Agenda and minutes

Contact: Democratic and Electoral Services 

Items
No. Item

112.

Declarations of Interest

To receive from Members, declarations of

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

113.

Declaration of Party Whipping

To declare if any issues to be covered in the Agenda are under party whip.

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of party whipping.

 

114.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 179 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 28th February 2022.

Minutes:

RESOLVED - That the minutes of the meetings held on 31st January 2022 and 28th February 2022 were approved and signed as a correct record by the Chair.

 

115.

Public Question Time (15 minutes)

To receive any questions from members of the public provided that a question does not relate to:

 

·       Matters which are the subject of current or pending legal proceedings or

·       Matters relating to employees or former employees of the Council or comments in respect of individual Council Officers.

 

To ask a question at this meeting, please submit it to democratic.services@gloucester.gov.uk by 12 noon on Wednesday 25th January 2022 or telephone 01452 396203 for support.

 

Minutes:

There were no public questions.

 

116.

Petitions and Deputations (15 minutes)

To receive any petitions and 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

 

To present a petition or deputation at this meeting, please submit it to democratic.services@gloucester.gov.uk by 12 noon on Wednesday 25th January 2022 or telephone 01452 396203 for support.

 

Minutes:

There were no petitions nor deputations.

117.

Action Points Arising from Previous Meetings pdf icon PDF 138 KB

To note the outcomes of action points arising from previous meetings.

Minutes:

RESOLVED – That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee NOTE the updates.

 

118.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme and Council Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 196 KB

To receive the latest version of the Committee’s work programme and the Council’s Forward Plan.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

118.1  The Chair introduced the latest version of the Council Forward Plan and invited suggestions as to any items Members wished to add to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme. It was agreed that the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Review New Charging Schedule report would be added to the agenda for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 6th June 2022.

 

RESOLVED

 

1)    That the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme be amended to reflect the above and

 

2)    To NOTE the Work Programme.

 

119.

Exclusion of the Press and Public

To RESOLVE that:

 

The press and public be excluded from the meeting during the following item of business on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public are present during consideration of this item there will be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended.

 

Agenda Item no:

 

10.

 

Description of Exempt Information:

 

Paragraph 3: Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

Minutes:

119.    Following a request from the Chair, Members unanimously decided not to exclude the press and public from the meeting but agreed that the Committee would move into private session if any Member wished to discuss exempt information.

120.

Gloucestershire Airport Update

To receive an update on the current financial position of Gloucestershire Airport.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

120.1  The Leader of the Council introduced the Managing Director and Chair of Gloucestershire Airport. The Managing Director delivered a presentation detailing some of the services offered at the Airport, including Air Ambulance and Police aviation, flight training, charter and pleasure flights. She outlined the ongoing projects taking place at the Airport which included runway improvements, CGX Connect business park and access road developments, as well as future projects such as Marketing improvements, Radar Communications upgrades and further aviation business development. The Managing Director explained that the Airport was also currently working on numerous green initiatives including LED lighting, implementing the CLS Energy Report action plan and exploring the use of drones and solar farms.

 

120.2  The Chair thanked the Managing Director for her presentation. Referring to the Airport’s green credentials, he noted that the aviation industry did not naturally lend itself towards carbon neutrality and asked for her views as to whether she felt carbon neutrality was an achievable goal. The Managing Director expressed the view that nothing was impossible but acknowledged that carbon neutrality in aviation would be a challenge. She noted that as airplanes consume significant amounts of energy, it was important in her view to offset this through other green initiatives, for example, through the use of solar panels. The Chair of the Airport explained that work to develop hybrid airplanes, using electricity or batteries alongside fuel, was underway however the size and weight of aircraft was a challenge. He confirmed that the industry was also looking at hydrogen fuel as a possible alternative option.

 

120.3  Councillor Wilson asked for clarification as to what the Airport’s main income streams were. The Managing Director confirmed that the main income streams were landing fees, fuel sales and rental income through the Airport’s business parks. She confirmed that Air Traffic Control was not a major income source.

 

120.4  In response to a follow-up question from Councillor Wilson, the Managing Director confirmed that fuel sales could amount to up to 50% of the Airport’s income, however this was dependent on the time of year.

 

120.5  Councillor Wilson referred to the presentation and the comments concerning the use of drones. He referred to a previous incident involving drones at Gatwick Airport and asked whether there were any safety concerns with using drones in an airport environment. He also asked for clarification as to the relationship between drones and green initiatives. The Managing Director confirmed that the drones in development were powered by electricity and batteries. In terms of the use of drones at Gloucestershire Airport, she explained that an idea under consideration was for passengers to use drones as a mode of transport, for example, from Gloucestershire Airport to Cheltenham. The Chair of the Airport further noted that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had commissioned a working group to consider how drones could be used safely in airports. The Managing Director confirmed that safety was paramount, and highlighted that the CAA was pioneering the work and looking for test sites to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 120.

121.

Date of Next Meeting

Monday 25th April 2022 at 6.30pm.

Minutes:

Monday 25th April 2022.