Agenda and minutes

The Chairman of the Council will open the session and note apologies for absence.

The Chair opened the briefing session and welcomed all those present. She explained that the All Member Session was not a meeting being held under the Local Government Act 1972 meeting legislation and as such a resolution had been passed at the Full Council meeting on 20 July 2021 to allow the Chief Executive to enact the exact recommendations agreed by members at the Session.

Apologies were received from Cllr Graves (post meeting).

The following declarations of interest were made:

Cllr Brisbane declared a personal interest in Peter Brett as an old work associate of the company. The Monitoring Officer confirmed that Cllr Brisbane had sought his advice on the declaration and confirmed that as he had had no association with the company since 2014 and was therefore able to stay and vote on the recommendations being discussed.

Cllr Duncton declared a personal interest as a member of West Sussex County Council.

Cllr Donna Johnson declared a personal interest as a member of West Sussex County Council.

Cllr Oakley declared a personal interest as a member of West Sussex County Council.

Cllr Sharp declared a personal interest as a member of West Sussex County Council.  

In accordance with Chichester District Council’s scheme for public question time the Council will receive any questions which have been submitted by members of the public in writing by noon two working days before the meeting. Each questioner will be given up to three minutes to ask their question. The total time allocated for public question time is 15 minutes subject to the Chair’s discretion to extend that period.

The Chair explained that no subsidiary questions would be allowed. The following questions and answers were received:

Question from Jane Towers:

The Local Plan and Strategic Infrastructure Update shows that waste water treatment infrastructure is a significant constraint on the level of and location of housing development. It is well known that Thornham Wastewater Treatment works has finite capacity and does not have the technical or environmental conditions to be upgraded in the near future.  Yet the actual capacity is still not in the public domain. It is therefore essential there is a Statement of Common Ground for Thornham, exactly as for Apuldram, and signed off by CDC, Havant BC, Southern Water and the EA as quickly as possible.  This will enable Chidham and Hambrook, Southbourne and Westbourne in our District and Emsworth in Havant to better defend what is now well over 1000 houses in planning applications.

1.    When will you put in the public domain the remaining capacity for each Waste Water Treatment Plant?

Answer from Cllr Taylor:

An estimate of the capacity at each WWTW, made by comparing the EA permit to the average Dry Weather Flow information from Southern Water can be made available in August. This information will change each year as new Dry Weather Flow data becomes available.

This estimate will be supplemented by information on recent completions and permissions - an update to this information is currently in progress alongside work on the Five Year Housing Supply for the Chichester plan area.

We are currently working with both Southern Water and the Environment on a Statement of Common Ground which will include this information, with Southern Water also providing information on development in other Districts using WWTWs in the Chichester plan area.  Further updates may be needed to reflect any changes in the emerging Local Plan Review Development Strategy. Once this Statement of Common Ground is agreed it will be published on the Council’s website at the earliest opportunity.

2.    Given the simplicity of the current Apuldram Position Statement that has been in place since 2018, and the urgency with respect to planning applications, what is the barrier to getting an individual Position Statements issued for Thornham by the end of August?

Answer from Cllr Taylor:

We are currently in discussion with Southern Water and the Environment Agency concerning the need for and content of a Position Statement for Thornham and will also be discussing this with Havant. Subject to the agreement of all parties it is anticipated that a position statement will be progressed shortly.

Question from Roderick Hague, Chair of Oving Parish Council – read by Ruth Palmer, Clerk of Oving Parish Council

1.    Given the letters that were sent out to all of the Parish Councils on the 26th November 2020, would this Council (if they agree to item 10.4) include in those letters the analysis of each of those proposed allocations for their impact on the new revised situation of only minor mitigation measures along  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

At its meeting on 20 July 2021 Full Council resolved:

That Council gives an administrative delegation to the Chief Executive to enact all decisions from the remote session of Councillors on 29 July 2021 and to report that enactment to the next Full Council.

Members are therefore requested to consider the report and its appendices and instruct the Chief Executive to enact the recommendations set out in sections 2.1-2.5 of the report or as amended following debate.

(Please note that the full debate can be viewed online: https://chichester.nucast.live/frontend/meeting/4105153)

The Chair explained that the Session is not a meeting being held under the Local Government Act 1972 meeting legislation and as such a resolution was passed at the Full Council meeting on 20 July 2021 for the Chief Executive to enact the exact recommendations agreed by members.

Cllr Taylor proposed the recommendations which were seconded by Cllr Sutton. Cllr Taylor then introduced the report.

Cllr Moss proposed amendments which were seconded by Cllr Brown which read in full as follows:

1.    That in the absence of significant external strategic infrastructure funding, the full scheme of improvements for the A27 Chichester Bypass prepared by Stantec consultants to support the Local Plan review including the proposed Stockbridge Link Road is undeliverable. Therefore the full package (and the Stockbridge Link Road) will not be progressed further as part of the Local Plan process barring a significant change in the availability and likelihood of securing public sector funding support.

2.    That on the basis of recommendation 2.1 above, the Local Plan Review is unable to meet full housing needs and the Plan strategy should therefore focus on delivering as much development as possible based upon the capacity of the plan area to accommodate development within an affordable and deliverable package of transport mitigation taking into account all sources of available funding.

3.    That discussions are held with Highways England and West Sussex County Council to agree a revised phased distribution of development for further testing of highways capacity within the Chichester Plan Area until any decision is confirmed regarding the A27 Chichester Bypass.

4.    That, notwithstanding the Council's commitment to securing national funding for improvements to the A27 through the RIS scheme, the opportunity must be taken to develop the district's sustainable transport infrastructure. The District's, County's and Country's climate change obligations cannot be met without a modal shift in the way we travel. The "deliverable package of transport mitigation" must therefore include sustainable travel options, such as walking, cycling and bus improvements, all of which will contribute to reducing the impact of development upon our local and national road network.

5.    That the Council undertakes to review the Local Plan within 5 years of the date of adoption of the emerging Local Plan Review once clarity regarding a national scheme for the A27 at Chichester has been obtained.

6.    That the Council’s position in respect of the Duty to Cooperate with other local authorities is updated to reflect that the Council is unable to meet the full housing needs of the Chichester plan area.

7.    That a Statement of Common Ground between Chichester District Council, the  Environment Agency (EA) and Southern Water (SW) is urgently published that clearly and unambiguously states the challenges and issues surrounding the limitations and restrictions affecting Waste water Treatment Works ( WwTWs) operated by Southern Water in the District.

8.    That the EA be urgently requested to formally recognise the need for development to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

No part II items have been listed.

There was no requirement to exclude the press or public.