Agenda and minutes

Within the Forest Heath District Council (FHDC) and St Edmundsbury Borough Council (SEBC) Constitutions, the Terms of Reference for the West Suffolk Joint Growth Steering Group state that:

“2.     The Steering Group comprises 12 Members, six from each Council.  The Chairmanship and Vice-Chairmanship will rotate annually between the two Councils.”

The Chairman for 2014/2015 was Councillor Alaric Pugh (SEBC). 

Therefore, the Chairman for 2015/2016 should be drawn from FHDC.

The approved Terms of Reference for the West Suffolk Joint Growth Steering Group required that the Chairmanship and Vice Chairmanship is rotated annually between the two Councils.

Therefore, the Panel was requested to ELECT a Chairman from Forest Heath District Council and ELECT a Vice-Chairman from St Edmundsbury Borough Council, in accordance with this arrangement.

It was proposed, seconded and

          RESOLVED:

That Councillor David Bowman (Forest Heath District Council) be elected as Chairman for 2015/2016.

The Vice Chairman for 2014/2015 was Councillor David Bowman (FHDC). 

Therefore, the Vice Chairman for 2015/2016 should be drawn from SEBC.

It was proposed, seconded and

          RESOLVED:

That Councillor Alaric Pugh (St Edmundsbury Borough Council) be elected as Vice-Chairman for 2015/2016.

There were no apologies for absence.

Councillor James Lay (Forest Heath District Council) was unable to attend the meeting.

There were no substitutes present at the meeting.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 27 October 2014  (copy attached).

The schedule of recommendations from the meeting held on 27 October 2014 were received and confirmed as a correct record.

Report No: JGG/JT/16/001

(Report No JGG/JT/16/001)

The Principal Planning Officer (Major Projects) presented this report which explained that the adopted Forest Heath Core Strategy defined Mildenhall as a market town which provided a broad range of shops, services and facilities that served the needs of its catchment area.  It had a population of approximately 10,315 and would be a focus for growth to 2031, which would place greater demand upon public services.  Many of the buildings which housed public services in Mildenhall, were coming to the end of their planned lives or were in need of major investment.

Against this background and the Government’s ‘One Public Estate’ initiative, a partnership of public service providers in Mildenhall commissioned Concertus to investigate the business case for development to replace accommodation on a shared basis.  The 2014 report, which considered the business case, examined a number of options involving five sites across Mildenhall, in a number of configurations.  One of the options, for a single site ‘Hub’ at Sheldrick Way, Mildenhall, was found to be the most beneficial in terms of the business case.

Public consultation in respect of the Site Allocations Local Plan: Issues and Options, which was carried out between August to October 2015, also identified support for the principle of bringing services together on a single site at Sheldrick Way.

Attached as Appendix 1 to the report was the draft Development Brief for the allocated site.  The Brief set out the planning issues and constraints and provided guidance as to what would need to be addressed in bringing the site forward for development in a cohesive and phased manner to meet the future demands for public services in Mildenhall.

Subject to the draft Development Brief being approved, a public consultation would take place for a (minimum) four week period.  The consultation would be carried out in accordance with the Council’s adopted Statement of Community Involvement (SCI).  All responses to the consultation exercise would be reported back to the West Suffolk Joint Growth Steering Group and, if necessary, a modified version of the document would be put forward for final adoption by Council, as planning guidance.  Officers also advised that a site visit to Sheldrick Way would be arranged for the Steering Group, prior to their consideration of the consultation responses.

In discussing the proposed Development Brief, Members recommended that the Brief should contain an Executive Summary, outlining the following areas:

-      Explaining the value and importance of the Hub, particularly as a community facility.

-      To emphasise the proposals for the leisure facilities.

-      To include reference to the previous transport study and how this would relate to this development.

Councillor Ruth Bowman, Ward Member for the Market Ward (Mildenhall), explained the current concerns of residents with regard to the issues of traffic, car parking and pedestrian access, within the area of Wamil Way and Church Walk and how this may also be further affected by other potential development within that area.  Therefore, Councillor Bowman proposed that the Development Brief should be amended  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The meetings of the West Suffolk Joint Growth Steering Group are scheduled to take place on Mondays at 10.00 am.  Venues for this meeting are rotated between the Offices of St Edmundsbury Borough Council and Forest Heath District Council (where able to do so).

The Steering Group are asked to consider whether their meetings should continue to be held on the day/time as stated above.

The meetings of the West Suffolk Joint Growth Steering Group were scheduled to take place on Mondays at 10.00 am.  Venues for these meetings were rotated between the Offices of St Edmundsbury Borough Council and Forest Heath District Council (where able to do so).

The Steering Group then considered whether their meetings should continue to be held on the day/time stated and it was felt that, taking account of the availability of the Steering Group members, these meetings should now be held on Tuesdays at 10.00 am.

It was proposed, seconded and

          RESOLVED:

That the meetings of the West Suffolk Joint Growth Steering Group to be held on Tuesdays at 10.00 am.  Venues to be rotated between the Offices of St Edmundsbury Borough Council and Forest Heath District Council (where able to do so).

Monday 8 February 2016 at 10.00 am at Forest Heath District Council

The Steering Group noted that their next meeting would be held on Monday 8 February 2016 at 10.00 am at Forest Heath District Council.