Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Civic Suite, North Warehouse, The Docks, Gloucester, GL1 2EP

Contact: Democratic and Electoral Services 

Items
No. Item

20.

Declarations of Interest

To receive from Members, declarations of the existence of any disclosable pecuniary, or non-pecuniary, interests and the nature of those interests in relation to any agenda item. Please see Agenda Notes.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

21.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 161 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 12th July 2023.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 12th July 2023 are confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

22.

Public Question Time (15 minutes)

The opportunity is given to members of the public to put questions to Cabinet Members. A question may be rejected if it:

 

(i)         Is not about a matter for which the local authority has responsibility or influence; or

(ii)        Is illegal, improper, defamatory, frivolous or offensive; or

(iii)    Is substantially the same as a question which has been put at a meeting of the Council, Cabinet or Committee in the past 6 months; or

(iv)   Requires the disclosure of confidential or exempt information; or

(v)    Is related to confidential staffing matters; or

(vi)   Is relating to the personal affairs or conduct of individual Members or Officers.

 

To ask a question at this meeting, please submit it to democratic.services@gloucester.gov.uk by 12 noon on Friday 8th September 2023 or telephone 01452 396203 for support.

 

Minutes:

There were no public questions.

23.

Petitions and Deputations (15 minutes)

To receive any petitions or deputations provided that no such petition or deputation is in relation to:

 

·            Matters relating to individual Council Officers, or

·            Matters relating to current or pending legal proceedings

 

Minutes:

There were no petitions or deputations.

24.

Leader and Cabinet Members' Question Time (15 minutes) pdf icon PDF 97 KB

Any Member of the Council may ask the Leader of the Council or any Cabinet Member any question upon:

 

·       Any matter relating to the Council’s administration

·       Any matter relating to any report of the Cabinet appearing on the summons

·       A matter coming within their portfolio of responsibilities

 

Only one supplementary question is allowed per question.

 

Questions must be submitted to democratic.services@gloucester.gov.uk by 12 noon on Friday 8th September 2023. Responses to questions will be published in an addendum to the agenda by 12 noon on the day of the Cabinet Meeting.

Minutes:

In respect of question 2 Councillor Hilton informed Members of several perceived maintenance shortcomings that he had observed since the Wellington Parade Garden had reopened.  He enquired whether the Leader of the Council and the Open Spaces Strategy Team Leader would meet him on site to come up with a plan of action to which he would contribute part of his own Councillor Community Fund.  The Leader of the Council thanked Councillor Hilton for his generosity.  He stated that he would be happy to join the proposed meeting and noted that the new staff at Emerging Futures CiC would be able to contribute appropriate advice.

 

In respect of question 3 Councillor Hilton noted that the Kingsholm and Wotton ward has a high proportion of older pavements which are more vulnerable to damage by weeds.  He asked if the scheduled weed clearance referred to in the response would cover the whole ward.  The Leader of the Council confirmed that spraying would commence across the ward on the 18th September, although this date was dependent on the weather.

 

In respect of question 4 Councillor Hilton sought clarification over why the contractors had been seemingly unaware of the fragile power cable.  The Leader of the Council invited the Managing Director to respond.  The Managing Director advised that he believed they had to unexpectedly re-engineer the route of the cable.  The Leader of the Council commented that both he and the Head of Place had had numerous meetings with Network Rail, GWR and the Member of Parliament to ensure the project gets the high priority it deserves.  He stated he was pleased that the subway was now progressing towards completion.

 

In respect of question 5 Councillor Hilton noted the importance of well-maintained grounds in such an historic and visited city.  He asked whether funding for gardeners could be found in the Growth Bid.  The Leader of the Council stated that volunteer groups had undertaken this service with assistance from Ubico for some years.  He advised that there were no spare funds available.

 

25.

Adoption of the Gloucester Statement of Community Involvement pdf icon PDF 130 KB

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Strategy seeking acknowledgement of the responses received to the public consultation on the Statement of Community Involvement (SCI), endorsement of the changes made to the draft SCI as a result of the consultation and adoption of the revised SCI.

Additional documents:

Decision:

RECOMMENDED to Council that:

 

(1)       the Response Report (Appendix 1 of the report) is endorsed

 

(2)      the Revised Statement of Community Involvement is adopted

 

(3)      authority is delegated for the correction of any errors such as spelling, grammar, referencing and formatting to the Planning Policy Manager, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Strategy.

 

Minutes:

Cabinet considered the report of the Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Strategy that sought acknowledgement of the responses to the public consultation on the Statement of Community Involvement (SCI), endorsement of the changes made to the draft SCI resulting from the consultation, and adoption of the revised SCI.

 

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Strategy summarised the report.  She reminded Members that the revised SCI met and, in some areas, exceeded national requirements (3.8).  She further drew their attention to the commitment to involve `harder to reach’ groups (Appendix 2 3.22) and in particular young people as evidenced by the consultation with schools, colleges and universities (3.10).  The Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods commended the Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Strategy and Planning Team for increasing residents’ participation in Council matters thus empowering communities.

 

RECOMMENDED to Council that:

 

(1)       the Response Report (Appendix 1 of the report) is endorsed

 

(2)      the Revised Statement of Community Involvement is adopted

 

(3)      authority is delegated for the correction of any errors such as spelling, grammar, referencing and formatting to the Planning Policy Manager, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Strategy.