Agenda and minutes

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 9 July 2019.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 9 July 2019 were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

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 declarations of interest raised under this heading.

The Chairman to respond to any questions received from members of the public for which notice has been given in accordance with Procedure Rule 10.

The deadline for receipt of questions from members of the public is 5pm on Tuesday 27 August 2019.

There were no questions from members of the public.

The Chairman to respond to any questions received from Members in accordance with Procedure Rule 11.

The deadline for receipt of questions from Members is 5pm on Tuesday 27 August 2019.

There were no questions from Members of the Council.

Background Papers

Unless specified under an individual item, there are no background papers (as defined by Section 100D(5) of the Local Government Act 1972) relating to the reports in Part I of these minutes.

To consider a report requesting that the Council declare a Climate Emergency and to seek the recommendation of the Executive.

Recommendation

1.         That the Executive notes that:

i)          the continuing rise in greenhouse gases, if not addressed, represents an existential threat to our civilisation on this planet.

ii)         the impacts of climate breakdown are already causing serious damage around the world.

iii)        the recent 2018 IPCC report stated that we had just 12 years to act on climate change if global temperature rises are to be kept within the recommended 1.5 degrees Celsius; this assumes we reduce emissions to net zero by 2050 from the current 40+ billion tonnes.

iv)        such a reduction will require (in the words of the IPCC) “rapid and far-reaching transitions in energy, land, urban and infrastructure (including transport and buildings), and industrial systems. These systems transitions are unprecedented in terms of scale, but not necessarily in terms of speed, and imply deep emissions reductions in all sectors, a wide portfolio of mitigation options and a significant upscaling of investments in those options”.

v)         all governments (national, regional and local) have a duty to act, and local governments that recognise this should not wait for their national governments to change their policies.

vi)        strong policies to cut emissions also have associated health, wellbeing and economic benefits.

vii)       central government has committed to a zero-carbon national target and has adopted a policy whereby sales of petrol and diesel engine cars and vans, one of the main causes of emissions resulting in climate change, are to be totally phased out.

viii)      a growing number of UK local authorities have already passed ‘Climate Emergency’ motions in recognition of the urgency of the climate crisis.

ix)        Waverley Borough Council and other local authorities working to ambitious targets for achieving net zero carbon emissions will require additional urgent support from central government in order to achieve their goals.

2.         That the Executive recommends to Council that:

i)          Waverley Borough Council declares a ‘Climate Emergency’ requiring urgent action.

ii)         Waverley Borough Council aims to become carbon neutral by 2030, taking into account both production and consumption emissions, and takes a leadership role to achieve this working with other councils, including town and parish councils within the borough.

iii)        Waverley Borough Council recognises that the achievement of the target will require central government to provide the powers, funding and other resources to achieve the target and therefore calls on the government to provide such powers, funding and other resources as appropriate to facilitate achieving the 2030 target.

iv)        Officers be instructed to provide to the Council’s Executive, within six months of the date of this decision, a report on the actions the Council and the local community can take to address these issues together with an action plan, specifying year on year milestones and metrics to show progress towards achieving the goal of carbon neutrality by 2030 noting any additional costs that might be involved.

15.1    The Executive considered a report setting out the case for taking action to limit global warming, and for Waverley to become a carbon neutral council by 2030. The report was introduced by Cllr Steve Williams, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Sustainability. Cllr Williams explained that the Executive had spent a great deal of time drafting the recommendation to Council, and had deliberately framed it as the Council’s response the climate emergency rather than try to encompass other environmental and sustainability issues. The 2030 deadline was challenging and actions needed to achieve it would not be without consequences, but local communities could not opt out of taking action. Cllr Williams urged the Executive and Council to “Think globally, and act locally”.

15.2    In response to questions from Cllr Julia Potts and Cllr Jenny Else, the Leader provided the following information:

·         The Executive recognised that it was vital that Waverley residents and communities were engaged with the challenge and the actions needed to address it. Working with partners in town and parish councils, and engaging with residents, were explicit in the proposed approach but Waverley had an important leadership role to lead by example.

·         Whilst not wanting to pre-empt the outcome of the Council debate, work had already begun on looking at the Council’s base line position in order to understand the starting position.

·         Many new councillors elected in May had been elected on the basis of taking action to address climate change; Godalming Town Council had already passed declared a climate emergency and Farnham Town Council would be considering a similar motion shortly.

15.3    Cllr Richard Seaborne commended the intention, and suggested that Council might find it helpful to have more information about the different approaches to becoming ‘carbon neutral’ and the council’s broad direction of travel. Cllr Hyman was concerned that the council was certain that action was justified, and that actions would not be tokenistic.

15.4    The Executive welcomed the broad support for the motion. The proposed approach was measured, but the declaration of a climate emergency would mean that all decisions would have to taken in the light of the impact on climate change.

15.5    The Executive RESOLVED to note that:

i)          the continuing rise in greenhouse gases, if not addressed, represents an existential threat to our civilisation on this planet.

ii)         the impacts of climate breakdown are already causing serious damage around the world.

iii)        the recent 2018 IPCC report stated that we had just 12 years to act on climate change if global temperature rises are to be kept within the recommended 1.5 degrees Celsius; this assumes we reduce emissions to net zero by 2050 from the current 40+ billion tonnes.

iv)        such a reduction will require (in the words of the IPCC) “rapid and far-reaching transitions in energy, land, urban and infrastructure (including transport and buildings), and industrial systems. These systems transitions are unprecedented in terms of scale, but not necessarily in terms of speed, and imply deep emissions reductions in all sectors, a  ...  view the full minutes text for item EXE 15/19

Since their election in May, the multi-party Executive, comprising Farnham Residents, Green, Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors, has been working together and with senior managers to agree their shared priorities for their term of office, 2019-23. 

This report accordingly sets out a new draft Corporate Strategy with a stronger focus on housing affordability, climate and public engagement. 

It is recommended that the Executive recommend the corporate strategy set out at Annexe 1 to Full Council for adoption at its 18 September Full Council meeting.

Recommendation

That the Executive recommends the adoption of the Waverley Borough Council Corporate Strategy 2019-2023 (attached as Annexe 1 to this report) to Full Council.

16.1     The Leader of the Council introduced the new draft Corporate Strategy for Waverley. Since the election in May 2019, the multi-party Executive, comprising Farnham Residents, Green, Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors, had been working together and with senior management to agree their shared priorities for their term of office, 2019 – 2023.

16.2     The Leader proposed a number of minor drafting amendments to the strategy, which had been tabled:

·         encourage affordable access to sports and leisure facilities and the arts for all, improving leisure services across the borough, focusing on health inequalities in the borough and seeking to ensuring that no area is disadvantaged;

·         ensure local residents have access to local countryside and are not excluded through high parking charges;

·         work with partners to promote a pedestrian-friendly and cycle-friendly road system taking action on air quality especially those caused by vehicle emissions, and encouraging an improved “clean” bus service;

·         press the government for appropriate funding to meet local needs as reflected in our vision for Waverley and reverse cuts to local government funding to enable us to intelligently deal with the looming budget shortfall.

The amendments were seconded by Cllr Follows, and the Executive RESOLVED to adopt the amendments into the draft Corporate Strategy.

16.3    In response to questions from Cllr Potts, Cllr John Gray, Cllr Jenny Else, and Cllr Hyman, the Executive members provided the following explanations:

·         The new Executive was keen to address the need for ‘housing that is affordable’ across all tenure types, and not focus only on affordable housing for social rent.

·         The new Corporate Strategy was deliberately succinct. The new Executive had promised no ‘seismic changes’ in direction, also felt it was important to be clear about the agreed objectives of the four political Groups, which had been the product of discussion, collaboration and compromise.

·         It was timely to bring this statement of the broad direction of travel to Council now, which would allow the service planning and budget process to flesh out the detail of the objectives.

·         The reference to promoting reduction and re-use and well as recycling highlighted the need to actively minimise the amount of new resources used.

·         The Strategy recognised the value and worth of all residents, including those with particular needs due to age and vulnerability, but the Executive welcomed the suggestion to specifically include a reference to age.

16.4     The Leader proposed a further amendment, to include “age” in the third bullet point of the Vision statement. This was seconded by Cllr Follows, and the Executive RESOLVED to adopt this amendment into the draft Corporate Strategy.

16.5    The Executive RESOLVED to recommend the Waverley Borough Council Corporate Strategy 2019-2023 (as amended above) to Full Council for adoption.

Reason: Since their election in May 2019, the multi-party Executive has been working together and with senior managers to agree their shared priorities for their term of office, 2019-2023. The proposed new Corporate Strategy has a stronger focus on housing affordability, climate and public engagement.

[This matter is recommended to Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item EXE 16/19

To request a supplementary estimate to continue to seek an injunction to require the known occupants to cease the unlawful occupation of the site and to clear the site of all structures and hardstanding.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Executive approves a supplementary estimate of £20,000 to meet the costs of continuing to seek an injunction.  This figure may need to be revised depending on the works associated with the application, and any subsequent proceedings.

17.1     The Executive reviewed the history of the this long-running enforcement case, and noted that the Eastern Area Planning Committee had consistently supported the expediency of continuing enforcement action.

17.2     The Executive RESOLVED to approve a supplementary estimate of £20,000 to meet the costs of continuing to seek an injunction.

Reason: to enable the continuation of planning enforcement action, to require the known occupants to cease the unlawful occupation of the site and to clear the site of all structures and hardstanding.