Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Wallfields, Hertford. View directions

Contact: Katie Mogan  Tel: (01279) 502172 Email:  katie.mogan@eastherts.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

171.

Apologies

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Peter Boylan.

 

172.

Leader's Announcements

Minutes:

The Leader welcomed Members and Officers and those who were watching on YouTube. She asked Councillor Buckmaster and Councillor Goodeve to update the meeting on announcements within their portfolios.

 

Councillor Buckmaster said that the ‘Your Tree, Our Future’ was a project launched by Hertfordshire County Council on 21 September 2022 which would plant 100,000 trees over four years. 46,000 trees were allocated for this year and East Herts residents had claimed 7,000 of these. He said he was pleased to see such a high level of interest from residents.

 

Councillor Goodeve said that the Economic Development Team had won first place in the Local Government Support Programme category from the Federation of Small Businesses. She said that the Bishop’s Stortford Business Improvement District had been re-elected for a second five year term, she congratulated them and said they had been a significant support for businesses in Bishop’s Stortford Town Centre.

 

173.

Minutes – 6 September 2022 pdf icon PDF 63 KB

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 6 September 2022.

Minutes:

Councillor Kaye proposed, and Councillor Cutting seconded a motion that the Minutes of the meetings held on 6 September 2022 be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Leader. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED – that the Minutes of the meeting held on 6 September 2022 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Leader.

 

174.

Declarations of Interest

To receive any Member(s) declaration(s) of interest.

Minutes:

Councillors Haysey, Buckmaster and Williamson declared an interest in agenda item 9 as they all sat on the Old River Lane Delivery Board. They confirmed that they would take no part in the discussion or voting of the item.

 

Councillor Goldspink declared an interest in agenda item 9 as she also sat on the Old River Lane Delivery Board. She confirmed that she would take no part in the discussion.

 

175.

Annual Council Tax Support Report pdf icon PDF 317 KB

Decision:

That no changes be made to the local Council Tax Support scheme for April 2023.

 

Minutes:

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability presented the Annual Council Tax Support report. He said that the Council Tax Support scheme had been in place since 2013 and the council was required to review it every year. The recommendation was to leave the scheme unchanged for 2023/24.

 

Councillor Williamson proposed, and Councillor Kaye seconded a motion supporting the recommendation in the report. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED - That no changes be made to the local Council Tax Support scheme for April 2023.

 

176.

Medium Term Financial Plan pdf icon PDF 267 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

That:

 

a) the budget proposals should be based on a Council Tax increase of £5, contract inflation up to 4%, no inflation in other goods and services budgets and that the provision for the national pay award will be up to 4%;

 

b) the assumption that the current local government finance system will continue for a further year and the windfall New Homes Bonus payment will be used to set aside £400k in reserves to meet part of the estimated cost of the refresh of the District Plan with the remainder being used to support the budget through the exceptional circumstances of the current economic and political climate as detailed in Appendix B to the report be endorsed;

 

c) the savings requirements that the Transforming East Herts Programme will need to deliver in order to balance the budget in the Medium Term be noted;

 

d) officers re-phase the capital programme and revenue impacts of capital financing and make recommendations about schemes that could be delayed or cancelled to reduce the savings requirements; and

 

e) the revised savings requirements of £0.812 million in 2023/24, £2.050 million in 2024/25, £2.114 million in 2025/26, £0.792 million in 2026/27 and £0.268 million in 2027/28 be noted.

Minutes:

The Executive Member for Financial Sustainability presented the Medium Term Financial Plan. Councillor Williamson said that the purpose of the report was to set the scene for Members and for the Executive to provide Officers with a steer and approve assumptions to devise the budget for 2023/24. He said that rapidly changing external factors such as the war in Ukraine and the rise in interest rates has made it harder to assemble a budget.

 

Councillor Williamson highlighted the budget gaps for the next four years provided in Appendix A. He said that the Transformation Programme was key for delivering future savings but options were becoming limited.

 

Councillor Haysey said it wasn’t easy to set a budget in the current context but the council would work hard to ensure residents received value for money.

 

Councillor Williamson proposed, and Councillor Cutting seconded a motion supporting the recommendation in the report. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED – That (A) the budget proposals should be based on a Council Tax increase of £5, contract inflation up to 4%, no inflation in other goods and services budgets and that the provision for the national pay award will be up to 4%;

 

B) the assumption that the current local government finance system will continue for a further year and the windfall New Homes Bonus payment will be used to set aside £400k in reserves to meet part of the estimated cost of the refresh of the District Plan with the remainder being used to support the budget through the exceptional circumstances of the current economic and political climate as detailed in Appendix B to the report be endorsed;

 

C) the savings requirements that the Transforming East Herts Programme will need to deliver in order to balance the budget in the Medium Term be noted;

 

D) Officers re-phase the capital programme and revenue impacts of capital financing and make recommendations about schemes that could be delayed or cancelled to reduce the savings requirements; and

 

E) the revised savings requirements of £0.812 million in 2023/24, £2.050 million in 2024/25, £2.114 million in 2025/26, £0.792 million in 2026/27 and £0.268 million in 2027/28 be noted.

 

177.

Parking Traffic Regulation Orders pdf icon PDF 233 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

That:

a)             the removal of free parking in all car parks (Mon – Sat) be implemented at a later date prior to June 2024;

b)             Sunday and Bank Holiday charging be introduced; revised from the week-day tariff charges to a flat rate charge in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertford and Ware as described in paragraph 6.16 of the report;

c)              existing Sunday charges in Link Road and Northgate End car parks, Bishop’s Stortford be amended as described in paragraph 1.5 of the report;

d)             an evening parking charge up to 8:00pm be introduced in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertford and Ware as described in paragraph 1.6 of the report; and

e)             an uplift of tariff charges in Ware, Buntingford and Sawbridgeworth be approved as described in paragraph 6.21 of the report.

 

Minutes:

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability presented the Parking Traffic Regulation Orders report. Councillor McAndrew said that the proposals had been out to consultation which had received 1,100 responses. He said that the comments had been reviewed carefully and the recommendations in the report reflected this.

 

Councillor Buckmaster said the recommendations reflected the fact that the council has looked and listened to the consultation.

 

Councillor Goldspink said she was delighted to see so many responses but she said that since the consultation, residents had approached her to say that some of them have to park in the public car parks overnight as they have no space to park cars at home. The introduction of the evening charge would have a serious impact on them.

 

Councillor McAndrew said he was happy to review it alongside other parking charges in the future.

 

Councillor Bull recognized that the council had to make savings and increase income through car parking charges but he was concerned about parents who use the car parks in Buntingford to drop off and collect their children.

 

Councillor McAndrew said the car park in Buntingford was no different to other car parks in the district and said that users of it would need to pay.

 

Councillor Haysey said that the free half hour was raised numerous times in the consultation. She said the change would not happen immediately and would be implemented before June 2024.

 

Councillor Kaye said he was happy to see that the free half hour was being kept for now. He was pleased to see a flat rate for Sunday. He appreciated the difficulties for the council and the rates had not been increased significantly.

 

Councillor Haysey said that the recommendations had taken into account the consultation comments. She thanked Officers for their work on the report.

Councillor McAndrew proposed, and Councillor Buckmaster seconded a motion supporting the recommendations in the report. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED – That (A) the removal of free parking in all car parks (Mon – Sat) be implemented at a later date prior to June 2024;

b)          Sunday and Bank Holiday charging be introduced; revised from the week-day tariff charges to a flat rate charge in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertford and Ware as described in paragraph 6.16 of the report;

c)           existing Sunday charges in Link Road and Northgate End car parks, Bishop’s Stortford be amended as described in paragraph 1.5 of the report;

d)          an evening parking charge up to 8:00pm be introduced in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertford and Ware as described in paragraph 1.6 of the report; and

e)          an uplift of tariff charges in Ware, Buntingford and Sawbridgeworth be approved as described in paragraph 6.21 of the report.

 

178.

Waste Service Contract Design pdf icon PDF 584 KB

Additional documents:

Decision:

That:

 

a)    the recommendations from the Joint Cross-Party working group attached in Appendix 1 be noted and considered prior to making a new substantive decision.

 

b)   the comments from Overview and Scrutiny Committee attached in Appendix 12 be noted and considered prior to making a new substantive decision.

 

c)    the responses from the public consultation as summarised in Appendix 2 be noted and considered prior to making a new substantive decision.

 

d)   a Competitive Dialogue procedure for the procurement of the Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing contract be approved.

 

e)    a joint project board to include the Executive Members for Finance as well as the Executive Member covering waste, recycling and street cleansing services for both EHC and NHC be approved to monitor the progress of the procurement project and for the delegation of powers to the Head of Operations (EHC)/Director of Place (NHDC) in consultation with Project Board, in relation to amendments to the specification or service design.

 

f)     a Contract length of 8 years with the possibility of up to an 8 year extension be approved.

 

g)    the provision of customer services and contact handling being delivered by the councils be approved, and for a future report detailing how this will be delivered be provided in 2023.

 

h)   the introduction of a new weekly separate food waste collection service in 23L caddies for houses and in wheeled bins for flats in East Hertfordshire from 2025 be approved. The implementation date confirmation to be delegated to the Head of Operations in consultation with the Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability.

 

i)      To recommend to Full Council to approve the Capital and estimated revenue spend outlined in 3.16 in relation to recommendation h above.

 

j)      residual waste collections occurring on a three weekly collection cycle from 2025 be approved. The implementation date confirmation to be delegated to the Director of Place/Head of Operations in consultation with the project board.

 

k)    the standard receptacle for residual waste being 180L in size and that all new and replacement residual waste containers for houses will be 180l as soon as is reasonably practicable be approved and phased in commencing no later than from 1st April 2023 in East Hertfordshire.

 

l)      the transition to a standard bin colour across East and North Hertfordshire as outlined in paragraphs 3.47 to 3.56 as soon as is practicable and no later than 1st April 2023 be approved.

 

m)the inclusion of plastic film in the mixed dry recycling collections from 2025 be approved and the implementation date confirmation to be delegated to the Project Board and subject to the outcomes of Resources & Waste Strategy consultation on consistency.

 

n)   the cessation of bring bank services for paper in East Hertfordshire as soon as is reasonably practicable and no later than the end of 2023 be approved.

 

o)   the cessation of bring bank services for textiles in East Hertfordshire and kerbside textiles collections in North Hertfordshire with the shared waste service proactively engaging with the charity-sector to promote alternative  ...  view the full decision text for item 178.

Minutes:

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability presented the Waste Service Contract Design report. He said the report sought to give authority to proceed with a competitive dialogue for the waste service contract which was due to expire in May 2025. The key drivers for service changes were set in the context of national resources, the waste strategy and the financial challenges exacerbated by inflationary pressures.

 

Councillor McAndrew said that the changes would make the service more efficient and sustainable by extending the frequency of collections for the majority of households, a transition to smaller bins and a separate weekly food waste collection.

 

Councillor McAndrew said that the North Herts Cabinet had agreed a further recommendation as follows “To note the procurement of the contract will include evaluation of options to reduce the carbon emissions of the waste service to contribute to achieving the Council’s net zero target” and proposed that the Executive also approve this recommendation.

 

Councillor Haysey thanked Officers who had worked on the report and for their time spent with Members to help them understand the complexity of the project. She said that the joint working group with North Herts proved useful and was pleased to see both council’s aligned in the recommendations.

 

Councillor Buckmaster said that some residents may react to the proposed three weekly collections for residual waste but hoped that residents would understand the decision when the weekly food waste collections were explained to them. He said that across the Herts Waste Partnership, 43% of the contents of the residual bins was food waste which would be collected separately.

Councillor McAndrew said that behavioural change would be crucial in enabling and encouraging residents.

 

Councillor Pope referred to the possible county wide waste scheme. He asked how this would affect the waste contract if implemented. 

 

Councillor McAndrew said the Herts Waste Partnership had been encouraging the districts and boroughs to come together to create a county wide waste scheme. He said that it was a long process and not all councils were yet to be convinced of the benefits.

 

Councillor Buckmaster said there were very complex and unique issues preventing a whole shared service. He said there were some areas that could allow for closer co-operation and a study had been commissioned to look at these areas.

 

Councillor McAndrew assured Councillor Pope that work was ongoing in the background but was taking a long time.

 

Councillor McAndrew proposed and Councillor Goodeve seconded a motion supporting the recommendations in the report and the additional recommendation U. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED - That:

 

a)          the recommendations from the Joint Cross-Party working group attached in Appendix 1 be noted and considered prior to making a new substantive decision.

 

b)          the comments from Overview and Scrutiny Committee attached in Appendix 12 be noted and considered prior to making a new substantive decision.

 

c)           the responses from the public consultation as summarised in Appendix 2 be noted and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 178.

179.

Old River Lane Supplementary Planning Document pdf icon PDF 99 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Haysey, Buckmaster and Williamson declared an interest in the item as they sat on the Old River Lane Delivery Board. They took no part in the discussion or voting of the item.

 

Councillor Goldspink also declared an interest in the item as she sat on the Old River Lane Delivery Board. She took no park in the discussion of the item.

 

The Executive Member for Corporate Services chaired the meeting for Item 9.

 

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth presented the report on the adoption of the Old River Lane Supplementary Planning Document. She said that Old River Lane was a development site allocated in the East Herts District Plan 2018 (Policy BISH8) which formed a key opportunity for sustainable redevelopment in the heart of Bishop’s Stortford and an opportunity to complement the retail, community, and leisure provision in the town centre.

 

Councillor Goodeve said that the Old River Lane SPD sought to guide this ambition by setting out a clear vision and development objectives.. The draft version was published for public consultation for four-weeks between the 5 July and 2 August 2022 and received over 400 comments from nearly 100 individual consultees.

 

Councillor Goodeve said that since the agenda was published, the Council had received a letter from the Bishop’s Stortford Civic Federation relating to information regarding the arts centre proposals set out in paragraphs 3.4.5 to 3.4.8, which were additional areas of text included after the public consultation. The paragraphs were added in response to a number of comments made during the public consultation which requested that the draft SPD should mention the Arts Centre that had previously been promoted by the Council as a landowner. Following receipt of the letter and having reviewed the additional proposed paragraphs in light of this, officers have concluded that the removal of paragraphs 3.4.6 and 3.4.7 would be appropriate, because the text contains a level of detail beyond that required for the SPD. Minor amendments to paragraph 3.4.8 were also proposed.

 

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services asked Members to confirm that they had seen the amendments to the document.

 

Councillor Goodeve confirmed that a hard copy of the amendments had been circulated to Members prior to the meeting.

 

Councillor Kaye said that he was pleased to see so many responses to the consultation and that amendments had been made following concerns raised. He said the document was now an encouraging one to move forward.

 

Members thanked Officers for their hard work on producing the Supplementary Planning Document.

 

Councillor Goodeve proposed and Councillor Kaye seconded a motion supporting the recommendations in the report. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED – To recommend to Council:

 

(A)       That the responses to the consultation be noted and the officer responses and proposed changes to the Old River Lane Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) be supported;

(B)       That the Old River Lane Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), as detailed at Appendix C to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 179.

180.

Hunsdon Neighbourhood Plan Adoption pdf icon PDF 84 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Executive Member for Planning and Growth presented the Hunsdon Neighbourhood Plan for Adoption report. She said that the Neighbourhood Plan referendum took place on 15 September 2022 and was approved.

 

Councillor Buckmaster said he applauded the effort of the Parish Council to develop the plan. He also thanked the Officers involved for their hard work.

 

Councillor Haysey agreed with Councillor Buckmaster’s comments and said that the group in Hunsdon worked closely with the group who developed the Gilston Neighbourhood Plan to create a complementary document. She also thanked Officers for their work.

 

Councillor Goodeve proposed and Councillor Buckmaster seconded a motion supporting the recommendations in the report. On being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED - To recommend to Council that the Hunsdon Area Neighbourhood Development Plan 2019-2033 be formally ‘made’.

 

181.

Urgent Business

To consider such other business as, in the opinion of the Chairman of the meeting, is of sufficient urgency to warrant consideration and is not likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information.

Minutes:

There was no urgent business.