Agenda and minutes

To confirm the Minutes of the Council meeting held on DATE (herewith).

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on 15 December 2015 were confirmed and signed.

The Mayor to report apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Jill Hargreaves, Martin Lear, Peter Martin, Simon Thornton, Bob Upton and John Williamson.

To receive from Members, declarations of interest in relation to any items included on the agenda for this meeting in accordance with the Waverley Code of Local Government Conduct.

Cllr Mike Hodge declared a non-pecuniary interest in Executive Minute No. 117 from its meeting on 5 January 2016, as Secretary of the Hale Recreation Ground Management Committee.  There being no discussion on the item, Cllr Hodge remained in the meeting.

The Mayor reported on the engagements he had carried out since the last Council meeting which had included presenting congratulations to a local lady on her 105th birthday.  He also congratulated the Council’s team of four officers who had won the 2016 Pancake race against Guildford Borough Council in Guildford High Street.

The Mayor was pleased to announce that his charity concert before Christmas had successfully raised over £33,000 and invited councillors to contact the Mayor’s Secretary if they wished to buy tickets for his next charity concert at St Catherine’s School on 19 March 2016 in aid of Dans Fund for Burns.

To answer the following questions from members of the public, received in accordance with Procedure Rule 10:-

i.          from Mr H Alexander of Hambledon

“In relation to the fraud that occurred in April 2014, 19 senior Conservative councillors knew of the fraud.  Knowledge of the fraud was deliberately kept from all junior Conservative councillors, all Ukip councillors and all Independent councillors.  The fraud was not reported in the 2013/14 Annual Financial Statements as a post balance sheet event and nor was it disclosed in the 2014/15 Annual Financial Statements, the year in which it occurred.

The Waverley Members’ Code of Conduct (“the Code”) requires that its members behave with Openness, Accountability and Integrity.  This behaviour is also required of those in public life under Section 28 of the Localism Act 2011 (“the Act”).  There is prima facie evidence that these requirements of the Code and the Act have been breached by the 19 senior Conservative councillors as follows:

1.  Openness – by concealing the fraud from other councillors and all residents, and not disclosing it in the Annual Financials Statements, the 19 Conservative councillors have clearly breached this aspect of the Code and the Act; 2.  Accountability – by concealing the fraud, the 19 Conservative councillors have prevented themselves from being held to account for their actions; 3.  Integrity – the 19 Conservative councillors have shown a lack of integrity by concealing the fraud from opposition councillors.  This lack of integrity is particularly serious given there was a Borough election in May 2015 and, by concealing the fraud, the Conservatives enhanced their electoral prospects.

In view of the fact that: 1.  there is prima facie evidence that Councillors have broken both the Code of Conduct and the Localism Act 2011, and 2.  The breach of the Code and the Act was extensive, with 19 Conservative councillors implicated, and 3.  the breach of the Code and the Act has been sustained for a long period of time (more than 20 months), will the Council be ordering a full, independent and transparent investigation into the 19 councillors conduct?”

ii.         from Mr David Beaman of Farnham

            “The NPPF is quite clear in requiring all new residential developments to be sustainable  including the provision of adequate transport facilities. Badshot Lea, where significant  residential development is proposed, is currently served by an hourly Monday to Saturday daytime bus service that operates between Aldershot and Farnham then onto Godalming and Guildford. Under proposals issued by Surrey County Council that are currently open for consultation the section of route between Aldershot and Badshot Lea will be withdrawn completely whilst the number of journeys operated between Badshot Lea and Farnham is likely to be reduced from 10 to 6 or 7 journeys per day with the possibility of no service being provided at all on Saturdays. This reduction in bus service will inevitably affect the sustainability of any further residential development in Badshot Lea and would WBC confirm that when considering planning applications for any new residential  ...  view the full agenda text for item 43/14

Three questions were received from members of the public in accordance with Procedure Rule 10.  With regard to the first question from Mr H Alexander of Hambledon, at the commencement of this agenda item, the Mayor informed the questioner that he would not be invited to read out his question.  He explained that it was not possible to deal with the question because the case referred to was being progressed by the Police and the Council’s legal advice was that no comment could be made at that time because it may prejudice any future proceedings.

The Mayor moved on to receive the following two questions:

i.          from Mr David Beaman of Farnham

            “The NPPF is quite clear in requiring all new residential developments to be sustainable  including the provision of adequate transport facilities. Badshot Lea, where significant  residential development is proposed, is currently served by an hourly Monday to Saturday daytime bus service that operates between Aldershot and Farnham then onto Godalming and Guildford. Under proposals issued by Surrey County Council that are currently open for consultation the section of route between Aldershot and Badshot Lea will be withdrawn completely whilst the number of journeys operated between Badshot Lea and Farnham is likely to be reduced from 10 to 6 or 7 journeys per day with the possibility of no service being provided at all on Saturdays. This reduction in bus service will inevitably affect the sustainability of any further residential development in Badshot Lea and would WBC confirm that when considering planning applications for any new residential development its transport sustainability will take account of any known future changes in bus service".

Cllr Brian Adams, Portfolio Holder for Planning, replied as follows:-

“Planning applications for significant housing schemes are accompanied by a Transport Assessment. We rely on the expert advice of Officers at Surrey County Council to consider these - they typically cover a range of issues including impact on the highway network, the availability of  public transport, walking and cycling routes.  The assessment will also assess the opportunities that development may offer in terms of improvement to transport infrastructure. The planning assessment will also take into account   the wider social and economic benefits that new housing can bring such as meeting unmet local housing need.

Where changes to bus services are planned then that would be a matter for the Officers at the County Council to consider in their response as one of many factors affecting the sustainability of a development. This might include the positive impact new development will have on the viability of an existing bus service by increasing demand generated from additional residents.

Also, thanks to Waverley’s generous grants, Hoppa operates a Dial-a-ride scheme which offers free membership and everyone can take advantage of this for specific trips.”

ii.         from Charles Orange on behalf of Alfold, Busbridge, Chiddingfold, Dunsfold, Hambledon, Hascombe, Shalford and Wonersh Parish Councils

“Our question relates to our concerns on the viability of the consultation process in progress on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43/14

To receive the reports of the Executive in respect of the 2016/2017 budget.

Members are reminded to also bring with them to the meeting the detailed budget papers circulated previously.

The Chairman of the Executive presented the reports at Agenda Item 8a-8d, and following this, both the Chairman of the Executive and the Portfolio Holder for Finance delivered Budget Statements to the Council, copies of which are attached as Annexe 1 to these minutes.

General Fund Revenue Budget 2016/17 (Agenda Item 8a)

An updated Annexe 2 was tabled.  The Chairman of the Executive then went on to clarify that the wording of recommendation 1 should be revised to read as follows:-

1.         an increase for Waverley’s element of council tax for 2016/2017 be agreed as £5 for the Band D equivalent charge;

It was then moved by the Chairman of the Executive and seconded that recommendation 2 be amended by the addition of the following words at the end of the existing recommendation:

“2.        ….. with the exception of the proposed saving of £10,000 identified from cancelling the LGA subscription, with the impact of this change on the draft budget being met from the Government’s transitional grant.”

Upon being put to the vote, this amendment was CARRIED.

It was moved by the Chairman of the Executive, duly seconded and

RESOLVED  that the report of the Executive at Agenda Item 8a. be approved and recommendations 1-10, as amended, contained therein be adopted.

General Fund Capital Programme 2016/17 (Agenda Item 8b)

It was moved by the Deputy Leader of the Farnham Residents’ Group and seconded that the following words be added to the end of the existing recommendation 2 that

“2.        ….with the exception that the £800,000 allocated to the Frensham Visitor Centre be reviewed with a view to using a lesser amount for a substantial refurbishment.”

Upon being put to the vote, this amendment was LOST.

It was moved by the Chairman of the Executive, duly seconded and

RESOLVED  that the report of the Executive at Agenda Item 8b be approved and recommendations 1-4 contained therein adopted.

Housing Revenue Account Business Plan, Revenue Budget and Capital Programme 2016/17 (Agenda Item 8c)

It was moved by the Chairman of the Executive, duly seconded and

RESOLVED  that the report of the Executive at Agenda Item 8c be approved and recommendations 1-13 contained therein be adopted.

Council Tax Setting 2016/17

It was moved by the Chairman of the Executive, duly seconded and

RESOLVED  that

28.1    the following amounts have been calculated for the Council for 2016/2017 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992:

(a)       £74,616,830             being the aggregate of the amounts that the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A 2(a) to (f) of the Act taking into account all precepts issued to it by Parish Councils;

(b)       £62,900,308              being the aggregate of the amounts which the Council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A (3) (a) to (d) of the Act;

(c)        £11,716,522              being the amount by which the aggregate at (a) above exceeds the aggregate at (b) above, calculated by the Council, in accordance with Section 31A (4)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44/14

To receive the minutes of the meetings of the Executive (coloured grey):-

It was moved by the Chairman of the Executive, duly seconded and

RESOLVED  that the Minutes of the Executive Meeting held on 5 January 2016 be approved and the recommendations contained therein adopted.

It was moved by the Chairman of the Executive and duly seconded that the minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 2 February 2016 be approved and adopted.

(i)         Corporate Plan 2016-2019 (Minute No. 127)

            Councillors John Fraser, Christiaan Hesse, Andy Macleod and Kika Mirylees asked that their abstention from the vote be recorded.

(ii)        Property Matter – Cranleigh (Minute No. 132)

            Councillor Mary Foryszewski asked that her vote against the recommendation be recorded.

RESOLVED  that the Minutes of the Meeting held on 2 February 2016 be approved and the recommendations contained therein adopted.

To receive the minutes of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee held on 28 January 2016 (coloured bright green).

It was moved by the Chairman of the Committee, duly seconded and

RESOLVED  that the Minutes of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee held on 28 January 2016 be approved and the recommendation contained therein adopted.