Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Eddie Johnson, Shona Johnson and John Strachan.

Councillors’ declarations of interest (if any) in relation to any items on the agenda.

Councillors Simon Carter, Bob Davis and Chris Vince all declared a pecuniary interest as Council Appointed Directors of HTS (Property and Environment) Ltd. On the basis of advice from the Monitoring Officer they remained in the meeting.

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 21 May 2019.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 21 May 2019 are agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Since becoming Chair, Councillor Souter said he had been to three Civic Services at Waltham Abbey, Bishops Stortford and Basildon. He had  raised the flag on Armed Forces Day. He had attended a National Volunteers Award and opened the Gibberd Wall Garden at Princess Alexandra Hospital. I also attended the Bush Fair Fayre, Eid Festival, Capel Manor, the British Spring Clean Presentation, Harlow College Celebration Awards, Harlow Concert 50th Anniversary and last but not least Harlow Carnival and the End of Carnival Show Show, which had been absolutely brilliant.  The Chair thanked all of those that had helped out on these events.

Petition from Nicola Purse:

“We demand the Council releases half (£215,000) of the Church Langley Environmental Fund now to carry out the one-off works to improve the appearance, safety and sustainability of our estate (especially regarding improvements to walkways and alleyways) in accordance with the purposes of the funds and the research undertaken over the past 18 months by residents, councillors and officers, and that the remaining £215,000 is released over the next 15 years. These works will reduce the cost of landscape maintenance and thereby reduce the cost to our Council Tax bills, similar to the removal of bushes at junctions carried out a decade ago. No money has been spent over the last decade so there is clearly a lot of catching up to do.”

A petition of 715 signatures was received which asked for the immediate release of £215,000 from the Church Langley Fund, with the remaining £215,000 to be released over the next 15 years.

Nicola Purse presented the petition to Council and Councillors then debated the petition.

The following amendment was proposed by Councillor Simon Carter (seconded by Councillor Andrew Johnson):

“To add the following words after the word ‘it’:

‘That this Council establishes a working group comprising residents, ward councillors and officers to:

a)    Review and confirm the detail of the proposed one-off works;

b)    Review the entire 1987 agreement to put the alleged extracts into context and to identify the period of the fund;

c)    Review the historic activity of the fund to identify the ‘careful profile of expenditure’ required  for the future;

d)    Monitor implementation of the agreed works.’”

Upon being put to the vote the amendment was lost.

The following amendment was then proposed by Councillor Mike Danvers (seconded by Councillor Stefan Mullard):

“That the Council agrees to carry out the works detailed in Table 1 of the accompanying report.”

The amendment was carried.

RESOLVED that the Council agrees that the following works be carried out.

The questions, together with the answers, are appended to the minutes.

The questions, together with the answers, are appended to the minutes.

Proposed by Councillor Mark Ingall (seconded by Councillor Chris Vince):

“This Council believes that climate change is one of the most significant threats facing the world. One of the largest factors contributing to climate change is man-made emissions, especially those relating to the use of non-sustainable power sources. This Council recognises that action must be taken quickly in order to prevent climate change from causing irreversible damage to the planet. It also recognises the numerous social benefits which are brought about by reducing greenhouse gas emissions such as better air quality.

This Council believes it is still possible to restore a safe climate andtherefore declares a climate emergency and will:

          i)    Aim to reduce its net carbon emissions as far as possible;

         ii)    Reduce its carbon footprint at a greater rate than it is already committed to doing so;

       iii)    Create a program of new tree and hedgerow planting across the town, starting with 1,000 in the next year;

       iv)    Encourage HTS (Property and Environment) to plan for a switch over from petrol and diesel vehicles, plant and machinery to electric vehicles, plant and machinery; and

         v)    Reaffirm its commitment to the Garden Town development’s principles of sustainable transport.”

Proposed by Councillor Mark Ingall (seconded by Councillor Chris Vince):

“This Council believes that climate change is one of the most significant threats facing the world. One of the largest factors contributing to climate change is man-made emissions, especially those relating to the use of non-sustainable power sources. This Council recognises that action must be taken quickly in order to prevent climate change from causing irreversible damage to the planet. It also recognises the numerous social benefits which are brought about by reducing greenhouse gas emissions such as better air quality.

This Council believes it is still possible to restore a safe climate and therefore declares a climate emergency and will:

             i)        Aim to reduce its net carbon emissions as far as possible;

            ii)        Reduce its carbon footprint at a greater rate than it is already committed to doing so;

           iii)        Create a program of new tree and hedgerow planting across the town, starting with 1,000 in the next year;

           iv)        Encourage HTS (Property and Environment) to plan for a switch over from petrol and diesel vehicles, plant and machinery to electric vehicles, plant and machinery; and

            v)        Reaffirm its commitment to the Garden Town development’s principles of sustainable transport.”

Councillor Russell Perrin (seconded by Councillor Tony Hall) proposed that the motion was amended to read as follows:

“This Council believes that climate change is one of the most significant threats facing the world. One of the largest factors contributing to climate change is man-made emissions, especially those relating to the use of non-sustainable power sources. This Council recognises that action must be taken quickly in order to prevent climate change from causing irreversible damage to the planet. It also recognises the numerous social benefits which are brought about by reducing greenhouse gas emissions such as better air quality.

This Council believes it is still possible to restore a safe climate andtherefore declares a climate emergency and will:

             i)        Aim to reduce its net carbon emissions as far as possible;

            ii)        Reduce its carbon footprint at a greater rate than it is already committed to doing so;

           iii)        Create a program of new tree and hedgerow planting across the town, starting with 1,000 in the next year;

           iv)        Encourage HTS (Property and Environment) to plan for a switch over from petrol and diesel vehicles, plant and machinery to electric vehicles, plant and machinery and encourage HTS to source battery technology for its electric vehicles from companies who ensure environmentally friendly lithium mining techniques ;

            v)        Reaffirm its commitment to the Garden Town development’s principles of sustainable transport;

           vi)        Eliminate the use of single use plastics in line with the government ban across all public council buildings by January 2020 ahead of the national implementation date of April 2020;

         vii)        Actively promote schemes to encourage children to walk to school such as the Walking Bus initiative and WOW;

        viii)        Installing electric car charging points across all of its car parks within the next five years where possible;

           ix)        Request that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8a

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 17.3, the Chair will call on the Leader of the Council to introduce the debate on the work undertaken by the Council in 2018/19 municipal year together with any highlights, pressures and potential issues for the coming year.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 17.3, the Chair called on the Leader of the Council to introduce the debate on the work undertaken by the Council in 2018/19 municipal year together with any highlights, pressures and potential issues for the coming year. The Leader of the Opposition was given the opportunity to respond to the debate. The Leader of the Council outlined the Council’s approach to meeting with challenges so as to provide services to the Town for the benefit of its residents.

To note the Leader’s appointment of the following Councillors as Additional Attendees to Cabinet: Councillors Tony Edwards, Shannon Jezzard and Stefan Mullard.

RESOLVED that the appointment of Councillors Tony Edwards, Shannon Jezzard and Stefan Mullard as Additional Attendees to Cabinet be noted.

The Audit and Standards Committee recommended to Full Council that the Audit and Standards Committee’s annual report for 2018/19 is noted.

Full Council considered a referral from the Audit and Standards Committee to note its annual report.

RESOLVED that the Audit and Standards Committee’s annual report for 2018/19 be noted.

The Licensing Committee recommended to Full Council that the revised Operator Licensing Procedures, attached as Appendix 2 to the original report, be adopted.

Full Council considered a referral from the Licensing Committee to adopt revised Operator Licensing Procedures.

RESOLVED that the revised Operator Licensing Procedures, attached as Appendix 2 to the original report, be adopted.

In accordance with the Constitution, Councillor Michael Garnett requested that his objection to the proposal be recorded.

None.

To note the following Cabinet and Committee minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the following meetings are noted.

Such other business which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be received as a matter of urgency by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the minutes.

None.