Agenda for Cabinet on Tuesday 15 March 2022, 6.00 pm

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Mildenhall Hub, Sheldrick Way, Mildenhall, IP28 7JX (see link to directions below)

Contact: Sharon Turner: Democratic Services Officer  Email: sharon.turner@westsuffolk.gov.uk

Note: This meeting will also be accessible by the press and public via a live stream, the link to which is set out below. Click on the link below to view the meeting via the YouTube streaming service. 

Media

Items
No. Item

333.

Welcome and introduction

Minutes:

The Chair opened the meeting and welcomed all persons present to the first West Suffolk Council Cabinet meeting at the Mildenhall Hub. 

 

The Chair also explained that this meeting was being webcast live and would be available to view subsequently on the Council’s website.  The Chair also explained the rationale behind the continuing precautionary health and safety measures that remained in operation for this meeting, which aimed to reduce and restrict the transmission of the COVID-19 virus.

334.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Andy Drummond and Jo Rayner

335.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 289 KB

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 8 February 2022 (copy attached).

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 February 2022 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

336.

Declarations of interest

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary or local non pecuniary interest which they have in any item of business on the agenda, no later than when that item is reached and, when appropriate, to leave the meeting prior to discussion and voting on the item.

Minutes:

Members’ declarations of interest are recorded under the item to which the declaration relates.

337.

Open forum

At each Cabinet meeting, up to 15 minutes shall be allocated for questions or statements from and discussion with, non-Cabinet members. Members wishing to speak during this session are encouraged to give notice in advance. Who speaks and for how long will be at the complete discretion of the person presiding.

Minutes:

The following non-Cabinet members spoke under this item:

 

1.       Councillor Andy Neal (Customer access at the Mildenhall Hub)

 

Councillor Andy Neal (Ward Member for Mildenhall Queensway)addressed the Cabinet with regards to the public being able to access West Suffolk Council services at the Mildenhall Hub.

 

Councillor Neal stated that the Mildenhall Hub was a flagship facility and commended its success.  However, he wished to raise his residents’ concerns regarding the absence of face-to-face representation from West Suffolk Council Officers at the facility.  Prior to the construction of the Hub, ‘face-to-face’ services were available at both the Council Offices located at College Heath Road and at the Mildenhall Bus Station.  If possible, he asked if it would be possible for a ‘Help-desk’ facility to be provided at the Hub (possibly for two days a week), where West Suffolk Council Officers could help residents with their queries.  

 

Therefore, Councillor Neal asked the Cabinet to give future consideration of a ‘Help-desk’ facility being made available at the Mildenhall Hub.

 

The Chair thanked Councillor Neal for attending Cabinet and then asked Councillor Robert Everitt (Portfolio Holder for Families and Communities) to respond directly.

 

In response, Councillor Robert Everitt firstly wished to commend the Mildenhall Hub as an excellent public facility.  He thanked Councillor Neal for attending this Cabinet meeting and raising these concerns.  Councillor Everitt reassured Councillor Neal and the local residents that support and advice was provided from Mildenhall Hub. Public access to West Suffolk Council services was provided by telephone and computers on site or through a pre-booked appointment. A Hub Host service was provided on-site covering all co-located partner services. If members of the public wanted to discuss matters with Council staff and would prefer to do so face-to-face, then that absolutely could be arranged and at a time convenient to the customer. There were staff working across West Suffolk from various locations, so it was always best to arrange appointments rather than arriving at the Hub and finding that staff were on-site elsewhere. The vast majority of people preferred to contact the Council on-line or via the telephone, but appointments could be arranged for those that needed one.

 

In addition, Councillor Everitt also referred to the consultation which had been undertaken with regards to the future provision of the Council’s Customer Service Access Points (and which had been previously approved by Cabinet).  Councillor Everitt considered that because of the arrangements in place, there was not a specific need for Officers to be available on a general ‘meet and greet’ basis and that the process for making appointments to speak with Officers was more efficient and effective.

 

Councillor Andy Neal thanked Councillor Everitt for his response and would reassure his residents that the operation of the appointment process allowed the public to continue to be able to meet with West Suffolk Council staff ‘face-to-face’.

 

2.       Councillor Brian Harvey (Agenda Item 6 (Report number CAB/WS/22/012): Sunnica Energy Farm Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project: Draft Relevant Representation)

 

Councillor Brian Harvey declared a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 337.

338.

Public participation

Members of the public who live or work in the district are invited to put one question or statement of not more than three minutes duration relating to items to be discussed in Part 1 of the agenda only. If a question is asked and answered within three minutes, the person who asked the question may ask a supplementary question that arises from the reply.

 

A person who wishes to speak must register at least 15 minutes before the time the meeting is scheduled to start. This can be done online by sending the request to democratic.services@westsuffolk.gov.uk or telephoning 01638 719237 or in person by telling the Committee Administrator present at the meeting. Due to applying coronavirus health and safety measures, precautions taken will apply to members of the public in attendance and registered to speak, and therefore, would urge anyone who wishes to register to speak to notify Democratic Services by 9am on the day of the meeting so that advice can be given on the arrangements in place.

 

There is an overall time limit of 15 minutes for public speaking, which may be extended at the Chair’s discretion.

Minutes:

There were no members of the public in attendance on this occasion.

339.

Sunnica Energy Farm Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project: Draft Relevant Representation pdf icon PDF 614 KB

Report number:     CAB/WS/22/012

Portfolio holder: Councillor David Roach

Lead officer: Julie Baird

 

(Due to ensuring the representation is submitted by the required deadline of 17 March 2022, with the agreement of the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the call-in procedure for this item has been suspended.  The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee is satisfied that the decision proposed is reasonable in all the circumstances and to it being treated as a matter of urgency).

Additional documents:

Decision:

Resolved:

 

That:

1.           The draft Relevant Representation, attached as Appendix A to Report number: CAB/WS/22/012, be endorsed and submitted to the Planning Inspectorate under s56 of the Planning Act 2008.

 

2.           The Director (Planning and Growth), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning, be authorised to make amendments to the draft Relevant Representation, prior to its submission to the Planning Inspectorate.

 

3.           Delegated authority be granted to the Director (Planning and Growth), in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning, to fully engage with the Pre-examination and Examination stages of the Development Consent Order process in relation to the Sunnica proposals, in order to pursue the concerns identified in the Relevant Representation.

 

(Due to ensuring the representation was submitted by the required deadline of 17 March 2022, with the agreement of the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Committee, the call-in procedure for this item had been suspended. The Chair of the O&S Committee was satisfied that the decision proposed was reasonable in all the circumstances and to it being treated as a matter of urgency).

 

Minutes:

(Report number CAB/WS/22/012)

 

The Cabinet considered this report which set out the Relevant Representation of West Suffolk Council, under Section 56 of the Planning Act 2008, in respect of the Sunnica Energy Farm application.

 

Councillor David Roach, Portfolio Holder for Planning, drew relevant issues to the attention of the Cabinet and explained that the Sunnica Energy Farm was a scheme for the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) generating panels and on-site battery energy storage systems (BESS) across two sites within Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.  The proposal would include the infrastructure associated with the required connection to the national grid, including an extension to the Burwell National Grid Substation.  The scheme was defined as a National Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) under the Planning Act 2008, as it was an onshore generating station in England exceeding 50 megawatts (MW).  Consent for a NSIP takes the form of a development Consent Order (DCO) and the application would be determined by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.  The Council was a statutory consultee in the consenting process.

 

The application was now in the pre-examination phase.  As required by s56 of the Planning Act 2008, Sunnica had notified the Council, as a person identified as falling within the categories of persons that must be notified that the application had been accepted for examination.  The s56 Notice set out the period in which relevant representations were invited to be made to the Planning Inspectorate.  This period ran from 3 February 2022 to 17 March 2022.  The four affected Councils (West Suffolk Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council, Suffolk County Council, Cambridgeshire County Council) would submit a relevant representation on an individual basis to ensure that the Examining Authority was fully informed of the matters of concern to the Council and its communities and interests that the Council represented.

 

Appendix A to Report Number CAB/WS/22/012 set out the concerns of this Council which were stating that the Council could not support the proposal as it stood and considered that development consent should not be granted for the proposal, as submitted. 

 

Key concerns remained in a number of areas in relation to the likely environmental impacts, the quality of assessment of these impacts and the lack of mitigation in a number of topic areas.  Suffolk County Council had also stated within its Relevant Representation, that the submitted material in relation to transport and access was not acceptable and that there were deficiencies in the highway-related provisions in the draft DCO.

 

A project of the scale and nature proposed would radically change the sense of place, the place attachment of the residents and the recreational amenities of the affected villages and communities, over a long period of time.  It was considered that the applicant’s submission did not recognise this and the need to mitigate/compensate for these impacts.

 

The draft Relevant Representation also raised concerns in relation to cultural heritage and the assessment of non-designated heritage impacts, the acceptability of the applicant’s noise assessments and assessment of impacts  ...  view the full minutes text for item 339.

340.

Former St Felix School Site, Newmarket - Development Brief pdf icon PDF 159 KB

Report number:     CAB/WS/22/013

Portfolio holder: Councillor David Roach

Lead officer: Gary Hancox

Additional documents:

Decision:

Resolved:

 

That:

1.           The landowner to begin a six-week formal public consultation process on the draft St Felix Development Brief.

 

2.           The possible future options for a sports facility (as set out in Part 2 of the Development Brief) be noted.

Minutes:

(Report number CAB/WS/22/013)

 

The Cabinet considered this report which set out the draft Development Brief for the former St Felix School site in Newmarket.

 

Councillor David Roach, Portfolio Holder for Planning, drew relevant issues to the attention of the Cabinet and explained that the site was allocated within the Site Allocations Local Plan (SALP) under Policy SA6(d) which was adopted in September 2019.  This site was known in the SALP as the ‘Former St Felix Middle School Site’.  The site extended to 4.5 hectares and comprised the footprint of the former school, outbuildings, sports pitches, courts and playing fields.  The site was allocated in its entirety, although the suggested capacity (50 dwellings) reflected the retention of the open space and existing tennis courts.

 

Suffolk County Council, as landowners of the site, had prepared a draft Development Brief (as set out in Appendices A to C of Report number CAB/WS/22/013) that sought to provide planning and design guidance for the development of the former middle school.

 

The Development Brief provided a design framework aligned with the adopted Local Plan and would guide the preparation and determination of future planning applications for this site.  However, this document was not designed to be prescriptive.  It was intended to guide the effective delivery of SALP Policy SA6d.  The Cabinet also noted that an element of the draft Development Brief relocated within the existing tennis courts within the site and this was considered to be contrary to the requirements of the policy allocation.  Provided that the relocated tennis courts resulted in an improved facility, then Officers agreed that there was merit in this approach.

 

Once approved and adopted as informal Planning Guidance, the Development Brief would constitute a material consideration in the determination of future planning applications and should also be read in conjunction with the policies of the adopted West Suffolk Local Plan.  Therefore, the Cabinet was being asked to recommend that the draft Development Brief now proceeded to a six-week period of public consultation.

 

Councillor Sarah Broughton endorsed the Development Brief proceeding to a period of public consultation by Suffolk County Council.  In addition, Councillor Broughton hoped that this Development Brief would provide Suffolk County Council with the opportunity to reinstate a sports hall for Newmarket, to replace the one which had been previously demolished on the Scaltback School site.

 

Resolved:

 

That:

1.           The landowner to begin a six-week formal public consultation process on the draft St Felix Development Brief.

 

2.           The possible future options for a sports facility (as set out in Part 2 of the Development Brief) be noted.

341.

Revenues Collection Performance and Write Offs pdf icon PDF 135 KB

Report number:     CAB/WS/22/014

Portfolio holder: Councillor Sarah Broughton

Lead officer: Rachael Mann

Decision:

Resolved:

 

That the write-off of the amounts detailed in the Exempt Appendices to Report number CAB/WS/22/014, be approved, as follows:

 

1.           Exempt Appendix 1: Council Tax totalling £21,160.82.

2.           Exempt Appendix 2: Housing Benefit Overpayment totalling £15,028.93.

Minutes:

(Report number CAB/WS/22/014)

 

The Cabinet considered this report, which provided the collection data in respect of Council Tax and National Non-Domestic Rates (NNDR) and sought approval for the write-off of the amounts contained in the exempt Appendices attached to the report.

 

Councillor Sarah Broughton, Portfolio Holder for Resources and Property, drew relevant issues to the attention of the Cabinet, including the current performance of both Council Tax and Business Rates collection, as set out in Section 2 of the report.

 

Members noted that reliefs introduced by central Government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (many of which provided 100 percent relief for 2020/2021) had been extended to the end of June 2020, at which point the remainder of the year would be discounted by 66 percent.  Eligible accounts were rebilled in July 2021 for the increased amount which adjusted the net collectable debt to £61.4m on 1 July 2021.

 

Resolved:

 

That the write-off of the amounts detailed in the Exempt Appendices to Report number CAB/WS/22/014, be approved, as follows:

 

1.           Exempt Appendix 1: Council Tax totalling £21,160.82.

2.           Exempt Appendix 2: Housing Benefit Overpayment totalling £15,028.93.

342.

Decisions Plan: 1 March 2022 to 31 May 2022 pdf icon PDF 180 KB

To consider the most recently published version of the Cabinet’s Decisions Plan

 

Report number:     CAB/WS/22/015

Portfolio holder: Councillor John Griffiths

Lead officer: Ian Gallin

Minutes:

(Report number CAB/WS/22/015)

 

The Cabinet considered this report which was the Cabinet Decisions Plan covering the period 1 March 2022 to 31 May 2022.

 

Members took the opportunity to review the intended forthcoming decisions of the Cabinet; however, no further information or amendments were requested on this occasion.

343.

Exclusion of press and public

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded during the consideration of the following items because it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during the items, there would be disclosure to them of exempt categories of information as prescribed in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, and indicated against each item and, in all circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Minutes:

See minute 344. below.

344.

Exempt Appendices: Revenues Collection Performance and Write Offs (paragraphs 1 and 2)

Exempt Appendices 1 and 2 to Report number: CAB/WS/22/014

Portfolio holder: Councillor Sarah Broughton

Lead officer: Rachael Mann

 

(These exempt appendices are to be considered in private under paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as they contain information relating to an individual and information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual)

 

(No representations have been received from members of the public regarding these items being held in private)

Minutes:

(Exempt Appendices 1 and 2 to Report number CAB/WS/22/014)

 

The Cabinet considered the exempt appendices to this report.  However, no reference was made to specific detail and, therefore, this item was not held in private session.

 

 

 

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