Agenda item

In accordance with Chichester District Council’s scheme for public question time and with reference with to standing order 6 in Part 4 A and section 5.6 in Part 5 of the Chichester District Council Constitution, the Cabinet will receive any questions which have been submitted by members of the public in writing by noon on the previous working day. The total time allocated for public question time is 15 minutes subject to the Chairman’s discretion to extend that period.

The following public questions were read out. The responses are indicated in italics.

 

Question 1 from Jane Towers

 

Having reviewed the online feedback, the only positive response to the council's local plan review from anyone that isn't a housing developer or site owner, seems to be for the creation of wildlife corridors. Can the council assure residents that all of these wildlife corridors, including some rumoured to be at risk like Nutbourne marshes, will be fully included in the Local Plan in at least their current areas and sizes? 

 

Mrs Taylor responded as follows:

 

Thank you for your questions. In relation to the first question, the wildlife corridors identified in the preferred approach version of the Local Plan Review are draft proposals. Further work and ecological studies are being undertaken to inform the location of any final proposed boundaries of the wildlife corridors prior to their identification in the submission version of the Local Plan Review anticipated for next year.  At this stage therefore whilst we cannot provide assurances that the boundaries will remain precisely as they are in the draft version we are continuing to develop the evidence to support their inclusion in the next version of the Plan. 

 

Mrs Lintill then allowed the following supplementary question from Jane Towers:

 

When and how will the public be given the opportunity to review the finalised wildlife corridors?

 

Mrs Taylor responded as follows:

 

Responses to the Local Plan consultation will be discussed at the Cabinet and the Council in November 2019. A report with the latest version of the Plan is scheduled for discussion at the Cabinet and the Council in March 2020.

 

Question 2 from Jane Towers

 

Houses in Chichester District cost 14 times the average salary last year, and the SDNP has a 50% affordable new housing target in its local plan. So can the council confirm the rumours are false that it’s planning to change its affordable house criteria for new developments from 'at least 30%' to just '30%', because of developer profit concerns? 

 

Mrs Taylor responded as follows:

 

The current policy in the adopted local plan seeks 30% affordable housing on site  as a starting  point for all development of 11 dwellings or more, as well as seeking a contribution or on site provision on sites of 6-10 dwellings in areas designated as rural areas under the Housing Act.  In addition, the Council has a policy to consider modest sized proposals for 100% affordable housing under the rural exceptions policy.

 

The emerging Local Plan draft policy seeks at least 30% of all new dwellings to be affordable, with a similar approach to other aspects, (the rural housing and exception sites) as the adopted Plan.  That wording is currently subject to further consideration following receipt of representations to the draft policy, emerging evidence on development viability and the need to provide clarity for all parties with what the Council will seek on individual developments, in accordance with national planning policy. The final proposed Plan will take all these factors into account before being published for further consultation. It is worth noting that housing affordability differs across Chichester District – with higher housing costs and land values often found towards the northern part of the district, which may explain why the National Park Authority seeks 50% affordable housing in its area.

 

Mrs Lintill did not allow a supplementary question as the question was not related to the original question. Mrs Lintill suggested that Ms Towers submit the question for response at a future meeting.

 

Question from Debbie Carter

 

In January this year, a group of concerned citizens, came together to form Eco Chi. We are now coming under the umbrella of Transition Chichester, which had worked for over 10 years to promote sustainability & working together in community.  Many good projects such as the community garden in the Bishop’s Palace Gardens, the Eco cinema, Swap Shop & recently the Brewery field fair have been supported by Transition. In April we set up a market stall for the community in Chichester on Wednesdays,
offering a range & ever growing resource around sustainability for communities. The volunteers have given over 600 hours & our website ecochi.org has had over 37,000 hits. The volunteers’ efforts can effectively be supported through providing a more permanent home to the group. With so many empty shops in Chichester, would you be able to support us to have an empty shop to set up an Eco Hub? The Eco Hub would be for the community, to have available, properly researched scientific-based ways in which could offer examples of living sustainably & cutting carbon admissions and reducing reliance on single-use plastic. With climate change on the horizon being part of a supportive community will help bring people together as history shows us this helps in times of crisis.  The Climate Change crisis is so huge and important that the councils cannot possibly work on this on their own. The voluntary sector and the councils need to work together on this together.

 

Mrs Lintill responded as follows:

 

Thank you for your question, today’s agenda includes consideration of a report regarding ‘pop up’ shops in Council owned premises.  If the recommendation of that report is agreed by Cabinet, this could be an opportunity for Eco Chi. Our Economic Development and Estates teams will be able to keep you updated on potential locations and the application process.

 

In the meantime, you may wish to enquire with the Council’s Funding Advisor for Community Groups and Voluntary Organisations who will be able to advise on the councils grants which you could be eligible for.  Officers will be able to provide you with the relevant contact details.

 

Question from Valerie Briginshaw

 

It is vitally important that divestment is a key part of our climate change agenda now that an emergency has been declared.

 

I am interested to read the Cabinet report with the analyses of where our £64.3m is invested.

 

Can the Cabinet advise us what proportion of these monies are invested in brown energy eg coal, gas and fracking and the arms trade if any – industries that are contributing to climate change?

 

Mrs Lintill responded as follows:

 

Thank you for your question. The Council’s principal goal under its present investment strategy is to safeguard the value of its investments whilst using the return on these funds to support local services. This is achieved within a framework set out in the Council’s Treasury Management Strategy and Policy statement.  The Council’s 2019-20 strategy was approved by Full Council in March this year and is available online on the Council’s website.

 

Within the Council’s current portfolio at 31 March 2019, the Council had £42m of investments with banks, building societies and other local authorities at year end.  The remainder (£22.3m) was invested across a number of external pooled funds where the Council’s investment is a small part of a much larger investment fund. These funds make their own individual investment decisions with reference to the larger fund, not the Council’s individual investment.  Because of this the wider investment fund will often contain many hundreds of different stocks, shares and other investments that the Council cannot control and does not therefore monitor at a detailed level.

 

Mrs Lintill then allowed the following supplementary question from Valerie Briginshaw:

 

Given the climate emergency would the Cabinet be prepared to look into finding out more about the investments by seeking professional advice? If so would the Cabinet consider divesting and investing in green energy projects?

 

Mr Ward responded as follows:

 

The overriding principle of the Council’s investments is to protect the sum invested rather than actively seek a return. If an ethical standard were to be introduced it could potentially wipe out a number of funds available to the council and therefore the officer advice would be to caution against a blanket policy due to that potential for unintended consequences. Last year the council’s investments generated £1.2 million to support council services.

 

Question from Paula Chatfield

 

I note from Agenda Item 5 that you have plans to add an extra Councillor to the Growth Board.

 

Given the increasing awareness of the impacts of climate change on the District, and CDC's declaration of a climate emergency earlier this year, please can that new member be chosen to reflect the growing environmental concerns of many members of the public including myself? (You will note that businesses are already responding to consumers' demands by announcing new initiatives and publicising their eco-credentials, and that it is important that public, commerce and Council are pulling in the same direction to address the challenges of climate change and pollution.)

 

Mrs Lintill responded as follows:

 

Thank you for your question. The Council notes and acknowledges the importance of the impact of human behaviour on the climate.  The declaration of a climate change emergency places a responsibility on all members in whatever role they perform to consider the impact of their actions on climate change.  The Council has also established an Environment Panel with specific responsibility to scrutinise activity council wide.  I will make the appointment in due course but whoever is chosen will, as with all other members, need to reflect environmental concerns.

 

Mrs Lintill then allowed the following supplementary question from Paula Chatfield:

 

Could the Growth Board terms of reference be updated to recognise the importance of the climate emergency?

 

Mrs Lintill responded as follows:

 

The Growth Board is a joint meeting with West Sussex County Council and as such it would not be appropriate to make a decision without consultation however the suggestion will be noted for consideration.

 

Question from Maureen O’Grady

 

The Real Time Passenger Information screens are extremely useful and do help us bus passengers and I welcome the plan to put in extra screens.

 

I feel however that the extra news information included would cost considerably more money. Could costs be saved and power consumption reduced by keeping to simple bus updates and not include the extra add-on services? 

 

Mrs Taylor responded as follows:

 

Thank you for your question. The type of RTPI display that has the option to include news headlines and weather can only be installed in bus shelters. The displays planned for Phase 1 of this project (2019/20) are all post mounted and therefore the type of display to be used does not include the news/weather feature. As a consequence, only bus information will be provided on these displays, thereby avoiding the concerns expressed in your question.