Agenda and minutes

The Chairman to seek Council agreement to suspend Standing Order, 9.3 (Show of Hands for Voting), 22.1 (Standing to Speak) and 22.2 (Chairman Standing).

Members agreed to the suspension of Standing Orders nos 9.3 (Show of Hands for Voting), 22.1 (Standing to Speak) and 22.2 (Chairman Standing).

To confirm the Minutes of the Council Meeting held on 25 June 2020.

The Minutes of the meeting of 25 June 2020 were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

To receive any apologies for absence from Members*.

*Note: Members are asked to email Committee services in advance of the meeting as soon as they become aware they will be absent.

There were no apologies received.

To declare disposable pecuniary, and any other interests*.

*Note: Members are asked to email Committee Services in advance of the meeting as soon as they become aware they may have an interest to declare.

Cllr Farmer – declared an interest in the Motion proposed at Agenda Item 13 (Everyone Active: Leisure Centres), through his interests with the Hart Swimming Club and also Membership of Hart Leisure Centre but he has agreed with the Monitoring Officer that the interests are not prejudicial.

Cllr Crampton – declared a non-prejudicial interest in the Motion at Agenda item 13 (Everyone Active: Leisure Centres) through her membership of the Hart Leisure Centre.

Cllr Forster - declared in the Motion at Agenda item 11 (the temporary pedestrianisation of Fleet Road) due to his role as a Hampshire County Councillor, he too had agreed with the Monitoring Officer that the interests are not prejudicial.

Cllr Oliver - declared a non-prejudicial interest in the Motion at Agenda item 11 (the temporary pedestrianisation of Fleet Road) due to being a member of the Fleet BID Board.

Cllr Crookes - declared a non-prejudicial interest in the Motion at Agenda item 11 (the temporary pedestrianisation of Fleet Road) due to being a member of a local cycling group.

Cllr Wildsmith–declared a non-prejudicial interest in the Motion at Agenda item 13 through having a Hart Leisure Centre membership for his daughter.

To receive any questions from members of the public submitted pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 12.

Note:  The text of any question under Council Procedure Rule 12 must be given to the Chief Executive (email committeeservices@hart.gov.uk) no later than Noon on Friday, 24 July 2020.

No questions received.

To receive any questions from Members submitted pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 14.

Note: The text of any question under the Council Procedure Rule 14.3 must be given to the Chief Executive (email committeeservices@hart.gov.uk) not later than 5.00pm on 27 June 2020.

The text of any question under Council Procedure Rule 14.4 must be submitted to the Chief Executive before 10.00am on 30 July 2020.

Questions had been received from Councillor Southern detailed in Appendix B.

No announcements.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Neighbour – Members may well have heard that the Government will be providing a White Paper on Local Government re-organisation in September.  This appears to be aimed at further unitarisation and an expansion of the combined Authority System.  They have asked for expressions of interest over the summer. I have been in communication with the Leader of the County Council as well as the other Hampshire Districts.  Our collective view is that the current arrangement works and that this would be a distraction during the current public health crisis.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services, Councillor Radley - Members will be aware later in this meeting we will be discussing the motion which I am bringing forward to adjust our budget in order to allow both Leisure Centres in the district to open tomorrow. While I regret that this item shall need to be discussed in confidential session due to the inevitable need to discuss the financial affairs of a third party organisation and because we touch upon contractual negotiations, I do hope that all members will support the council's efforts to get these important facilities open again.

Cabinet Member for Digital, Councillor Ambler - You all received an email from me last with information about the rollout of the new Committee Services software Modern.gov. Thank you to all the members who responded but there are still quite a number who we haven’t heard from. Please could you respond to Steven Bennett as soon as possible with confirmation as to whether you have access to a portable device and information about that device.

The reason that we are asking the question is, that the new software is in the process of being rolled out and we need to ensure that all Councillors are going to have a suitable device to run the software on.

This will streamline the work of Committee Services and improve members access to documents needed for meetings, as well as other exciting new features. Eventually, we will return to the council chamber for meetings, which is why it’s essential that all members have access to a suitable mobile device.

We plan to start phased member training on the application from September and are keen to sign up ‘early adopters’ for the program so again, please can you contact Steven if you are happy to be included in this first phase for training.

The Cabinet Member for Community, Councillor Bailey – No announcement.

The Cabinet Member for Place, Councillor Cockarill – No announcement.

The Cabinet Member for Regulatory, Councillor Kinnell – No announcement.

The Cabinet Member for Environment, Councillor Oliver - New subscriptions for our Green Waste service will be accepted from the 3rd August. All Hart controlled waste and recycling services are now back in full operation. The Green Waste service can now be extended to new or re-joining residents as volumes being collected are starting to approach pre-pandemic levels and we can be confident of providing a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

The Joint Chief Executives had nothing substantive to report.

The Minutes of the following Committees, which met on the dates shown, are submitted.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 14.1, Members are allowed to put questions at Council with Novice in respect of any matters in the Minutes to the Leader of the Council or any Chairman of the relevant meeting at the time those Minutes are received by Council.

No questions on any of the meetings were raised.

Cllr Cockarill moved the following Motion and it was seconded by Cllr Neighbour:

“To ask full Council to endorse the proposal to temporarily pedestrianise the retail core of Fleet Road, Fleet in order to assist the businesses in the recovery phase of the Covid-19 crisis.  The pedestrianisation would provide greater space for social distancing, and also allow activities to take place in the road space to attract people to Fleet and spend more while they are in Fleet.

a)         Members endorse the proposals to temporarily pedestrianise the retail core of Fleet Road, Fleet from its junction of with Church Road to the junction with Victoria Road/Upper Street;

b)         Members endorse the temporary blocking off of Upper Street at its junction with Clarence Road for traffic management purposes;

c)         Members endorse the working up and implementation of the Place Making elements of the Scheme (Phase 3 works); and

d)         Members endorse the improvements to the cycle lanes between the retail core of Fleet Road and Fleet Railway Station.”

Cllr Crookes requested that the Motion should be split a)-c) with d) debated separately.

Cllr Cockarill agreed this could be done.

Cllr Oliver requested an Amendment to the Motion that to secure the installation of entry and exit traffic loops (volume and speed) during week 1 of the traffic diversion for Church Road, Albert Street, Clarence Road and Connaught Road to determine future mitigation actions.

Cllr Makepeace-Browne seconded the Amendment. 

Members debated the Amendment and following a Recorded Vote the Amendment to the Motion was carried.

Members debated a)-c) of the substantive Motion as amended.  The issues raised were:

Members sought reassurance that if the Scheme goes ahead the traffic impact will be actively monitored and any indication that the scheme requires changes will be evidenced and taken to Hampshire County Council to make improvements or remove.

It was generally acknowledged that the High street is in decline and Members discussed if this is a viable temporary measure to help businesses by creating more space and the feeling of a safe environment for visitors or cause greater disruption to businesses and residents. 

Members discussed the importance of regular and careful monitoring with both retailers and residents to encourage feedback.

Following a Recorded Vote (Appendix 3) the Motion as Amended was carried.

Members then debated d) of the Motion: Member to endorse the improvements to the cycle lanes between the retail core of Fleet Road and Fleet Railway Station.

Members sought clarification on the background and were informed that the improvements form part of the Local Enterprise Partnership funding of the Green Grid to widen the route to make it safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

The need for local (cycling) groups to be consulted as part of the improvements to the cycle lanes was communicated to Officers working on the Project.

Following a Vote, the Motion was carried.

DECISION

Council agreed to endorse the proposal to temporarily pedestrianise the retail core of Fleet Road, Fleet in order to assist the businesses in the recovery  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

Council agreed to exclude the press and public from the meeting during item 13 (Notice of Motion Everyone Active: Leisure Centres) on the grounds that exempt information (as defined in Schedule 12A Local Government Act 1972) of the following description was likely to be disclosed: Category 3 Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including those of the Council).

The discussion on the Motion took place with the press and public excluded from the meeting.

DECISION

Following a Vote, the Motion was carried.