Agenda and minutes

To confirm the Minutes of the Council meeting held on 17 February 2015 (herewith).

The Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on 17 February 2015 were confirmed and signed.

The Mayor to report apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Paddy Blagden, Pat Frost, Lynn Graffham, Stephen Hill, Nicholas Holder, Simon Inchbald, Bryn Morgan, Jennifer O’Grady, Elliot Nichols, Adam Taylor-Smith, Brett Vorley and Ross Welland.

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.

There were no interests declared under this heading.

The Mayor informed the Council of a number of events that she had attended since the last meeting, including the opening of new social housing schemes, raising of the commonwealth flag and a service at Stanwell to mark the signing of the Magna Carta.  The Mass Bands Extravaganza for the Mayor’s Charity had been held which was very well attended.

On behalf of Waverley, the Mayor went on to thank those members of the Council who were not seeking re-election for their valuable contribution.  She named the fifteen councillors who would be standing down after 1, 2 or 3 terms and exceptionally Cllr Richard Gates who had served twenty years on the Council and fulfilled various roles including Leader of the Council, Executive Portfolio Holder, Chairman of Committees and Mayor of Waverley.

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

i.          from Mr John Price

            “Who is the present appointed Heritage Champion for WAVERLEY and when was the appointment made?”

ii.         from Mr Jerry Hyman of Farnham

            “The evidence from Visitor Surveys suggests that SANGs are having the opposite effect to intended, as visitor numbers to the TBHSPA have increased since 2005.  Of course, common sense and principles indicated that would happen, but in hot pursuit of East Street and cramming Farnham, Waverley led the 13 'TBHSPA-affected' planning authorities to adopt the SANG strategy at the SEP EiP TBHSPA technical sessions in 2006/7. 

Clearly this poses a very real threat of unmitigated disaster to endangered bird species, and even Natural England say they have no evidence that SANGs are effective.   As we know, the NPPF and the law demand "convincing" evidence that the cumulative effect of development must not cause any significant harmful impact on the protected species populations and their habitats.   

            If this Council has any real evidence that the SANG strategy is not counter-productive, where can that evidence be found?"

[NB. Questions from members of the public express personal views of the questioners and Waverley does not endorse any statements in any way and they do not reflect the views of Waverley Borough Council].

The following questions were received from members of the public in accordance with Procedure Rule 10:

i.          from Mr Price

“Who is the present appointed Heritage Champion for WAVERLEY and when was the appointment made?”

The Leader of the Council gave the following reply:-

            “Cllr Nick Holder was Waverley’s Heritage Champion for some years but the position is currently vacant.  We will be appointing to this position, along with a number of other appointments, after the elections in May”.

ii.         from Mr Jerry Hyman of Farnham

            “The evidence from Visitor Surveys suggests that SANGs are having the opposite effect to intended, as visitor numbers to the TBHSPA have increased since 2005.  Of course, common sense and principles indicated that would happen, but in hot pursuit of East Street and cramming Farnham, Waverley led the 13 'TBHSPA-affected' planning authorities to adopt the SANG strategy at the SEP EiP TBHSPA technical sessions in 2006/7. 

Clearly this poses a very real threat of unmitigated disaster to endangered bird species, and even Natural England say they have no evidence that SANGs are effective.   As we know, the NPPF and the law demand "convincing" evidence that the cumulative effect of development must not cause any significant harmful impact on the protected species populations and their habitats.   

            If this Council has any real evidence that the SANG strategy is not counter-productive, where can that evidence be found?"

The Executive Portfolio Holder for Planning, Cllr Brian Adams, responded:-

“It is worth clarifying that the SPA avoidance strategy is provided to enable the delivery of housing without having a significant effect on the SPA.  The issue, therefore, is to demonstrate that there has not been an increase in recreational pressure as a result of new housing development.  This is a different test to assessing whether visitor numbers overall have increased.

The Visitor Survey notes that although the total number of people counted entering the SPA at the survey locations was 10% higher than in 2005, the differences were not however significant and fall within the limits of what could be expected by chance’. The report further states Para. 3.58 that  ‘Statistically there is no evidence of a real change in visitor numbers, and the 10% increase in the total count of visitors between 2005 and 2012/13 (Table 26) should be attributed to either location specific factors or unquantifiable sampling variation.’

It is also worth highlighting that consideration of the effectiveness of the SPA avoidance strategy also needs to take into account the full range of mitigation measures.  This includes access management – eg wardening on the SPA – which has now commenced.  The wardens’ role includes promoting a positive conservation message to SPA visitors, encouraging responsible dog walking, and promoting the suite of SANGs to SPA users as alternative sites.  This is an important element of the strategy and as part of this new initiative, the project will be identifying and refining measures of success to judge the effectiveness of access management measures on the ground.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61/14

The following question has been received from Cllr Bryn Morgan in accordance with Procedure Rule 11.2:-

“Given the highly controversial manner in which the Farnham Brightwells Scheme at East Street has evolved, the continuing unpopularity of the proposed development with the majority of local Farnham residents, the ineffective waste of millions of pounds of council taxpayers' funds, the very radical proposals for the development of the adjacent Woolmead site, and no likelihood for the foreseeable future that the current CNS scheme will find anything like the required funding to be viable, will the Leader either confirm that this scheme is now a dead duck or that it remain suspended until a full re-appraisal can be undertaken by the new Council following next month's elections?”

A question was submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 11.2 by Cllr Bryn Morgan:-

“Given the highly controversial manner in which the Farnham Brightwells Scheme at East Street has evolved, the continuing unpopularity of the proposed development with the majority of local Farnham residents, the ineffective waste of millions of pounds of council taxpayers' funds, the very radical proposals for the development of the adjacent Woolmead site, and no likelihood for the foreseeable future that the current CNS scheme will find anything like the required funding to be viable, will the Leader either confirm that this scheme is now a dead duck or that it remain suspended until a full re-appraisal can be undertaken by the new Council following next month's elections?”

In the absence of Cllr Morgan, the Leader of the Council undertook to send him a written reply with the answer.

To receive the minutes of the meetings of the Executive held on:-

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

RESOLVED  that the Minutes of the Meetings of the Executive held on 3 and 31 March 2015 be approved and the recommendations contained therein adopted.

To consider the minutes of the meetings of the Joint Planning Committee held on:-

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

RESOLVED    that the Minutes of the Meetings of the Joint Planning Committee held on 18 February, 30 March and 1 April 2015 be approved.

To consider the minutes of the meeting of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee held on 19 March 2015 (herewith – coloured bright green).

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

RESOLVED  that the Minutes of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee held on 19 March 2015 be approved and the recommendation contained therein adopted.

To consider the minutes of the Audit Committee held on 23 March 2015 (herewith – coloured lilac).

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

RESOLVED  that the Minutes of the Meeting of the Audit Committee held on 23 March 2015 be approved.