

  1. From Councillor Vawer from Walberton Parish Council 
  2. From Mr Waller – Chair of OneArundel A27 ByPass Group

 

A supplementary question was asked by Councillor Vawer.

           

(A schedule of the full questions asked, and the responses provided can be found on the Public Question Web page at: https://www.arun.gov.uk/public-question-time )

 

The Chairman then drew Public Question Time to a close.

 

 

689.

Questions from Members with Pecuniary/Prejudicial Interests

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

Minutes:

There were no Questions from Members with prejudicial/pecuniary interests.

 

690.

Chair's Announcements

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

Minutes:

The Chair confirmed that he felt that it was important this evening to  mention the current situation in Ukraine. He stated that the thoughts and prayers were with all of those where their lives have been turned upside down and who had gone from living their normal daily lives to now living in fear and fleeing their homes. Many residents in Arun would  be from Ukraine or Russia and would have loved ones there that they were concerned about and so the council’s thoughts were with these community members.

 

The Chair confirmed that the council was flying the flag of Ukraine here at the Civic Centre and at the Bognor Regis Town Hall, and that it had lit these buildings in blue and yellow as a sign of support.

 

691.

Urgent Matters

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.

Minutes:

            The Chair confirmed that there were no items for this meeting.

692.

National Highways' Proposals for the A27 Arundel Improvements - Response to Statutory Consultation (Grey Route) pdf icon PDF 276 KB

The report seeks authorisation to respond to National Highways (formerly Highways England) with a corporate response to the Statutory Consultation, regarding the Preferred Route for the Arundel section of the A27 Trunk Road improvements.

It sets how the issues raised by Arun District Council in the non-statutory consultation in 2019 have been addressed and raises other pertinent issues.

 

Minutes:

The Chair confirmed that this Special Meeting of the Council had been called to allow the Council to consider and respond to National Highways with a corporate response to the Statutory Consultation regarding the preferred route for the Arundel section of the A27 Trunk Road Improvements.

 

            The Interim Group Head of Law & Governance and Monitoring Officer reminded Members that the purpose of this meeting was to provide a response to National Highways as part of its statutory consultation. It was not for the Council to consider a case for choosing a route, but to make comment  upon the National Highways’ preferred route. It was important for Members to take this point into account.

 

            The Chair then invited Councillor Gunner to propose the recommendations as set out in the Officer report.

 

            Before proposing these recommendations, Councillor Gunner made a statement about the situation in Ukraine.

 

            Turning to the Arundel Bypass he outlined how vital the improvements were to the Town of Arundel and to the district’s overall economy including West Sussex and the South of England. The economic benefits were clear; the bypass was needed; this was millions of pounds of investment for the area; the population of Arun had grown significantly over time and so road infrastructure was essential. The grey route proposed was the infrastructure that was required. It was highlighted that the residents of Littlehampton and Bognor Regis would not appreciate the Council turning down a brand new road in the district. Economic growth in Arun was essential along with more car movement, more visitors and tourists to assist regeneration and in bringing more investment into the district’s economy, stimulating growth, jobs and prosperity.

 

            The grey route had been chosen by National Highways (NH) to work around the National Park as the South Downs National Park had opposed the previously favoured Magenta route. The Grey route had been chosen to reduce impact on woodland and the South Downs National Park. Councillor Gunner reminded Members that tonight the purpose of the meeting was not to debate what Councillors saw as their favourite route, it was an opportunity to pass comment on the route selected by NH, the Grey route.

 

Councillor Gunner stated that he supported the need for an Arundel bypass, to not have a bypass was not a viable option. He supported the need to have a Ford Road junction and maintained that the Council had to continue to work with WSCC and NH to ensure this would happen. Councillor Gunner supported all works to reduce congestion at the Fontwell roundabouts; he shared the concerns of residents of some of the villages and supported all work to reduce rat-running through Walberton; a Ford Road Junction would help but other access points had to be considered. He supported all and any work to mitigate and challenge flooding on the flood plain at Arun and he expressed his deep frustration over NH’s inability to produce and provide up to date data and information to local communities.

He urged NH to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 692.

693.

Motions

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

Minutes:

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